What the grader decides
It turns what you see into one of five grades: used as-is, rinsed, dirty, rebottling candidate or damaged. Each grade maps to a condition on the request, so the reply does not have to guess what "pretty good" meant.
The reason is always shown. A tote graded damaged because of a bent cage reads differently from one graded damaged because the base is broken, and the fix is different too.
| Grade | Request condition | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Used, as-is | used | Straight cage, clear bottle, sound valve and base. Not washed, so residue of the last contents may be inside. |
| Rinsed | rinsed | The same sound parts, and the inside is rinsed clean. Not food grade by that alone. |
| Dirty, heel left | dirty | Sound parts, but product is still in the bottom or the bottle is stained. It needs washing or goes to a same-product user. |
| Rebottling candidate | damaged | The cage and base are good, the bottle is cracked or chalky. The steel is worth a new bottle. |
| Damaged, parts or scrap | damaged | A bent or cracked cage, a broken base or a broken valve. Good for parts or recycling. |
What it never does
The grader assumes nothing about price. It does not tell you what a tote is worth, because that depends on the grade, the size, the count and the market on the day, and none of those is something a checklist can know.
It never clears a tote that held a hazardous chemical, or one with unknown contents, for food, drinking water or animals. It tells you to find the SDS and to check the permit and the carrier before the tote moves.
A rinsed or as-is tote is not food grade. Food grade needs documented food-only history or a new bottle. The grader says so on every result.
How to walk a wall
Work left to right and group as you go. Totes that share a cage, a bottle, a valve, a base and a last product are one group, however many there are. Forty identical returns are one entry with a count of forty.
Do the cage first. If the bars are bent or a weld is cracked, the other four checks matter less, because the cage carries the stacking load. Then the bottle, then the valve, then the base. Write the last contents from the label, the delivery paperwork or the person who ran the line. If none of those exist, choose unknown.
Take the counts to the end. A lot summary with the counts by grade is what a buyer or a rebottler can price from. A list of forty individual totes with a paragraph each is not.
What the grader assumes
The grader reads your choices and applies a fixed set of rules. A bent cage means damaged. A chalky bottle means rebottling. A missing valve means a part swap. Hazardous or unknown last contents means the tote is never cleared for food, water or animals. It does not price anything and does not claim to know what a buyer will pay.
It also cannot see. It trusts what you tell it, so photograph the same things you answered, and send the photographs with the request so a person can check.
Using the result
The lot list at the bottom is the part to copy. It groups your totes by grade and keeps the counts. Send it as it is, and add anything the grader cannot say, such as where the totes are stored and when they must be gone.
Why the grader asks about the valve first
People expect the cage or the bottle to be the first question, but the valve is the quickest honest signal. A valve that opens cleanly, closes fully and shows no weep suggests a tote that was handled with care. A seized, cracked or missing valve suggests the opposite, and it also tells you something about the rest of the tote's life.
The grader then moves to the cage, because a bent frame ends reuse faster than anything else, and to the bottle, because sun, scratches and stains decide whether it can hold a second product. Last contents come last, though they carry the most weight when they are hazardous or unknown.
Take your time. A lot of fifty totes graded carefully is worth more to a buyer than a lot of five hundred graded by guess.
Grading a lot against a deadline
If a bay must be cleared by a date, grade the totes nearest the door first and send the list in parts. A partial list is better than waiting for a perfect one, because the first answer often changes what you do with the rest.
Saving your work
The lot list stays in your browser during the visit. Copy it before closing the tab if you want to keep it.
Questions people ask
Can I grade a mixed pile with different totes in it?
Yes. Add one group per kind of tote. The lot summary adds the groups up by grade and shows the total.
Does the grader give me a price?
No. It grades condition and nothing else. This site states no prices.
What if I do not know the last contents?
Choose unknown. The grader grades the tote on its parts and tells you it is not cleared for food, water or any new product until the SDS turns up.
What happens when I press send?
The counts, the grades and your note go into a quote request, and the reply comes by email. Nothing is sent until you press the button.
Sources. Last reviewed 2026-11-11.