Buy IBC totes: tell the desk the grade, size and job

Buying through the desk starts with the job, not a product grid. Tell the desk the grade, the size and what the tote will hold next, and it looks for plant empties nearby that fit.

01Sort by the job

A rebottled 330 with a current retest date and a caged 275 that held glycol are different trades, and the desk writes them up that way. These are the jobs buyers bring most, and the grade each one usually asks for.

The job	Grade it asks for	What the desk checks first
Repeat chemical fills	Rebottled or reconditioned	Retest date with years left, valve and cap
Food or beverage product	New, or a documented food-grade history	The record, not how clean the tote looks
Farm, nursery or spray water	Rinsed or reconditioned with a food-safe past	Last contents, and what the tote will hold next
Rainwater for a garden	Rinsed or used, with a known history	Last contents; never for drinking
Dry goods or parts	Any grade that is intact	Cage and lid; the date rarely matters

02Sort by size

Both common sizes stand on the same 48 by 40 inch footprint. A 275 is 46 inches high and a 330 is 53 inches high, so the 330 holds 55 gallons more for seven inches of height. If your roof, rack or truck door has a height limit, that is the number to check first. The two size pages give the specs and the loading figures.

Smaller and larger totes exist, from 110 to 550 gallons by one source, but 275 and 330 are the sizes the desk matches.

03Sort by grade

Eight grades run from a new bottle in a new cage down to a damaged tote that is worth its parts. Each has its own page with a drawn heel line and the uses it fits and rules out. The most asked-about pair has a guide of its own: rebottled versus reconditioned.

04What we will not promise

The desk lists no prices, minimums or delivery times, because it does not hold stock to quote from. A buy ticket asks for a match, and the match comes from sellers who have posted. A request for a tote to hold drinking water is declined with the reason; see the drinking water guide.

05What a buyer should have ready

A buy ticket is quickest to match when it names the job before the tote. A mushroom farm asking for water tanks, a blender asking for rebottled units with a current plate and a gardener asking for a single rinsed tote are three different tickets, and the desk reads each against a different part of the ladder. Say the size, 275 or 330 gallons, the grade you will accept and the worst last contents you could live with.

Floor space matters more than most buyers expect. A caged tote stands on a pallet footprint of 48 inches by 40 inches, about 13.3 square feet, and a 275 stands 42 to 46 inches tall. A 330 needs about 53 inches of vertical clearance, so a low garage door or a shed roof can rule a tote out before price does.

Size and count, with the largest lot you could take in one delivery.
The worst last contents you will accept, and whether you need paperwork for it.
Delivery ZIP, and whether a lift gate truck or a forklift is on site.
Latest acceptable retest date, if the tote will ride on a road again.

06Buying by use

If you are	Ask for	Watch for
A mushroom or vegetable farm	Rinsed or food-history totes in 275 or 330 gallons for water	A valve thread that matches your hose
A blender or refiller	Rebottled or reconditioned totes with a current plate	The last-test month and the outlet type
A rowhouse gardener	One rinsed tote with a known past	A level base for over a ton of water
A nursery	A few totes at a time, delivered	Screened openings and shade
A hauler buying a trailer lot	Matching size and grade across the lot	Whether the lot ships empty and stacked

07Post the ticket

?Questions on this page

Where do I find used IBC totes near Philadelphia?

Post a NEED ticket with the size, grade and ZIP. The desk matches it against empties posted by plants, blenders and farms on both banks of the Delaware.

Can I buy a single tote?

Yes. A single tote for a downspout in Fishtown is a real request. So is a trailer of rebottled 330s.