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Product · Grade 03
Used IBC totes, graded honestly and priced like it.
No polish, no euphemisms. These containers were emptied, rinsed, inspected and sorted into three grades with the flaws written down. For water storage, brine, dust suppression, wash water and a hundred non-critical jobs, they are the smartest money on this site — and by a distance the lowest-carbon.
Short answer
Rinsed and graded A, B or C with defects described. Right for water, brine and non-critical industrial duty. Never right for food, potable water or regulated cargo.
- Grades
- A / B / C
- Prep
- Evacuated & rinsed
- Added carbon
- Near zero
- Min order
- 1 pallet
Form 01 · Spec request
Price a pallet or a truckload.
Tell us the grade you can live with and the ZIP code. Used stock turns over constantly, so quantities are quoted against live inventory.
Grading
Three grades, described the way a yard actually talks.
Most sellers use one word — used — and let you find out on the dock. We would rather tell you first and sell you the cheapest grade that works.
| Grade | Bottle | Cage & pallet | Typical use | Relative price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Clear to light haze, no odour, no stain of note | Straight, full galvanising, sound deck | Customer-facing storage, resale, display | Highest |
| B | Visible stain or colour, sound wall, faint odour possible | One or two straightened bars, scuffed coating | Water, brine, nutrients, wash water | Middle |
| C | Heavy stain or residual odour, structurally sound | Dented bars, cosmetic pallet damage, mismatched deck | Dust suppression, jobsite ballast, rain capture | Lowest |
| Cage only | None — bottle removed for reclaim | Serviceable frame and pallet | Rebottling, racking, fabrication | Scrap-plus |
Right jobs
What used totes are genuinely good at
- Rainwater capture and irrigation buffering
- Construction water, dust suppression and compaction
- Brine, de-icer and liquid road treatment storage
- Wash water, greywater and equipment rinse capture
- Livestock and pasture water where local rules allow
- Ballast, barriers and temporary jobsite structures
- Feedstock for upcycled builds and fabrication
Wrong jobs
Where a used tote will cost you more than it saves
- Any edible, potable or pharmaceutical cargo
- Regulated or hazardous materials without a current UN plate
- Products sensitive to trace contamination or colour pickup
- Long-term outdoor storage of UV-sensitive fluid in a natural bottle
- Anything where a customer will judge you on how the container looks
Questions
Buying used, answered.
01What does grade A, B and C actually mean?
Grade A is cosmetically clean with a straight cage, clear bottle and no staining you would notice. Grade B has visible staining, scuffs or a straightened bar but is fully serviceable. Grade C is functional but rough — heavy stain, dented cage, cosmetic pallet damage. We photograph representative units from the lot before you commit.
02Are used totes rinsed before sale?
Yes. Every unit that enters our used stock has been evacuated and rinsed, and the prior contents are recorded. What it has not had is a caustic wash, a steam cycle or a pressure test — that is what reconditioning adds.
03Can I use a used tote for drinking water?
No. Assume no. Potable and edible service requires documented single-trip food-grade stock, which we sell separately. A used industrial tote may be perfectly clean and still be the wrong legal answer.
04Why are used totes the greenest option?
Because almost no energy was added to put them back in service. No new resin, no new steel, no heated wash. The embodied impact is limited to a rinse and a truck ride.
Keep reading
- 22-point buying checklistInspect before you pay.Open →
- Upcycled buildsWhat people make from grade C.Open →
- Rainwater harvestingThe most popular second life.Open →
- Reconditioned totesOne step up the ladder.Open →
- Sell us yoursThe other side of this trade.Open →
- Size chartCheck it fits before it ships.Open →
Grading detail
What separates A from B from C, defect by defect.
Grades are not standardised across this industry. These are ours, written out so you can hold us to them and compare them against anybody else's.
