Bought a Full Pallet Load at Tractor Supply and They Charged Me for The Pallet

[SSdoxie]

I buy my feed by the pallet at TSC, have never been charged for the pallet or asked to bring it back. I just bought a pallet yesterday, got the normal 5% discount plus the 10% with coupon they are running right now. About half of the pallets are the heavy duty with 3/4" top and bottom boards.

 

[Ken45101]

To me, this sounds the same as a store putting parking meters in their loading area.

Ouch! Please don't give them ideas!!!

 

[dave1949]

You pay for the pallet one way or another. They don't grow on trees ... oh wait. :laughing:

 

[Dr Dave]

I ordered some steel for a building, from Menards, at the checkout register, the total was $100 dollars more, than quoted.
My wife turns to me and said what else did you buy. Then clerk said there is a charge for the pallet, and to bring it back for a refund.
When I unwrapped the steel I noticed the pallet was 20ft long 2x4s layed flat and hooked together with cardboard strips.

When I returned the pallet they had me drive to the 20 ft 2x4 section, the lot boy stripped the cardhoard off and added them to the stack of new lumber.:laughing:

Dave

 

[300UGUY]

I have never heard of charging for pallets. I just chopped up 4 pallets I got from a local biz. I plan on using it as kindling for my new woodstove. I helped my neighbor put a new roof on from Menards last year, he gave me the pallets it came on, made out of 24 ft 2x6. I think I have 20 of them and a bunch of 2x4's. I used to work with a old greek guy who used to take pallet sticks home, by the truckload. All 2x2, 4 feet long, he'd burn them in his woodburner. Tight old guy, his wife snuck out and bought a new living room set, that bothered him, but the fact that his wife put the old stuff out at the curb for the scrounger's to take for free drove him crazy!! Next morning, he kept muttering Free!! Free!!!

 

[dmccarty]

I have not bought anything on a pallet recently but when building the house, quite a bit of material came on pallets and I still have them. I surely was not directly billed for them. Even material I bought for our city house came on pallets and I was not billed. I bought from HD, Lowes, TSC, and smaller local firms and none charged for pallets.

Many years ago, a company had a process for employee ideas that would save the company money. If one's idea was worthy, they would pay you a percentage of the saved money. A guy saw that pallets were being taken from the loading docks by truck drivers and he figured the company could save a bunch of money if they kept the pallets and then sold them or reused them.

He made $500,000 for that idea. :shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing: Course the company change the rules on the program after that money was paid out even though the company saved even more money on his idea.

Now this company was getting lots of pallets, far more than a TSC, HD, or Lowes would get. I wonder how long it takes a single store to collect a semi trailer load of pallets?

Later,
Dan

 

[RobertBrown]

I see guys regularly collecting / stealing them to get the deposit from somewhere. Some pallets are worth a lot more than others. a 48" x40" 4 way pallet is the most desirable. I don't know what the deposit is.

48 x 40" Recycled Wood Pallet H-750 - Uline

But you should be able to get your money back if you take it back to TSC if you want it.

 

[bandaidmd]

Some companys charge the store for the pallet so if the item you want is from one of those companys the store has to either charge you more or get the pallet back. Those pretty blue chep pallets you see outside of stores, 15 years ago the deposit charged to the stores was $45 i'm sure its went up since then. My true value will give you as many of the odd and non deposit pallets as you want but the ones that are marked with red paint are chained to the wall to be returned to there supplier.

 

[bandaidmd]

I see guys regularly collecting / stealing them to get the deposit from somewhere. Some pallets are worth a lot more than others. a 48" x40" 4 way pallet is the most desirable. I don't know what the deposit is.

48 x 40" Recycled Wood Pallet H-750 - Uline

But you should be able to get your money back if you take it back to TSC if you want it.

There not getting a deposit back.
There being sold back to pallet companys for repair/reuse.
The price 15 years ago when i was trucking was $2.50 for one with all good rails ( they dont care about broken or missing top boards) and 1.50 for one with cracks or previous repairs.
Some guys make pretty decent money picking up old pallets.

 

[Scooby074]

Chep or other "Pool" pallets always have a deposit. Retailer pays it so it gets transferred to the customer. Refund when the pallet is returned. Those are the "good" hardwood type pallets. The pool will audit you and missing pallets must be accounted for.

Then there are the cheapies. The foreign ones or the ones made here of thin "wood". Usually they are one way and have no deposit, but there are some companies that ship on high quality, non-pool pallets that are returnable (deposit). Roof shingles and bricks are two things that come to mind as being deposit, non-pool, returnable pallets.

