Got empties?
We’ll write a check.
Most IBC suppliers want to sell to you. We’re also the rare one that wants to buy from you. Truckload pricing, single-unit pricing, and everything in between.
Same-day reply.
Every form goes straight to a human in Green Bay — no chatbots, no offshore desks. Mon–Fri responses within four working hours.
Four steps from pallet to payment.
We pay best for what we can recondition fastest.
We’ll quote almost anything. We’ll quote highest for:
- 275 or 330 gallon caged HDPE in good cosmetic shape
- Food-grade tote with documented prior contents (corn syrup, glycerin, edible oils, etc.)
- Composite or stainless variants
- Tote that’s been used one or two cycles, not ten
- Truckload quantities consolidated on one site
We won’t buy:
- Totes with prior contents we can’t verify
- Totes that held listed RCRA hazardous waste
- Bottles with structural damage to the discharge collar
Even when we can’t buy for reuse, we’ll often quote end-of-life pickup at a price that beats your local landfill tipping fee. See recycling.
What we typically pay for used totes.
| Condition | Prior contents | Lot size | Indicative price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excellent · 1–2 cycles | Food-grade, documented | 40+ totes | $78–$92 / tote |
| Excellent · 1–2 cycles | Food-grade, documented | 1–4 totes | $58–$70 / tote |
| Good · 3–6 cycles | Industrial, documented | 20+ totes | $42–$58 / tote |
| Good · 3–6 cycles | Industrial, documented | 1–10 totes | $28–$40 / tote |
| Fair · 7+ cycles | Documented | Any | $12–$22 / tote |
| Unknown contents | Undocumented | Any | $8–$18 / tote (industrial pool only) |
| Damaged structurally | Any | Any | EoL credit (see Recycling) |
All prices indicative; final quote depends on photos, prior-contents paperwork, and our pickup distance. We pay ACH within 3 business days, or check at the gate.
Three things that get you a higher quote.
- STEP 01
Triple-rinse before pickup
A tote we don’t have to deep-clean is worth $4–$8 more per unit to us. Even a single hot rinse moves the number.
- STEP 02
Document prior contents
A signed manifest listing prior product, by tote, gets your lot into our food-grade pool if applicable. That pool pays the highest prices.
- STEP 03
Bundle truckload quantities
A 40-tote pickup is roughly 2.4x the per-tote payment of a 5-tote pickup, because our freight per tote is much lower.
Eleven years, four growth phases, one stubborn idea.
“We’ve been buying reconditioned 275-gal totes from IBC Reconditioned since 2017. Zero returns, zero contamination, full chain-of-custody on every invoice. They’ve earned the lock-in.Procurement Director · Regional food ingredient distributor · IL
“They picked up 64 used totes from our parking lot in two days, wrote a check on the dock, and we never saw them piled up against a wall again. That alone is worth the relationship.Plant Manager · Adhesive manufacturer · MN
“The transparency is what sold us. We toured the wash line, watched a tote come through, and signed a standing order on the way back to the car.Operations Lead · Specialty chemical co-packer · WI
“Their food line is the only reconditioner we trust for our edible-oil program. The segregation is real, not theatrical.QA Director · Co-packer · IA
The ones people ask after their first reply.
I have only 2–3 totes. Worth your time?
Yes if you’re on a route we already run. We’ll often bundle small lots with larger nearby pickups. Worst case we direct you to a local broker who can consolidate.
Do you take totes that held listed hazardous waste?
No. RCRA-listed waste is a regulatory category we are not equipped to handle. We can recommend specialty recyclers in the region.
What if the totes are outside the lower 48?
We work occasionally with Canadian sellers — the manifest paperwork is more involved but doable. AK, HI, PR are typically not worth the freight; we will say so.
How do you handle prior-contents we’re not sure of?
An honest “don’t know” on the manifest is acceptable. Those totes go to industrial-only or end-of-life. They will not enter our food-grade pool.
Will you sign an NDA on prior-contents details?
Yes. Standard mutual NDA on request; we keep prior-contents documentation confidential by default anyway.
Have totes piling up?
Send photos and a count. We’ll quote pickup within 24 hours, write a check, and your parking lot gets cleaner.