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Finding shipping and storage containers for sale near you isn't always as straightforward as it would appear. Containers appear to be ubiquitous when driving past large distribution centers and ports, but finding them for sale in near you may require a little more effort and research. Many of the containers that you see in these places are still in use and not for sale, so stopping at the location and asking to purchase one typically isn't possible.
First, depending on where you are located, shipping containers can be called a number of different things:
With this in mind, anyone working in the industry will typically understand any of the above terms.
A quick search in Google will return any number of dealers and brokers. Note that lines and leasing companies aren't geared to deal with individual buyers, so it's most likely you'll deal with a secondary party. The organization that you deal with may or may not be in your area, but they should be able to provide a container close to you.
Larger cities and metropolitan areas have the greatest access to containers, which is most likely where your container will come from. The best deals can be found along the east and west coasts, and Chicago. Other cities, such as Cleveland and Denver have a regular flow of inventory; but the price may be a little higher.
Shipping container prices tend to fluctuate based on available inventory, and the inventory is impacted by the season and global trade flow. The second half of the year is when many retailers begin stocking up for Christmas, so in the following months container inventories tend to grow. Near the start of the year, many of the retailers that were renting storage containers start to return them, so retail dealers have greater inventory.
All of this means, the ideal time to buy a shipping container is when you need it and the price is right for your budget.
It's important to find a shipping container close to you, because unless you have your own 40' trailer, you'll probably need to have the storage container delivered from the depot. The farther that delivery location is from the depot the greater the cost is going to be. The other factor in location/price is the type of truck that's needed for the delivery. Flatbed delivery is cheaper, especially at a greater distance, but it requires a fork lift or crane at the delivery location. If you don't have a way to unload the container delivery will require a tilt bed trailer. Tilt bed deliveries are fast and easy, but at greater distances (>100 miles from the depot) can be expensive.
To sum everything up, the best place to find a storage container is to start by looking close to home. Many companies that can be found on the internet are either retailers, dealers, or brokers. If you're near a major city there's a better chance that you'll find a cheaper storage container. If you live in a more rural area it will likely need to be trucked a little farther and there will be some additional costs.