Purchasing shipping containers can be a major and confusing purchase for a small business owner. To ensure you make the right choice of shipping container for your budget, simply follow these simple steps to ensure you get the right shipping container for the right job, at the right price.
1) What is your budget?
Do some quick desk research on shipping container prices, gain a benchmark of what an average container in good condition costs but don’t forget to take into account hidden costs such as tax, international shipping and delivery. Sometimes the cheap container for sale overseas is more expensive than a local, ready to deliver container with after sales service.
2) What are you using your shipping container for?
Ask yourself is what is the purpose of your shipping container purchase? Are you looking to use it for cheap and effective storage on your property, to transport goods, or perhaps as the base of a home or office construction project. The intended use will have an impact on the size, type and condition of the container you require.
There are thousands of uses a shipping container, from temporary site offices on constructions sites, standard or cold storage transport, dangerous goods storage, workshops, training rooms, lunch rooms and more. Typically containers can either be purchased as is, or pre modified depending on your budget and abilities. Remember that while a pre modified container in the short term might seem an expensive luxury, it can save thousands of dollars once you factor in the costs of labour, construction and accessories. So make sure you get a good quote on all the options before going with the basic option when you need something a bit out of the ordinary. We recommend following these top 10 tips for hiring or purchasing a shipping container.
3) How long do you need a container for?
Is the shipping container intended for temporary or permanent use? You have the option of shipping containers for sale or for hire. Short term requirements such as transportation or temporary site offices might only require a leased containers, while construction and conversions will mean you need to buy.
4) What size container do you require?
Shipping containers come in a wide variety of sizes, with the most common being the industry standard sizes of 10, 20 and 40 foot containers. Take into account your intended use and availability of space on site, bearing in mind future requirements and the strong possibility that you will need more space in the future.
Typically 20 foot containers are the most popular due to their versatility, while 40 foot containers are more common for shipping large quantities of goods overseas. 10 foot containers can be slightly more expensive per square foot, and less common, but are incredibly handy when ground space is at a premium.
5) Do you require accessories or modifications for your container?
As mentioned previously shipping containers for sale can generally be purchased “as is” or be modified for a wide variety of uses such as storage, transport, accommodation, offices and more. Take into account any costs of modification and compare them to the costs of purchasing the container pre modified. There are many other types of shipping containers available including: General Purpose Containers, High Cube Containers, Side Opening Containers, Open Tops, Flat Racks, Insulated Containers & Refrigerated Containers.
Now that you are armed with this information you are ready to make an informed choice on your container purchased and select the best shipping container for sale or hire that fits your budget.
