If you have recently been shopping for a shipping container, then you must have realized that nobody tells you anything. When you ask five different dealers about their price for a shipping container, you receive five different prices. Let’s get down to some real prices, then.
Used shipping containers can be bought for a starting price of about $2,000. New ones will cost about $8,500 or more, not including delivery costs. It is quite a range of prices, isn’t it? Let’s see why.
What Actually Changes the Price
Size does matter. A 20-ft container costs somewhere from $2,000 to $3,500, while a 40-ft one goes for $2,700 to $7,500, depending on its condition. One can find that a small 10-ft container is even more expensive – from $4,500 to $7,500 – just because they are rarely produced. The rule is simple – fewer products mean a higher price.
New or used container? The fact is that there is no such thing as “a new container” in Australia. They are all imported from abroad and filled with some cargo because shipping an empty container would cost too much money. “A new” container is a container which was shipped just once and made its journey to Australia without any scratches and dents. A used container is a container that was used several times and has had different owners and therefore some wear and tear. This is why it is cheaper.
The type of shipping container and any customization required will raise the price even further. The most affordable shipping container that one can get is the general purpose one. The minute one moves towards higher capacity containers, refrigerated ones, insulated ones, or specialized customized shipping containers, the prices rise.
The location also influences the cost of the shipping container. There are freight charges, depot availability in the particular region, and distance from the location where the container needs to be delivered.
Buy or Hire?
Herein lies the traditional dilemma. It would make more sense to purchase than hire in cases where you require the container for some time, because you will not be paying rent forever. In most cases, you would want to go for the hire route in case the work is temporary, which means that you will not have to worry about how to dispose of the asset after usage.
Don’t Forget About Delivery
Delivery will normally come at an additional cost, with the cost rising to several hundred dollars, depending on various factors such as distance and accessibility.
Getting a Fair Price
The prices vary according to the shipping situation around the world, which means that the amount you paid in the past does not equal the current quote. In all cases, the right thing to do would be to obtain an accurate quote based on your own specific requirements.
In case you need a container in Australia, Contact Tiger Shipping Containers.
