Shipping Container Cafe – Container Restaurant Fit-Out

About this unit

The Shipping Container is part of our 20ft containers range, held for sale and hire from our Queensland depot, delivered Australia-wide. Every unit is inspected before it leaves the yard: doors swung, seals checked, floor sounded and the frame photographed as found. Delivery is quoted against your postcode and site access, and we tell you before you commit whether the truck can set the unit down where you want it. Modification is available on this unit — doors, windows, partitions, insulation, power and fit-out — quoted separately and built in our own workshop.

Hire is available for short and long terms, with the same inspection standard applied to hired units as to sold ones.

Shipping Container is a steel container, supplied as an individual unit, held in the 20ft containers range and released from our Queensland yard for delivery to every state and territory in Australia.

Every listing on this page describes the actual unit. Condition is inspected and photographed before dispatch, the price shown is the Shipping Container only with delivery quoted separately against your postcode, and nothing on the page is a stock claim we cannot stand behind.

Buying a Shipping Container

The Shipping Container is sold as an individual unit, inspected before dispatch and priced as listed. If you are weighing up a Shipping Container against a newer or larger equivalent, the condition report and the access to your site matter more than the model year.

What fits inside

As a working guide, a 20ft general purpose container holds roughly ten standard pallets in a single layer, and
a 40ft holds about twenty. Ten foot units take a handful and suit tools and compact storage rather than palletised
stock. High cube variants add a foot of internal height, which is worth having for anything tall, anything racked,
or anything a person has to stand up inside.

Ground, drainage and where to put it

A container wants firm, level ground that will carry a loaded truck. Compacted crushed rock, concrete or
hardstand all work; bare soil will settle unevenly and rack the frame. Set it slightly proud of the ground so
water runs away rather than under the floor, and leave room at the door end to swing both leaves fully — a
container door needs more clearance than most people allow for.

How it is inspected before dispatch

Every unit is opened and checked before it leaves the yard, not described from a listing. Doors are swung and
latched, seals are checked for compression, the floor is sounded across the span for soft spots, and the frame is
photographed as found — before a wash, not after. You see photographs of the actual unit before freight is
booked, so what turns up is what you agreed to buy.

Buying remotely

Most of these units are bought by people who never see the yard, and that is fine when the condition reporting
is honest. Ask for the inspection photos, get the grade confirmed in writing, and check whether the quoted price
includes delivery — a cheaper unit with freight excluded is frequently the more expensive purchase once the
truck is booked.

Delivery and what it costs

The price shown is the Shipping Container only. Delivery is quoted separately against your postcode and site access, and it
is the honest way to do it — a drop fifteen kilometres from the yard and a drop twelve hundred kilometres
away are not the same job. Units are released from our Queensland yard and delivered to every state and territory
in Australia. Queensland drops generally run on our own trucks; interstate moves on scheduled freight, with the
booked window and carrier details confirmed in writing before dispatch.

Tell us about tight gates, low branches and overhead lines when you ask for a price. If a tilt-tray cannot
reach the drop point, a crane or side-loader will, and knowing that up front is the difference between an accurate
quote and a second invoice.

Changes, fit-out and modification

Anything that needs cutting, welding, wiring or lining is done in our own workshop rather than subcontracted,
which is why we can tell you what a change will actually cost before you commit. Doors, windows, partitions,
insulation, power, plumbing and full fit-outs are all container modification work we
quote on the details of your job rather than off a price list.

Hire instead of buying

If the need is for the life of a project rather than forever, hiring is usually cheaper
and you do not carry the asset, the transport or the maintenance. Buy when the Shipping Container is permanent, when you need a
specific configuration, or when the hire term would run past the purchase price. Short and long terms are both
available, and we will quote it against the same unit you are looking at here.

Further reading

For import and export requirements, see Australian Border Force. Nothing on that site is specific to this Shipping Container, and we do not give regulatory advice — but it is where the rules that apply to owning and moving a Shipping Container are published.

Related in the catalogue

• 40ft containers
• high cube containers
• Browse all containers and trailers

Page catalogue: 20ft Containers.

What condition means on this Shipping Container

Grades exist because buyers need a shorthand, and the shorthand is only useful if it is
applied honestly. This container is offered as cargo-worthy, wind and watertight, or as-is. Behind that label sit four separate checks:
does it keep water out, does it keep weight in, does anything mechanical still work, and does it
look the way the price implies.

The practical consequence is that two containers offered at the same grade can still differ
in how long they will last before they need work. A unit that has sat empty in a yard ages
differently from one that has been loaded and unloaded weekly. We describe the Shipping Container in front of
us rather than the category it belongs to — which is the only description worth having when you
are buying at a distance.

How this Shipping Container is inspected before dispatch

Inspection happens on the actual unit, not on a sample. The checks that are run every time
are the ones that have caught problems before: doors swung open and shut, door seals run by hand, floor sounded for soft spots, corner castings inspected. Each is a physical
action rather than a visual glance, because most of the failures that matter are invisible from
three metres away.

Where a check finds something, it is either rectified or disclosed. A door that binds, a seal
that has hardened, a light that does not work — these are documented rather than smoothed over,
because discovering them on delivery day costs you a week and costs us a reputation. If you want
the photographs of a specific check before you commit, ask and they will be sent.

Delivery and site access

Delivery is quoted against your postcode and what the truck can physically reach. That
second part catches people out more often than the first. A container this size arrives on a tilt-tray truck or a side-loader,
and the driver needs a clear approach, room to set down, and ground that will take the load. Overhead branches, power lines, a steep driveway, a soft verge after rain, a gate narrower than
the load — any one of these can turn a straightforward drop into a failed trip.

