If pallets are stacking up behind your building, you have two options. You can pay someone to haul them off, or you can find a pallet recycler who will pay you for them and pick them up. The second one exists, and in a market the size of Dallas–Fort Worth it isn’t hard to arrange. Here’s how it works.
Who actually buys used pallets
Three kinds of buyers, in order of how useful they are to a business:
- Pallet recyclers and repair shops. This is the main market. They buy usable and repairable pallets, sort them, fix what can be fixed, and resell them as recycled units. They pick up in volume and they pay per pallet. A&A Pallets is one of these.
- Pallet brokers. Middlemen who don’t have a yard. They arrange pickups and resell to recyclers. Prices are lower because they take a cut, but they may reach areas a local yard doesn’t.
- Individuals. People building furniture or garden beds. They take a handful at a time, pay little or nothing, and won’t come back next week. Fine for a small shop with a dozen pallets. Useless for a warehouse.
If you receive freight regularly, you want a recycler with a truck, a yard, and a standing schedule.
What buyers want
The pallet everyone wants is the 48×40 GMA in reusable or repairable condition. It is the standard, it resells immediately, and a recycler can move hundreds a day. Other things that help:
- Stringers intact or cracked in only one place (repairable)
- Deck boards mostly present
- Dry, not sitting in mud
- Stacked and sorted so the truck can load fast
What’s harder to sell:
- Odd sizes (48×48, 42×42, custom skids): some recyclers take them, many don’t, and they pay less
- Pallets soaked in oil, chemicals, or food waste
- Pallets so broken they only have value as fiber (these often go for free or a small fee)
- Plastic pallets: a separate market, sold by weight
How much are used pallets worth?
Recyclers pay per pallet, and the price depends on size, condition, quantity, and how far the truck has to drive. Nationally, a reusable 48×40 in decent shape is worth a few dollars; a repairable one is worth less; a non-standard or badly damaged pallet may be worth nothing or carry a small disposal charge. Prices move with the lumber market and with regional supply.
The honest way to price your pile is to have a recycler come look at it. Twenty minutes on site tells them what they can resell, and they’ll quote from that. Any recycler who quotes a firm per-pallet price without seeing the load is guessing.
How a buyback pickup works
- Call with a rough count and location. “About 200 pallets, mostly 48×40, dock in southeast Dallas” is enough to schedule.
- Sort if you can. Standard sizes in one stack, odd sizes in another, obvious junk separate. Sorted loads get better prices because the buyer can count and grade fast.
- Pickup. Recycler brings a truck and loads. For steady volume, set a recurring pickup so the pile never gets tall.
- Payment. Per pallet, by grade, on the count the driver takes at pickup.
Selling vs. just getting rid of them
If your pallets are mostly broken or odd-sized, selling may not be realistic. That doesn’t mean paying landfill fees. Recyclers still take that material because the wood has value as mulch, fiber, or repair stock. Read How to Get Rid of Pallets for that side of the problem.
Frequently asked questions
Pallet recyclers and repair companies. They buy usable and repairable pallets, especially standard 48x40s, and pick them up. In Dallas–Fort Worth, A&A Pallets runs a buyback and pickup program for businesses.
A few dollars per reusable 48×40 is typical nationally, less for repairable units, and little or nothing for odd sizes or heavily damaged pallets. Get an on-site quote for an accurate number.
Yes, in volume. Most recyclers have a minimum count that makes a truck worth sending. For ongoing freight, ask about a recurring pickup.
Sometimes, at a lower price. Badly damaged pallets are usually taken for free or a small fee and recycled for material rather than resold.
Have pallets to sell in DFW?
A&A Pallets buys reusable and repairable pallets across Dallas–Fort Worth and picks them up with our own fleet. Call (214) 398-3555 with a count and we’ll schedule a look.
Related services: Pallet Buyback & Pickup · New & Recycled Pallets · Pallet Repair · All services
Photo: Håkan Dahlström via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 (source)