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!