So it depends on the pallet as to whether a deposit is charged or not, but its far from out of the ordinary.

 

[SPIKER]

Around here there are the pallet scroungers and they do OK but not much more than gas $ & a 12 pack. About everywhere if you buying a pallet full of what ever you get the pallet. Never been charged for one either. I COULD have gotten extras when buying insulation but didn't feel like having them at home to deal with...

Local company buys them and refurbs them, prices are 75cent to 2.00 or so from what I remember from old ad in paper 5+ years ago.
Mark

 

[jymbee]

Have you ever bought a pallet load of anything and they would not let you have the pallet it was stacked on?

Local Home Depot said the would charge me $12 for their pallet with a dozen 80 pound bags of concrete premix. But when I checked out, I guess the checker didn't get the word and I got it for free.

Number of places sell used pallets for three bucks, but the quality varies from solid to crap. As I palletize everything I can, I've taken to making my own. I use 2x4s and boards from a local lumber mill that sells their rejects. Last trip there I got a pretty good pickup load for five bucks. More than enough to make four or five VERY rugged pallets.

 

[TomSeller]

I get used pallets at the local hardware store. When I go to pick something up at a chain store that requires a pallet I always toss one in my truck and if they ask me to pay for their pallet, I tell them "no thanks, please load the purchase onto my pallet and put it in my truck". That usually stops them in their tracks and they give me their pallet. When I get too many, I cut them up and burn them in the wood stove.

 

[randy41]

To me, this sounds the same as a store putting parking meters in their loading area.

off topic but i think this is what towns have been doing to downtown retailers for many years now.

 

[John White]

Some time ago I was listening to our local "trading Post" radio show and some fell had a ad and wanted someone with a truck and trailer and said he would pay them $200 for a hauling job. I called him. He said he lost his license for 30 days and needed some with a truck and trailer to haul pallets for a day. I have a 10kw trailer and a F450 truck so I called him. He did all the lifting , loading and tying down. Took about 5 hours. He paid me $200 plus filled my fuel tank. He called the next week and wanted me to do it again but my truck and trailer was tied up.

 

[charlz]

Around here there are the pallet scroungers and they do OK but not much more than gas $ & a 12 pack.

I think the ones around here have it figured out.... find a rusted out, broken down trailer with at least one crack in the frame and a pickup to match. Stack that 8'x16' trailer with pallets 8'x20' and at least 14' high and secure it all with one piece of 1/8" rope. Ensure the cracked trailer frame makes the pallets lean into the oncoming lane. Stack the pickup just as high and use another piece of 1/8" rope with several splices in it for added strength. Also it should be a 1/4 ton truck with only about 1/8 ton worth of actual load capacity left in its suspension so it gets the proper ride at the hitch... you can tell it is a proper ride because the one safety chain is dragging on the ground.


I am pretty sure that they make their equipment investment back on the first load

 

[RobertBrown]

I think the ones around here have it figured out.... find a rusted out, broken down trailer with at least one crack in the frame and a pickup to match. Stack that 8'x16' trailer with pallets 8'x20' and at least 14' high and secure it all with one piece of 1/8" rope. Ensure the cracked trailer frame makes the pallets lean into the oncoming lane. Stack the pickup just as high and use another piece of 1/8" rope with several splices in it for added strength. Also it should be a 1/4 ton truck with only about 1/8 ton worth of actual load capacity left in its suspension so it gets the proper ride at the hitch... you can tell it is a proper ride because the one safety chain is dragging on the ground.

I am pretty sure that they make their equipment investment back on the first load

And you get a ticket when your taillight goes out......

 

[Midniteoyl]

I usually only get pallets when the local Menards puts the broken bags of concrete, mulch, whatever on then, shrink wrap, then sale them off at $5 a pallet.. I bought so much of the concrete once that my 250 rode on the bump stops.. for $25

 

[MoKelly]

Over the years I've bought lots of stuff - Lignetics, fertilizer, shavings etc - from Lowes, Best Buy, Kubota dealer etc and never paid a single penny for their crappy pallets. Usually the pallet is so beat to cr-p its not longer good for anything anyhow. The day some store tries to charge me for a pallet is the day I will find another dealer for that product.

To me, this sounds the same as a store putting parking meters in their loading area.

Or, charging for bags when you fly on an airplane.

MoKelly

 

[Soundguy]

Ouch! Please don't give them ideas!!!

i hear ya!