Collecting and Selling Pallets for Money

Last Revised - January 7, 2013

Requirements: Driver's License, an F 150 (or higher) Truck, Rope/Tie Downs

Get Your Pallets! Nicely Used Pallets!

Your average 48 by 48 pallet

Have you seen them on the road? Your probably asking, "Seen what??" Well those 18 wheelers stacked sky high with pallets or maybe a a regular truck stacked with at least 20 or more pallets?? Still no? Well you don't really see them very often on the road cause the people driving them are behind malls and shopping centers collecting used pallets. These people have an actually business going on. They collect pallets and take them to a dealer who then buys the pallets from them. Sound interesting? Then shall we continue?

What would I need to have first before pursuing this kind of self-employment job?
The things you'll first need before you can do anything really are as follows:

• Drivers License
• A Truck
• Rope or Tie Downs
• A Good Sense of Direction
• Self-Motivated
• Hammers and Nails
• Hand Drill, Drill Bit(s), and Screws (Optional)

Truck with a Flat Bed

Any truck will do, as long as you can hook ropes or tie downs to its side, it still runs and can handle the weight of all the pallets, then you should be fine. However, if you want to really get the job done and be able to carry a larger load at one time, then you'll need to use a truck with a flat bed, like the picture to the right.

If your gonna use rope, make sure the rope is in good condition cause the worst thing that could happen on you while transporting a full load of pallets is to have the rope snap, make a turn at a corner, and you'll have all your pallets in the road or side walk. Also make sure that there are no existing knots in the rope cause knots reduce the strength of the rope by a good percentage depending on how many knots there are (20% +). I'd recommend you use the Trucker's Hitch. Its a very effect knot that is easy to do and easier to pull apart when you unload.

If you don't know how to make a Trucker's Hitch, here are some good video tutorials that show how to make one.

As for tie downs, make sure the straps aren't severely damaged or that could also lead to disaster because the last thing you want happening is to have 30+ pallets sliding off your truck, going into the street, and into incoming traffic. Which could get people severely hurt depending on where people are at on the road and how fast people driving

A good sense of direction and self-motivation are key to being successful, which can be said with any business, specially if its a self-employed business. If you don't have both, then you are bound to fail. I can't stress to have your family or friends give you support in your business venture specially if you are doing this solo. You could also ways have a family member come with you to help you on your job. Getting the family together would make it a family business instead of partnering with someone, which could lead to disaster if the business doesn't go well.

OK! I'm ready to get started. Where do I start?
First things first. Your going to need to locate a company or individual in your area that buys used pallets. Try looking up on Craigslist or your phone book for people selling pallets. Give them a call (if a number is supplied) and ask if they buy used pallets from people.

Once you have that taken care of,  I want you to think every place around your area or town that receives large quantities of goods. (examples : Wal-Mart, Sears, Ralphs, Target,) Now go to those businesses and ask the Manager/Owner of the store if you could take their wooden pallets off their hands for free. Usually, they should say Yes (unless they have someone already doing it for free) since most businesses have to pay a company to pick them up from their store. If they say Yes, ask if you could come by on a regular basis to pick up their pallets. By doing this, you are establishing your own Pallet Pickup Route, which is very important.

Once you have your pallets, call the pallet company that you contacted before, and confirm with them that you'll be coming in with a truck load of pallets to sell to them.

Repairing Pallets
This is where the hammer(s) and nails come into play. You'll probably run into your fair share of busted pallets. The best way to repair them is to take apart another busted pallet that has some good pieces still and use those pieces to repair other broken pallets. Do note that most pallets are sometimes very hard to nail through, this is due to the different types of wood that are used to make pallets. Usually, the heavier pallets are the ones that are more difficult to nail into and repair. So you might need to use a hand drill to drill a pilot for your nails to go through easier. Now you will have some more good pallets that you can sell and make more money then you did before repairing.

A 2nd Life To Severely Damaged Pallets.
You might run into pallets that are way to damaged to even be worth sacrificing a lesser damaged pallet in order to fix it. It will always be a judgement call when encountering such pallets in which you'll need to calculate if it time put into it is worth saving a single pallet or not.

However, there might be a 2nd option for such severely damaged pallets. This 2nd option, though not fully investigated, is cut or saw damaged pallets into 1 - 2 foot pieces of wood and bundle them up together, advertise on Craigslist, and sell the bundles as firewood. Price would be your discretion. Just make sure there is are no nails in the wood that you bundled up as you don't want to cause injury to yourself or to anyone else.

The Pay
You'll most likely be paid in cash or check and the pay will be based on the amount of pallets you sell to any specific company. Depending on the size of the pallet, you could receive $1.50 - $3.50 dollars per pallet. I know that might not sound like allot, but if you accumulate 50-100 pallets a load, then that is roughly more then $100 bucks. If you do that 5-7 days a week, then you got some a good cash flow going to your pockets, bank account.

Conclusion
Collecting and selling used pallets isn't that hard to start. Its hard work of course, but hard work always has its rewards, and making a decent living is one of them. Work hard, be smart, be safe, and start selling those pallets!