New vs used shipping containers — where the $1,100 goes

What the gap actually buys

Sealed, unpatched steel. A used cargo-worthy unit is checked wind and watertight before it leaves the depot, so both grades keep rain out on day one. The difference is the starting point for the next fifteen years — a new unit has no existing repairs to eventually fail.

An unmarked floor. Used floors have carried things. They are structurally fine and they are stained.

Door seals that have never hardened. Seals are the first thing to age, and they are the most common water path into an older unit.

Colour. New units usually come in a choice. Used units come in whatever colour they were.

Resale. A newer unit holds a higher share of its value, which matters if the need has an end date.

The four cases where new is worth it

1. It will be visible. A container in front of a house, a shopfront, a school or anywhere a neighbour looks at it. Appearance is a real requirement and there is no shame in buying for it.

2. You are fitting it out. Lining, insulating, cutting in a door or window, running power. Starting from square, unpatched steel with a clean floor saves hours and avoids discovering a repair behind your new lining. If you are lining it, take the high cube as well — you lose 50 to 75mm of headroom to the lining.

3. Sensitive contents. Documents, electronics, upholstery, anything where a slow problem is expensive. Both grades are sold sound; new gives you more margin over time.

4. You expect to resell. A three-year need on a build or a lease often works out better bought new and sold on than bought used, particularly on a long freight run where you are paying for the truck either way.

The cases where used is plainly the right answer

• Site storage on a build
• Tool and trade storage, locked nightly
• Farm storage — feed, chemical, machinery parts
• Household storage during a renovation or a move
• Anywhere nobody is looking at it and nothing inside minds a stained floor

That is most jobs. Cargo-worthy is the default for a reason, and $1,100 spent on a better grade you did not need is $1,100 that could have gone on the delivery, a lock box, or a bigger unit.

The bigger question nobody asks

Before new against used, answer size against access. A used 40ft at $2,600 gives you double the volume of a used 20ft at $2,200 — a far larger swing in value than the grade question — and it is worth precisely nothing if the truck cannot place it.

Measure the straight run available at the placement spot, look up for wires and branches, and think about the ground after rain. Then pick the size. Then pick the grade.

Every figure is on the prices page with the date it was set, and the grades have their own pages: new single-trip and used cargo-worthy.