Pallet disposal splits on condition, not location. A standard 48x40 pallet with its boards intact has free takers: recyclers and marketplace listings, and a recycler may even pay $2-4 for it. Broken, odd-size, painted, or heat-treat-stamped pallets get refused. That kind books online at $69 for the first and leaves from the curb.
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| Your pallet | Who takes it |
|---|---|
| Standard 48x40, boards intact | Recyclers and free listings. Some recyclers pay $2-4 |
| Broken boards or cracked stringers | Refused: nothing to repair and resell |
| Odd size (crate bases, machine skids) | Refused: no standard footprint to resell |
| Painted, stained, or heat-treat stamped | Refused, and most cities ban burning them |
| Any refused pallet at the curb | Dropcurb: first pallet $69, each added pallet $10 |
If they're standard and unbroken, don't pay anyone
Check three things before you spend a dollar: the footprint, the boards, the surface. The standard pallet is 48 by 40, the GMA size recyclers repair and resell. If yours are that size, with sound boards and bare wood, you are holding the one piece of junk strangers will take for free. List them on Craigslist or Facebook and the project crowd claims them. Or call a pallet recycler: for clean standard stock, some pay $2-4 a pallet. Call before you load anything, because every yard decides for itself what it takes and what it pays. That half of the stack should cost you nothing, and might pay for lunch.
Why nobody wants the broken ones
Every free route for pallets is a resale market, not a favor. The recycler grades your stack because they sell what they take: standard footprint, repairable boards, bare wood. The marketplace crowd is shopping too, for boards they can build with. So the same stack splits at the gate.
Cracked stringers and snapped deck boards get refused; there is nothing to repair into sellable stock. Odd sizes get refused; the base of a machinery crate or the skid a hot tub shipped on has no standard footprint to resell. Paint, stain, or a heat-treat stamp gets refused. The backyard shortcut fails too: most cities ban burning pallets, because treated wood does not belong in smoke.
What is left once the market picks through a stack is, by definition, the part with no free taker. That is the pile this page is about.
This is the pickup with no grade. Broken, painted, odd-size, stamped: a pallet is a pallet. **$69** for the first pallet up to 4 × 4 ft, $10 for each one after it, so five are $109. Stack them at the curb and a local hauler takes the lot. 5.0 on Google, 150+ reviews · 4.9 on Trustpilot, 125+ reviews.
Pallet, $69What people say once the pile is gone
Tyler Bond had his couch gone 45 minutes after he booked, against a $250 quote from a mover. Another customer wrote on Google: "I was concerned this wasn't a legit company, but they absolutely are." More than 1,000 items a month move through the platform, at 5.0 on Google across 150+ reviews and 4.9 on Trustpilot across 125+.
What the whole stack costs
Per-item pricing means the first item carries the trip and everything after it rides cheaper. For an all-pallet load the first is $69 and each additional pallet is $10: three are $89, five are $109, eight are $139. The total shows in the cart before you pay anything. Mixed loads work the same way. If a couch or a mattress is going out too, the priciest item carries the trip and every pallet rides along at $10.
Two honest boundaries. If the whole stack is standard and intact, a recycler is the better call, and possibly money in your pocket instead. And past about ten items, per-item math stops being the cheap route; a volume service or a dumpster fits a full teardown better. The job in between, a handful of pallets the market refused, is exactly what this pricing was built for.
What happens after you book
Book first, then stage the pallets. People wait until the stack is at the curb before they schedule, which usually costs them a day; the price is set at booking, so moving them out later changes nothing.
Haulers head out between 8 and 10 in the morning. Almost half of pickups are done by noon, and about three quarters by 2 PM. You get a text with the ETA before yours arrives, so you know when the stack needs to be out. Photos come through once it is gone.
Book by 2 PM local time and it goes today, seven days a week, in all 50 states. Nobody comes inside, and you do not need to be home. Pallets sitting where a hauler can reach them from outside is the whole requirement.
Frequently asked questions
Do pallet recyclers pay for used pallets?
Sometimes. For standard 48x40 pallets with intact boards, some recyclers pay $2-4 each, because they repair and resell them. Nobody pays for broken, odd-size, painted, or heat-treat-stamped pallets, and most yards will not take those at any price. Call ahead; each yard sets its own rules on what it accepts and what it pays.
Can pallets go in the regular trash?
Not in the cart. A 48x40 pallet does not fit a trash bin, and whether your city's bulk pickup takes pallets varies; many programs treat them as construction debris rather than household bulk. Check your city's rules before you stack them out.
Is it legal to burn old pallets?
In most cities, no. Open burning of pallets is banned because treated wood can be in any stack, and it does not belong in smoke. Rules are local, so if a burn pile was the plan, check your city or county fire rules first.
How much does Dropcurb charge for pallets?
$69 for the first pallet and $10 for each one after it, at the curb. Five pallets are $109. The total shows in the cart before you pay, and condition does not change the price: a broken or painted pallet costs what a clean one does. An oversized 4 × 8 ft pallet is $79.
Do I have to be home for the pickup?
No. Stack the pallets where a hauler can reach them from outside and go about your day. You get a text with the ETA that morning and photos once they are gone. Nobody needs to come inside.
Can pallets get picked up today?
Book by 2 PM local time and it goes today, seven days a week, in all 50 states. Haulers head out between 8 and 10 in the morning, and almost half of pickups are finished by noon.