Notebook · 5 min read
Shipping Container Grades Explained, Including A, B and C
The container industry loves its acronyms. Here's what they actually mean when you're standing in the yard with a budget.
Every container for sale in Australia sits somewhere on a ladder of grades, and the sticker price tracks the ladder closely. Understanding four rungs is enough to buy well.
New / single-trip
Built overseas, loaded once for the voyage here, then sold. Effectively a new container: crisp paint, perfect seals, spotless floor. You pay the premium for lifespan (25–30 years) and looks. If the container will be seen by customers, converted into a workspace, or kept for decades, this is the rung.
Cargo-worthy (CW)
Retired from shipping but certified fit to carry cargo: structurally sound, doors working, wind and watertight. Expect honest dents and faded paint. For general storage this is the sweet spot of the ladder — most of what we sell is here.
Wind and watertight (WWT)
One rung down: no longer certified for shipping, but sealed against weather — which is all a storage container has to do. A WWT unit that's been checked properly (stand inside, shut the doors, look for daylight) is the smart-money buy for paddock and backyard storage. Ours start around $2,200 for a 20ft.
As-is
The bargain rung, and the one that stings careless buyers. "As-is" can mean cosmetic ugliness — or it can mean holed roofs, rotten floors and doors that need a crowbar. Some as-is units are genuine bargains for the right job (think: farm shed for hay, where a pinhole doesn't matter). Just never buy one sight-unseen. We occasionally have as-is 20-footers from around $1,600 — ring us and we'll tell you honestly what's wrong with them.
A, B and C grade: how the letters line up
Plenty of listings sell containers by letter instead of by name. Sellers use the letters differently, and here's how Sunstate's own grades line up: A and B are both cargo-worthy, and C is not a grade we list.
- A grade: cargo-worthy, and the tidier of the used units. Same structural promise as B grade, with straighter panels, better paint and a cleaner floor.
- B grade: also cargo-worthy and wind and watertight, with more dents, patches and faded paint. B grade is not as-is.
- C grade: not a grade we list. Where you see it, it usually means as-is or damaged stock, which is not sold watertight. Ask for the faults in writing.
WWT sits below B grade and above as-is: it is no longer cargo-worthy, so ask what checks a WWT box has passed before you buy. If a quote only gives a letter, ask which of these it means, or send us the listing and the job.
The one-line cheat sheet
Converting or fronting customers: new. Storing things you love: cargo-worthy or checked WWT. Storing hay: as-is is fine. Not sure: ring 0418 179 002 — a person answers, and we'll talk you down a grade if it saves you money for the same result.