Sell used and mixed plastic pallets
Used, mixed means mixed makers, colours and sizes sold by the truckload, sorted by footprint. It reads low per pallet, and it still sells once it is counted by size.
Last reviewed November 12, 2026
What used and mixed means
- Grade
- Used, mixed lot
- Meaning
- Mixed makers, colours and sizes sold by the truckload, sorted by footprint. Priced low per pallet.
- Quote form value
- Used
How a buyer reads a used and mixed lot
A mixed lot is the normal state of a dock that has received pallets from many suppliers for years. It holds different makers, colours and sometimes styles. A buyer who takes mixed lots wants the split: how many of each footprint, how many of each style, and how many cracked.
The work to make a mixed lot easy to buy is mostly counting. Separate the footprints into stacks. Pull the marked pallets out. Pull the broken ones out. What remains is a used lot that a buyer can read. The desk would rather get a rough split than a perfect one, so a rough count by size is a good start.
| Part | What a buyer looks for |
|---|---|
| Makers | Several; note the common ones |
| Colours | Mixed; not a defect |
| Sizes | Count each footprint |
| Marks | Check every stack |
Who has used and mixed pallets
Distribution centers and retail receivers with years of stacked arrivals. See selling a mixed lot.
Send this with a used and mixed lot
- A split by footprint, even if rough
- A note on which marks you found
- Photos of the three most common types
- The ZIP
Set the grade in the pile sorter. The ruling and your other answers carry into the form below.
Used, mixed lot pallets with no owner's mark on them.
Pallets of any grade that carry a pool name, logo or RFID tag.
Cracked, burnt or crushed pallets: they leave this grade and go by weight.
Do buyers take mixed sizes and colours?
Often, once sorted by footprint. Say it is mixed so the lot is not assumed uniform.
Should I sort a mixed lot first?
Yes, as far as you can. Even a rough split by size changes how a buyer reads it.
Words you will meet
- Static load
- Weight a pallet carries at rest, or the bottom pallet carries when stacked. The highest of the three ratings.
- PP
- Polypropylene. More rigid than HDPE and better with heat and harsh chemicals; used where rack stiffness matters.
- Dynamic load
- Weight a pallet carries while moving on a forklift, pallet jack or conveyor.
- Nestable
- Empty pallets stack inside one another, cutting empty storage space by up to 75 percent.
- Nest increment
- How much height each extra nested pallet adds to a stack.
- Nest ratio
- How many empty pallets fit in the height of one.
- Pooling
- Renting pallets from a company that owns, tracks and collects them instead of buying.
- Captive pallet
- A pallet owned and kept inside one company or loop.
- Multi-trip pallet
- A pallet designed to be returned and reused many times.
- Thermoforming
- Heated plastic sheet formed over a mould; lighter pallets.
- Rotational moulding
- Resin heated in a rotating mould to make a hollow jointless part.
- Euro pallet
- 800 x 1200 mm footprint.
- Resin identification code
- Number on a plastic part for the resin, which does not itself say whether it is recyclable.
- HDPE
- High-density polyethylene, resin code 2. The most common resin in plastic pallets; tough and moisture resistant.
- Recycled-content pallet
- A pallet moulded partly or wholly from post-industrial or post-consumer resin.
- Runners
- Bottom rails that touch the floor or rack and carry the load.
Who asks, and what they need
- Retailers that collect pooled or one-way pallets
- Stacks of marked and unmarked pallets left by suppliers; need to know which can be sold and which belong to a pool.
- Pharmaceutical and healthcare shippers
- Hygienic pallets that can be sanitised; documents on resin and colour; PP sometimes preferred for sterilisation.
- Export shippers
- Light or low-cost one-way pallets with no ISPM 15 treatment; Euro 1200 x 800 and 1200 x 1000 sizes.
What the sources say
- Census Bureau: seasonally adjusted e-commerce sales were $340.2 billion, 17.1 percent of total retail sales, in the second quarter of 2026 (released August 18, 2026). (census.gov)
- HDPE is the most common resin in plastic pallets; PP is more rigid and the page recommends it for unsupported racking. (nelsoncompany.com)
- North American plastic pallets in the common sizes are about 5 to 6 in tall. (blog.containerexchanger.com)
- Warehousing and storage (NAICS 493) was 1.4% of the 133,160,274 private-sector jobs QCEW counted in the US in 2025. (data.bls.gov)
- USDA NASS counted 931 refrigerated warehouses on October 1, 2025: 476 public and 455 private or semiprivate. Public warehouses held 2.46 billion gross cubic feet, 62 percent of the total. (esmis.nal.usda.gov)
- EPA's 2018 municipal solid waste data: plastics generation was 35.68 million tons, of which 3.09 million tons (8.7 percent) were recycled and 26.97 million tons landfilled; natural HDPE bottles were recycled at 29.3 percent. The page gives no pallet-specific or polypropylene figure. (epa.gov)
- States where meat and poultry processing is the largest share of private jobs in 2025 (BLS QCEW): Nebraska (3.7%), Arkansas (3.1%), Iowa (2.6%), Delaware (2.4%), Mississippi (2.0%); the national share is 0.42%. (data.bls.gov)
- States where dairy product manufacturing is the largest share of private jobs in 2025 (BLS QCEW): Wisconsin (1.1%), Vermont (0.8%), Idaho (0.7%), South Dakota (0.4%), Iowa (0.3%); the national share is 0.13%. (data.bls.gov)
- That nestable has a 2.50 in nest increment and 1,260 units per 53 ft trailer. (rehrigpacific.com)
- That used pallet is listed as pharma and food safe but not approved for direct food contact, in colours that vary. (nelsoncompany.com)
- ISO 6780 lists 1016 x 1219 mm for North America, 1000 x 1200 mm for Europe and Asia and 800 x 1200 mm for Europe. (en.wikipedia.org)
- Resin identification codes do not indicate whether a product is recyclable; ASTM D7611 governs the coding. (en.wikipedia.org)
- PHS lists its EXP 100 nestable (48 x 40 x 5.2 in) at 78 pallets per stack and 2,340 per truckload, and its EXP 116 (48 x 40 x 5.75 in, 15,000 lb static) at 40 per stack and 1,260 per truckload: a higher static rating comes with fewer pallets per stack. (phsinc.com)
- Refrigerated warehouse facility counts on October 1, 2025 (USDA NASS): California 106, Wisconsin 94, Georgia 62, Texas 56, Washington 52, Florida 50, Pennsylvania 38. (esmis.nal.usda.gov)
- Pennsylvania had 228 million cubic feet and New Jersey 137 million of gross refrigerated warehouse space on October 1, 2025 (USDA NASS). (esmis.nal.usda.gov)
- The Northwest Seaport Alliance (Seattle and Tacoma) handled 3,156,598 TEUs of international and domestic containers in 2025, down 5.5 percent from 2024, with full imports down 10.3 percent and full exports down 4.9 percent. (nwseaportalliance.com)
Keep reading
Send the lot
Size, count, grade, branding and ZIP. Photos help, and you can reply to the first answer with them. This site states no price or pickup date.