If you’re involved in shipping things overseas, you already know how centrally important shipping containers are to your business. If you are shipping to Australia, here is a look at a few places we recommend for acquiring high-quality containers for your shipping business.
Start with the big names
The place to start regarding affordable shipping containers for sale in Australia is Port Container Services (contact phone number: 1300 957 709). This well-established organization has outlets in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Central Coast, Newcastle, Grafton and Brisbane (local addresses are listed on the website), as well as a service featuring containers for hire.
In such a successful industry, there are bound to be competitors. Some of the more highly-regarded among those include Tiger Containers, SCF Group, Sea Containers Australia, Royal Wolf (which also services New Zealand), and Premier Box, which specialises in both new and used shipping containers.
Many businesses hesitate to buy used shipping containers, due to concerns about finding affordable shipping containers for sale in Australia and the fear that an overlooked crack or malfunctioning air conditioning unit could cause spoiling of a shipment. But the companies above are all in it for the long haul, and know their reputations are on the line every time they make a sale.
Our own experience doing business with them tells us that they are unfailingly rigorous in their inspection, and not out to make a quick and shady sale at the expense of a long-term customer or their own reputation. Some malfunctioning products are hard to trace back to the supplier; shipping containers are most certainly not among them. We always encourage all prospective buyers, of course, to check the fine print on any sale and keep an eye on each seller’s warranty policy before making any purchase.
Buying shipping containers – on eBay?
Believe it or not, shipping containers can often be found here on eBay as well. eBay also made its reputation on the backs of satisfied customers, and their basic checks for authenticity and buyers’ rights have helped shoppers feel more at ease buying from what amounts to an unknown quantity on the other side of the computer screen.
That said, do be careful when making online purchases of this sort, understand what the entire process involves, and understand also that each transaction carries a certain amount of unavoidable risk, depending on the item itself, the realities of shipping it to you, and the identity of the seller.
But such economies thrive nonetheless, because the rewards can be so great. If you have no more use for one of your own shipping containers, it may be a good place to sell. (Many of the aforementioned traditional suppliers can also give you cash in exchange for a used shipping container.)
Bargain hunt
It’s also a great place to hunt for a bargain, and even to find modified shipping containers whose previous owners have done something creative to them to add value. As much as modern-day shipping containers look, for all the world, like a finished product, they are in actuality relatively new; and if experience in these matters tells us anything, it’s that there are always modifications to come along which can revolutionise any industry and add a significant amount of promise to any range of products.
Who to choose?
Moving back to traditional forms of purchasing affordable shipping containers for sale in Australia: You will find that the businesses mentioned above are very well-situated as far as their locations are concerned; but also well-situated in the industry in which they find themselves.
They know their way around the ports, and have each developed a sophisticated delivery system for their products. Their brick-and-mortar facilities are also top-notch, so if browsing online for the right shipping container isn’t enough, you can often walk around their warehouses and explain your needs to a salesman.
Takeaway
Sending items across the sea takes a great deal of planning and coordination in many areas. The beauty of shipping containers is that they remove the headache from the storage and loading work, and let you focus on the journey itself. With any luck, you’ll have blue seas and clear skies all the way to your destination, with no worries about the cargo you’re bringing along.
