Wood Pallets for Sale – Tips on Navigating a Crowded Market

Searching for “Wood Pallets for Sale” is the natural starting point for many purchasers as they’re beginning their hunt for transportation packaging. If you’ve searched this term, however, you probably realized pretty quickly that the results are almost limitless! How can a purchasing team find the right wood pallets for sale when presented with so many options? Today, we hope to arm you with knowledge so that you’re prepared to brave the surprisingly difficult task of finding wood pallets for sale.

As far as search queries go, “wood pallets for sale” covers a lot of ground – bringing up thousands of results. In order to narrow your search, it’s vitally important that you know where to look for wood pallets, the type of pallets you need, and the many variations available for wood pallets.

As we mentioned earlier, when you’re searching for “wood pallets for sale,” thousands of results will suddenly populate your screen. That being said, it’s important you know exactly what to look for to find your perfect pallet. Let’s start out with some tactics that will surely ease your search.

As a business, you’re looking for quality wood packaging that will protect your products, prove ROI, and show the higher-ups that your purchasing team is up-to-snuff. This makes your first step fairly easy – eliminating results that won’t meet your business needs.

With transportation packaging, wood pallets are by far the most numerous product on the market. A simple drive around an industrial zone in your city will show you that pallets are one of the most plentiful wood products in the world. With this in mind, not all wood pallets for sale are the same.

If you were a DIYer, finding the right pallets would be a breeze. Plenty of wood pallets for sale can be found at Home Depot, on Amazon, Craigslist, or even from small businesses in your area that has a surplus… Obviously, as a manufacturer, none of these options will suit your needs. You can go ahead and mark off all of these consumer-driven results from your search, this will take a lot of the results off the table from the get-go!

With a good chunk of the results slashed from your list, it’s time to start looking at what B2B (Business to Business) options you’re left with. It won’t take long for your purchasing team to recognize an easily identifiable pattern… “Recycled wood pallets for sale,” “restored wood pallets for sale,” or even “refurbished wood pallets for sale.” Making up a significant portion of the industrial wood packaging market, recycled pallet manufacturers aren’t newbies when it comes to advertising their products.

A few decades ago, many businessmen started to realize the sheer number of pallets that were in junkyards, marked to be thrown out, or simply abandoned. Like the start of many businesses, some saw a chance to make a buck – Not a bad idea! Soon thereafter, pallet recyclers started to pop up in every corner of the nation. With the replacement of a deck board, some new wood fasteners, and quick cleaning, recycled pallet manufacturers were able to bring a product to market in record time.

Although this surely mirrors the spirit of American business and “reduce, reuse, recycle,” it’s worth noting that there are a number of drawbacks when looking at recycled wood pallets for sale. In most circumstances, pallet recyclers can’t verify what loads the pallet’s been under, the origin of the pallet, how old the pallet is, and other key information. Essentially, many pallet manufacturers can’t guarantee a pallet is good-as-new beyond visual inspection. For some businesses, this is enough of a deterrence to pass on recycled wood pallets for sale.

If you’ve made it this far, you’re definitely not a DIYer and you’re probably not looking for recycled pallets. Chances are, you’re looking for a tried and true pallet manufacturer that has new wood pallets for sale… You’re almost at the end of your search!

When looking at pallet manufacturers, it’s important to understand the different products they offer. We’ve already explained what recycled pallets are, but that only scratches the surface of what a wood pallet can be! When you’re buying from a reputable pallet manufacturer, you can expect to find new wood pallets for sale in a multitude of variations. With different dimensions, materials, and treatment options, it can be difficult for transportation packaging newcomers to decipher what they need for their products. If that’s you, keep on reading – We’ll explain everything.

Let’s start off with dimensions, after all, if your product is too large or small for the pallet you’ve bought for it, then you’re increasing the risk of in-transit damage. When it comes to dimensions, most pallet manufacturers offer a wide variety of pallet sizes. Of course, there’s the standard-sized pallet coming in at 48×40, as well as many different industry-specific pallets that hang around that range as well. If your product is abnormally sized, it’s worth noting that many pallet manufacturers have custom wood pallets for sale. With custom pallets, the manufacturer can build around your product, rather than you having to fit your product on a standard-sized pallet.

When it comes to materials, this is largely dependent on your preference. In most cases, many purchasers are fine with the standard industrial softwood used to craft many pallets, although there are some that prefer hardwoods for products that have extreme weight. With the right pallet manufacturer, you should be able to pick and choose which material you’d like your pallet to be made from.

Lastly, and a completely optional step, comes what type of treatment can be done to your pallet. Common treatments include basic heat treatment, ISPM-15 certification for export, and a variety of other chemical treatments. When you choose a reputable pallet manufacturer, they’ll have many different treated wood pallets for sale.

After reading this article, we hope you feel more equipped, prepared, and ready to purchase pallets than ever before! Nowadays, finding the perfect pallet in a crowded market can feel suffocating, we hope that this article can help make your pallet search feel like a breath of fresh air!