Shipping & export · 2026-10-11 · 4 min read
How to fill a container when you only need a few pallets
Consolidation lets smaller buyers mix pallets from several lots into one export shipment.
Most liquidators sell by the truckload and price at the dock in Los Angeles. That works for container importers. A reseller who wants three pallets of makeup, two of tools and a pallet of small appliances is left out. Consolidation fills that gap.
How it works
- Pick pallets from any of our pallet programs and truckloads that sell by the pallet.
- We collect them at a consolidation operator near the Port of Long Beach.
- Mixed or damaged pallets are re-palletized, wrapped and labeled for export.
- Your pallets ship as LCL (less than a container load), or we fill a 20 ft or 40 ft container for you.
- You get one invoice, one packing list and one bill of lading.
Rules of thumb
- A 20 ft container holds about 10 standard pallets on the floor; a 40 ft holds about 20–21, more if they stack.
- Under about 6 pallets, LCL is usually cheaper than a container of your own.
- Keep regulated goods (cosmetics, electrical) on their own pallets so your broker can declare them separately.
- Do not mix used apparel into loads bound for markets that ban it, including the Philippines, Nigeria and Peru.
Tell us your port and roughly what you want, and we will send a mixed-load CIF quote.