| Defect | Grade A | Grade B | Grade C | Rejected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colour staining | None visible | Visible, any colour | Heavy, opaque | — |
| Residual odour | None | Faint, non-persistent | Detectable | Persists after two wash cycles |
| Surface scuffing on bottle | Light | Moderate | Heavy | — |
| Crazing | None | None | None | Any |
| Stress whitening | None | None | Minor at feet only | Any on the wall |
| Bowed cage bars | None | 1–2 straightened | Several, dented | Frame geometry lost |
| Galvanising wear | Intact | Scuffed, white oxide | Red rust spots | Through-corrosion |
| Deck condition | Sound | Minor damage | Cosmetic damage, mismatched | Structurally unsound |
| Feet | True | True | Minor splay | Crushed or torn |
| Valve present | Yes | Yes | Yes | — |
| Caps present | Both | Usually both | Often missing | — |
| Sits level | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Holds low pressure | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Application | Minimum grade | Why not lower | Why not higher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rain capture, ornamental | C | Nothing lower exists | Cosmetics irrelevant |
| Jobsite water and dust suppression | C | — | Container will be knocked about |
| Ballast and temporary barriers | C | — | Filled with water on site |
| Fabrication feedstock | C | — | It is going to be cut up |
| Wash water and greywater capture | C | — | No visibility, no criticality |
| Brine and de-icer storage | B | Needs a sound cage and base | Municipal yards do not judge looks |
| Liquid fertiliser and nutrients | B | Fill to weight; base must be true | Field use is hard on appearance |
| Irrigation buffering, ornamental | B | Light control matters more | — |
| Customer-facing storage and resale | A | Somebody will look at it | — |
| Anything edible or potable | Food grade | Grade does not answer the question | Documentation is the test |
Why used is the greenest option
Almost no energy was added to put these back in service.
A used as-is container has been evacuated, rinsed, inspected and graded. That is the whole processing footprint — no caustic, no steam, no new resin, no new steel.
187lb CO2e
Avoided per container
Against manufacturing a replacement
42lb
Virgin HDPE not made
One blow-moulded bottle
88lb
Steel kept in service
Cage, rails and pallet frame
1.9cu yd
Landfill airspace saved
Uncrushed container volume
| Grade | Evacuation | Rinse | Caustic | Steam | Pressure test | New parts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Used as-is | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | None |
| Reconditioned | Yes | Yes ×3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Valve, gaskets, cap |
| Rebottled | Yes | — | — | — | Yes | Bottle, valve, gaskets, cap |
| New | — | — | — | — | Factory | Everything |
Practical
Getting a used container ready for its next job.
On arrival — fifteen minutes for a pallet
- Count against the bill of lading before the driver leaves, and note any discrepancy on the paperwork.
- Walk the load for transit damage that was not on the grading note.
- Open two or three at random and shine a torch at the wall from a shallow angle.
- Operate two or three valves through their full travel.
- Photograph anything that does not match what you were told, with the serial visible.
Before first use
- Rinse, even on stock described as rinsed. It costs minutes and settles any doubt.
- Replace the outlet gasket. It is the one place residue persists and it costs almost nothing.
- Check the outlet thread matches your pump before the product is ready, not after.
- Mark a fill level on the cage if your fluid is denser than about 8.5 lb per gallon.
- Record the serial against whatever you put in it.
- Cap it whenever it is not in use, indoors or out.
Extended FAQ · 7 questions
More questions, answered
01What do grades A, B and C actually mean?
Grade A is cosmetically clean with a straight cage and a clear bottle. Grade B has visible staining, scuffs or a straightened bar but is fully serviceable. Grade C is functional but rough — heavy stain, dented bars, cosmetic base damage. All three have passed structural and pressure checks; the grade describes appearance.
02Are used containers rinsed before sale?
Yes. Every unit in our used stock has been evacuated and rinsed and its prior contents recorded. What it has not had is a caustic wash, a steam cycle or a pressure test — that is what reconditioning adds.
03Can I use a used container for drinking water?
No. Potable and edible service requires documented single-trip food-grade stock with a food-contact bottle and a non-wood pallet. A used industrial container may be perfectly clean and still be the wrong legal answer.
04Why are used containers the greenest option you sell?
Because almost no energy was added to put them back in service. No new resin, no new steel, no heated wash. The embodied impact is limited to a rinse and a truck ride, and each one avoids about 187 pounds of CO2e against manufacturing a replacement.
05Can I buy just the cage without a bottle?
Yes. Bare cages and pallet frames are sold separately and are popular for rebottling, racking and fabrication. They are also what we most want to buy, so if you are clearing containers do not send frames to a metals merchant.
06How do I know what condition I am getting?
We grade before we quote and describe the defects. For larger lots we photograph representative units from the actual stock. If a load arrives outside its described grade, raise it with the serial and we resolve it.
07Do used containers hold pressure?
They hold liquid reliably, which is what they are sold for. They have not been pressure tested — that is part of reconditioning. If your application depends on a verified seal, buy reconditioned rather than used as-is.
Next step
Cheapest grade that works — that is the whole pitch.
Describe the job in one line. We will tell you the grade, the price and whether you should buy fewer than you asked for.