If you have pallet racking you no longer need, you have more options than a skip. Some of it is worth money, most of it is worth something to somebody, and the part that matters most to your costs is usually how it comes out of the building rather than what it is worth once it is out.
This is how to work out which route suits your site, and what to have ready before you ask anyone for a price.
Start by working out what you actually have
Almost every decision from here depends on three things: what the system is, how much of it there is, and what condition it is in. You do not need a specification sheet to answer them.
- The system and brand. Look for a manufacturer label stamped or stuck on an upright, usually near the base. Link 51, Redirack, Dexion, SSI Schaefer, Apex and Mecalux are among the names you will see most often in UK warehouses.
- How much there is. Count the bays along each run and the number of runs. A bay is one section between two upright frames.
- The sizes. Upright height, frame depth and beam length. A tape measure held against the steel in a photograph is enough.
- The condition. Look along the uprights for bowing or impact damage, check whether footplates are intact, and see whether the beam locking pins are still in place.
If you cannot identify any of it, that is not a problem and it is very common. A photograph of a label and a photograph of a tape measure against an upright and a beam is usually enough for a buyer to identify the system for you.
The photographs worth taking
Clear photographs will get you a more useful answer than any amount of description, and they are what lets a buyer price a job without visiting first.
- A view along each run, far enough back to show its length
- A close shot of a manufacturer label on an upright
- A tape measure against an upright and against a beam
- The base of a frame, showing the footplates and any floor fixings
- Any damage you already know about, photographed honestly
- The loading access: the door, the yard, and the route from the racking to the vehicle
That last one surprises people, but access often affects the price more than the steel does.
Option one: sell it
Used pallet racking has a genuine resale market. Buyers who resell racking will consider buying a system outright, and on the right job will dismantle and collect it as part of the purchase.
What makes a system attractive to a buyer is fairly predictable:
- It is a system they already sell, so they have customers for the parts
- There is enough of it to be worth mobilising for
- It is reasonably complete, with frames, beams, pins and any decking
- It is in reusable condition
- It can be got out of the building without excessive difficulty
- It is not so far away that transport eats the value
Be realistic about the last three. A damaged, obsolete or awkwardly located system can be worth very little even when there is a lot of it, and no reputable buyer will promise a figure before seeing what you have. Equally, do not assume a small quantity is worthless without asking — it depends on what it is.
If you want to go down this route, send us the details of your racking and we will tell you either way, including when the answer is no.
Option two: reuse it yourself
Before selling, it is worth asking whether the racking has another life in your own operation. Relocating an existing system to a new site is often cheaper than buying new, and reconfiguring what you have — changing beam levels for different stock, or splitting a run across two areas — can solve the problem that made it surplus in the first place.
Dismantling and re-installing at another site is a service racking companies offer, including on systems they did not supply. If the system is sound and suits your stock, moving it is usually worth pricing against replacing it.
Option three: have it removed
Sometimes the racking simply needs to be gone, and whether it has resale value is secondary to the clearance date. This is the normal position when a lease is ending.
Removal is a job you can buy on its own. It does not have to be tied to a sale, though the two interact: where the system is worth something, that value can be set against the cost of taking it out, which is the better outcome for you. Where it is not, you are paying for labour, transport and disposal.
What drives the cost of a removal:
- The quantity and how the system is configured
- Access, and how far components have to travel to the vehicle
- Whether the building is still operating around the work
- How tight the programme is, and whether work must happen outside normal hours
- Distance from the contractor's base
- How much of the system is reusable rather than scrap
Get the scope in writing before anyone starts. It should be clear about what is being removed, what happens to anything non-reusable, what is expected of your site, and what state the area is left in. Things like floor fixings, floor marking and waste handling vary by site and by contractor, so have them confirmed for your job rather than assumed.
If this is where you are, tell us about the site and we will quote the removal.
Option four: recycling, where nothing else fits
Racking is steel, and steel is recyclable. For a system that is genuinely beyond reuse — badly damaged, heavily corroded, or an obsolete design with no parts market — recycling is the honest answer rather than a failure.
Two things are worth knowing. First, the value of scrap steel moves, so nobody can tell you in advance what a system will be worth as scrap; treat any figure quoted far ahead with caution. Second, commercial waste has its own handling requirements, and who is responsible for what should be established with whoever takes it away rather than assumed. Ask your contractor to confirm how the material is dealt with and what documentation you will receive.
In practice, most systems are a mixture: a proportion worth reselling, and a remainder that is not. A buyer assessing your racking is doing that split in their head when they price it.
A note on taking it down yourself
Dismantling loaded or tall racking is not a DIY job. Pallet racking carries significant weight, components are heavy and awkward, and an upright under load behaves very differently from an empty one. Racking should be emptied before any work starts, and taking a system down is work for people equipped and experienced to do it.
This guide deliberately does not set out a dismantling procedure. If you are weighing up doing it in-house, that is a conversation to have with a competent contractor about your specific system and site, not something to take from a web page.
What to do next
Whichever route looks right, the preparation is the same: identify what you have as best you can, count it, photograph it, and know your date. With those four things you can get a useful answer from anyone you ask.
If you would like us to look at it, send the details and photographs and we will tell you whether it is something we would buy, what we think it is worth taking out, or both. If the answer is that it is not worth buying, we will say so.