Sell · judging a buyer
Plastic pallet buyers, nationwide
A plastic pallet buyer is a company that takes a lot and pays for it. Judge one by what it asks about your pallets, not by how fast it says yes.
Five questions a real buyer asks
How many, and what size?
A buyer who does not ask the count and the footprint is guessing. Sizes decide where a pallet can go.
What condition?
Expect a scale such as like new, good and average, or grades A to C. No universal plastic standard exists, so each buyer uses its own words. Ask what theirs mean.
Any marks?
A buyer who does not ask about marks may take pallets that belong to someone else. That is your problem later.
Where, and how do they move?
Location and whether the buyer collects or the seller delivers. One buyer states it accepts US locations only.
One time or recurring?
A repeat schedule changes how a buyer plans. Say which you have.
Buyer, marketplace or broker
| Type | Takes the lot? | Your job |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer | Yes, after inspecting | Send a true description and photos |
| Marketplace | No, it matches you to a buyer | Post, price and answer |
| Broker | Sometimes, as middle | Ask who the end buyer is |
This site does not list buyers by name. A page that names companies it has not checked is a directory, not a service. Instead the desk reads your lot and tells you the outcome. If you want to compare, read where to sell plastic pallets.
Across the country, by industry
Buyers match their stock to the industries that sell them pallets. Chemical shippers favor 48 x 48 and 45 x 45. Auto suppliers favor 48 x 45. Beverage favors 56 x 44. Open lots by industry to see which sizes sit where, and sell by state for the warehousing picture near you.
Words you will meet
- Pooling
- Renting pallets from a company that owns, tracks and collects them instead of buying.
- GMA pallet
- The 48 x 40 in North American standard footprint.
- Racking load
- Weight a pallet carries bridging an open span in unsupported racking. Often the lowest rating.
- Nest ratio
- How many empty pallets fit in the height of one.
- 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.
- FM 4996
- FM Approvals standard that rates a pallet as equal to wood in fire tests.
- Thermoforming
- Heated plastic sheet formed over a mould; lighter pallets.
- CP9
- A chemical-industry pallet standard, 1140 x 1140 mm.
- Euro pallet
- 800 x 1200 mm footprint.
- PP
- Polypropylene. More rigid than HDPE and better with heat and harsh chemicals; used where rack stiffness matters.
- Recycled-content pallet
- A pallet moulded partly or wholly from post-industrial or post-consumer resin.
- Edge rack
- Resting on the rack beams by the pallet's edges only, with no support in the middle.
- Open deck
- Top deck with gaps between slats or ribs; lighter and drains.
- Picture frame
- A raised rim around the deck edge that keeps cartons from sliding off.
- Stackable
- Loaded pallets can sit on top of each other, up to the static rating.
Who asks, and what they need
- Food and beverage distributors and bottlers
- Clean, odour-free, washable pallets; open or closed deck; 56 x 44 beverage and 48 x 40 sizes; often asks about food-contact paperwork.
- Pharmaceutical and healthcare shippers
- Hygienic pallets that can be sanitised; documents on resin and colour; PP sometimes preferred for sterilisation.
- Automotive plants and suppliers
- 48 x 45 pallets that match bulk containers; closed-loop reuse; heavy dynamic and static loads.
What the sources say
- That Nelson model is under 5 in tall, which the page says suits air freight, and works with automation and most roller conveyors. (nelsoncompany.com)
- 43 x 43 in pallets are designed for bulk bags; 45 x 45 in is the CP9 chemical standard. (nelsoncompany.com)
- The Port of New York and New Jersey was the nation's second-busiest port for loaded containers in 2025, per the Port Authority's full-year volume release as reported by Air Freight News. (airfreight.news)
- FDA's Food Traceability Rule (FSMA section 204) requires businesses that make, process, pack or hold foods on the Food Traceability List to keep Key Data Elements for Critical Tracking Events and share them within 24 hours of a request; FDA says Congress directed it not to enforce the rule before July 20, 2028. (fda.gov)
- Counties with the most private motor vehicle parts manufacturing jobs (NAICS 3363) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Wayne County, Michigan (20,888), Macomb County, Michigan (20,279), Oakland County, Michigan (16,970), Kent County, Michigan (8,688), Spartanburg County, South Carolina (6,496), Cook County, Illinois (6,273). (data.bls.gov)
- Private warehousing and storage (NAICS 493) paid an average of $56,706 a year across 1,901,976 jobs in 2025 (BLS QCEW). (data.bls.gov)
- The five states with the most warehousing and storage jobs held 39% of the national total in 2025, and the top ten held 58% (California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, Indiana, New York), BLS QCEW. (data.bls.gov)
- PHS lists a 56 x 44 beverage pallet (STK 285) at 2,500 lb dynamic and 30,000 lb static. (phsinc.com)
- Plastic pallets can deform (creep) under heavy long-term loads and are hard to repair. (en.wikipedia.org)
- Plastic pallets are made by injection molding, structural foam molding, thermoforming, compression molding, rotational molding and profile extrusion. (en.wikipedia.org)
- Metal pallets are under 1 percent of the pallet market. (en.wikipedia.org)
- Advanced composite material pallets are 100 percent recycled polyolefins, cheaper with a shorter life, and suit export where the pallet is not returned. (nelsoncompany.com)
- Greystone Logistics processed about 60 million pounds of recycled plastic in the year ended May 31, 2024, using damaged plastic pallets from a buy-back program among its feedstock. (resource-recycling.com)
- Rehrig Pacific says its reusable products are designed to be recyclable at end of life and run a buyback program. (rehrigpacific.com)
- Private employers in the US averaged 556,647 jobs across 4,689 establishments in meat and poultry processing (NAICS 3116) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: Texas (44,780), Georgia (42,030), North Carolina (35,715), Arkansas (34,773), Iowa (33,386). (data.bls.gov)
- Private employers in the US averaged 521,212 jobs across 6,414 establishments in motor vehicle parts manufacturing (NAICS 3363) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: Michigan (111,465), Ohio (62,025), Indiana (52,146), Tennessee (38,791), Kentucky (32,261). (data.bls.gov)
- Nelson Company: sell used pallets
- Custom Packaging Products: used plastic pallets
- Nelson Company: common plastic pallet sizes
Keep reading
Receiving desk
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.