But it still pays to ask as not all large stores are contracted as I discovered when I happened to spy three excellent, three metre long pallets outside the loading dock of one of Australia’s largest department stores. I found the storeman and asked if I could take the pallets. He was delighted and even helped me load them into my trailer. His comment was that if someone didn’t take them, they wait until they get a few and then pay to get them taken away!
Those pallets had come from Europe with very expensive leather sofas sitting on them. The pallets were excellent quality. So good in fact, I still have them stored waiting for that special project!
There will be many businesses within a short drive of your home who sell all kinds of bulky goods. Furniture is the obvious one but look around. What businesses do you drive past every day? Many of these sell items that are shipped long distances. Most of them come on single use pallets. Here’s a short list to get you started:
- Garden shops and nurseries
- Auto parts stores
- Motorcycle shops (great source for crates as well)
- Lawn mower shops (also a source for crates)
- Smaller hardware stores
- Trash and treasure shops
- Baby shops (no, silly… where they sell prams and cots, not babies! Babies don’t come on pallets.)
- Pet stores
- Stationers
- Office equipment suppliers
Just open your eyes and they are there! But once you have found your source, be reliable. If you promise to take someone’s pallets weekly, do it. And don’t cherry pick. If you deliver, they will deliver. If you only want three or four pallets, be up-front about it. It’s a win-win situation.
Don’t ignore broken pallets. There will still be salvageable timber in them or simply find alternate uses for them.
There are hundreds of projects for pallets on our site. Just search for ‘pallets’ and stand well back! There are other sites that are totally dedicated to pallets. You will never run out of ideas or, as long as you look, pallets to do the projects with.
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