Delivered Price

The decision this term is built to settle

Comparing container prices between sellers usually comes down to one question: is this number the whole cost, or the starting point for one. A low sticker price that doesn't include getting the box to your land isn't actually cheaper than a higher delivered price, it just hides the rest of the cost until later. The deciding factor is whether the word 'delivered' is doing real work in the number you were quoted, or just sitting there for effect.

What should already be folded in

On a real delivered price, the truck, the tilt-bed setting the container onto leveled foundation blocks so the doors swing true, and a welded lockbox are already paid for. None of that should show up as a line item added afterward. If a seller quotes you a number and then mentions a separate delivery charge once you've agreed to buy, that first figure was never a delivered price at all, just a sticker.

Where a delivered price can still move

Two things sit outside the number, and they're supposed to: mileage past 75 road miles from Woodlawn, which gets quoted up front rather than sprung on you at the curb, and any custom modification, since a roll-up door or electrical work gets priced against the actual job rather than folded into a container's base price. Neither is a hidden fee; both are simply outside what 'delivered' covers here.

How to use it when you're comparing quotes

Ask every seller the same question before you compare numbers: does this figure include getting the container to my address and setting it level, or does that come later. A used cargo-worthy 20-ft here runs $3,200 delivered, a 40-ft around $4,900, both already covering the drop and the lockbox inside 75 miles. Line that against any other quote before deciding which one is actually lower.