About Me


Hi, I'm Michael Ford, owner and creator of this site, Shipping Containers For Sale. I've had over 20 years in the business of international shipping, mostly regarding large container ships. And now my specialty is selling shipping containers themselves. I wanted to create a site that would educate and provide you with the kind of direct and specific information you cannot get anywhere else. I'll post articles and provide images that will help you chart a course through the murky waters of shipping containers and come to port safe and happy. Feel free to ask a question or leave a comment. I'm happy you stopped by.

Archive for the ‘Shipping Container For Sale’ Category

The Best Places To Buy A Shipping Container Online

shipping-container-shopping

Buying a new or used shipping container used to be a long, time consuming process. Sending requests out to local vendors and waiting for them to respond with pricing was an arduous and very old school process.

Fortunately, the internet has solved some of these problems.

#5 – ContainersAuction.com – Was a good site for buying but has now been absorbed by Shipped.com (#1 below).

#4 – eBay.com has a shipping container section with quite a few for sale.  The problem is delivery is not included and most of the containers on offer will be far from your home.

#3 – Craigslist.org – Lots of deals can be found on Craigslist and there are containers listed in many of the top cities.  Buyer beware when dealing with the sellers though – make sure you FULLY INSPECT the container before forking over your cash.

#2 – Local Vendors – Guys like MobileMini come to mind.  But the prices these companies charge is typically quite high.  Check the phonebook or online sites like YellowPages.com to find them, contact them, and then deal/negotiate with them.

#1 – Shipped.com – This is the largest online marketplace to buy or sell shipping containers.  It works like a reverse eBay, you put in what you want and then sellers compete for the lowest price. All sellers are verified and they also have a free escrow feature, guaranteeing that the buyer gets the exact container they’re supposed to.

 

If you have any questions or comments please leave them below.  We love to read your feedback.  Good luck with your shipping container buying!

5 Facts That You Need to Know When Looking for a Shipping Container for Sale

Shipping containers are essential to every shipping business because they facilitate the shipment of products from one country to another. Many of us are not aware that nearly all imported products from other countries are transported by shipping containers before goods are delivered to consumers. This article will provide information regarding how shipping containers were started, who started it all and how important it is to our daily lives.

1. Malcom McLean (1913-2001) was the one who started the development of metal shipping in order to aid for the replacement of the traditional method of handling and transporting of goods. He started this in 1965 and until today, his idea of transporting goods or products through shipping containers are widely used by almost all businesses and organizations.

2. A new shipping container for sale on the market today can last up to 20 years. Although it is best to use new shipping containers, some business owners are using recycled or used shipping containers which are widely available on the market. As a matter of fact, recycling old shipping containers can give you savings if you are on a tight budget.

3. The standard shipping container can store up to 1,150 cubic feet or in lay man’s term, up to 3,596 shoe boxes. A new shipping container for sale on the market today which is 40′ can store up to 2,700 cubic feet or around 8, 443 shoe boxes.

4. The new shipping containers for sale are equipped with a BIC code. The BIC code is comparable to license plates on cars. The standard format is [XXX-U-123456-1] wherein the first three letters indicate the owner of the shipping container, followed by another letter signifying the category of the shipping containers, followed by the six digit serial number and the last digit is the check digit. The categories for shipping containers are U = freight container, J = freight related equipment and Z = trailers or chassis.

5. Almost all shipping containers are carried and transported by cargo ships. There is only a little percentage share of FedEx and other similar logistics companies which corresponds to about 5% of the total shipment of the world. Shipping goods with the use of shipping containers is still recommended because it is still a lot cheaper to transport goods using ships rather than cargo planes or other means of transportation.

A new shipping container for sale is just around the corner for you. If there is no available supplier or manufacturers nearby, searching the internet for manufacturers is the best thing to do. But before communicating with a shipping container manufacturer, make sure that you are familiar with important details of the business and also with the relevant information regarding shipping containers in order to select the containers you need.