So the question we ask before quoting is not only where you are but how the truck gets in. Send a photograph of the approach and the drop point and the quote will reflect reality. If the
truck cannot reach, the answer is a crane lift or a smaller unit, and it is better to know that
before the truck is loaded than when it is idling at your gate.

Delivery is available across
Australia; the yard it leaves from is in Queensland.

What modification is possible on this Shipping Container

Modification is quoted separately once the layout is known, because the honest answer to
"how much" is that it depends on what you are trying to achieve. A door in a flat panel is a
different job from a door in corrugation. Windows in a lined space are a different job from
windows in a bare shell. Power is a different job again depending on whether it needs to be
certified for the use you have in mind.

The work is done in our own workshop rather than subcontracted, which is why the quote can be
specific. Come with a sketch, a purpose and a constraint — budget, timeline, or the fact that it
has to pass an inspection — and the scope can be priced against that. Common changes for a container
of this kind are site storage, secure tool lock-up and shipping and export.

Hire as well as purchase

Hire is available on this Shipping Container for short and long terms, and the same inspection standard
applies to a hired unit as to a sold one. That is not a marketing line: a hired container that fails on
site costs the hirer a day of labour and costs us the relationship, so the incentive to check it
is identical.

Hire suits a project with a known end date, a trial before committing to a purchase, or a peak
that does not justify owning a unit outright. Terms are quoted against duration and delivery
distance. If you are weighing hire against purchase, the useful comparison is not the monthly
rate — it is the monthly rate plus delivery, collected twice, against the purchase price less
whatever the Shipping Container is still worth at the end.

Buying this Shipping Container instead of the alternatives

The alternative to a container is usually a site shed or a lock-up garage. That option wins on one axis and loses on
others, and which axis matters depends on your site. Purpose-built structures are easier to
finance and easier to insure as fixed property; a container is faster to place, easier to relocate and
usually cheaper per square metre of covered space.

The question worth asking is how long you need it, and what happens at the end. If the answer
is "two years then we move", a container that can be picked up and taken with you is worth more than a
cheaper structure that cannot. If the answer is "twenty years and it never moves", the calculus
changes, and it is worth saying so before you buy.

What buyers usually ask

Is the price negotiable? The price shown is the Shipping Container price. Delivery,
modification and hire are separate. Ask about multiple units in one delivery — that is where
there is usually room, because the saving is in the trip.

Can I inspect it first? Yes. The yard is in Queensland and inspections are
welcome by arrangement. Bring a torch and a tape measure; the two things buyers most often wish
they had brought are light and a way to check that the dimensions suit what they intend to put
inside.

How do I pay? Bank transfer or PayID. The order number goes on the transfer
reference so the payment can be matched without an email chain. Card payment is not offered
because the surcharge would have to be added to the price.

What if it is not what I expected? Say so before it is modified or
dispatched. Once a unit has been cut, painted or delivered, the scope of what can be undone
shrinks quickly — which is why the inspection photographs exist and why we send them.

Do you deliver to my area? Delivery is Australia-wide. The quote depends on
distance and access, and both are things you can influence by describing your site accurately.

What to check when it arrives

Check the Shipping Container against the photographs before the truck leaves. That sounds obvious and is
routinely skipped, because the driver is in a hurry and everyone wants the job done. Ten minutes
spent walking the Shipping Container with the listing open on your phone is the cheapest insurance in the
transaction.

Look at the four things that are expensive to fix: the floor, the door and its seals, the frame
at the corners, and the roof. Everything else is cosmetic. If something does not match, note it
on the delivery paperwork and photograph it before signing. A note made at delivery is a
conversation about a fix; a note made a week later is a conversation about who is responsible.

Then leave it alone for a wet week before you load it, if you can. Water finds the weak point
on its own schedule, and a dry week hides more than a wet one reveals.

Cost of ownership beyond the purchase price

The purchase price is the smallest part of what a container costs over its life, and the parts
that follow are worth planning for. There is delivery in, and — if it ever moves — delivery out. There is the surface it sits on, which determines whether it stays level and whether the doors
keep operating. There is whatever it takes to keep water out as the seals age. And there is the
cost of the space it occupies, which in a city yard is not nothing.

Against that, a container depreciates far more slowly than a fitted-out building and can usually be
sold into a live market rather than written off. The resale value is the reason used units hold
their price, and it is the reason buying a sound used unit rather than the cheapest available one
tends to work out better over five years.

Looking after a container

Most of what shortens the working life of a container is avoidable, and the avoidable parts are
the same on every site. Standing water on the roof. A base that settles unevenly under one corner.
Seals that were never looked at because the doors still shut. Fixings that were cut in and never
sealed. None of these are dramatic failures; they are slow ones, and they compound.

A sensible routine is seasonal rather than constant. Before the wet season, clear the roof and
check the door seals. Once a quarter, operate every moving part and look at the corners and the
floor for anything new. Once a year, walk the whole thing with a torch and a camera, and compare
the photographs to last year's. That comparison is what catches a problem while it is still a
touch-up rather than a panel replacement.

The terms used on this page

A few terms come up repeatedly when buyers discuss a container, and they are worth defining
plainly because they are often used loosely. Cargo-worthy means the Shipping Container would still be accepted
for freight — structurally sound, watertight, no holes. Wind and watertight means exactly that:
it keeps weather out, without any claim about freight certification. As-is means what it says,
cosmetic and functional faults disclosed but not rectified.

One-trip, sometimes called single-trip, means the Shipping Container has made one loaded voyage and is
effectively new in service terms. Grade A describes the best cosmetic condition in a used band,
not a structural standard. High cube refers to the extra height — around 9ft 6in against the
standard 8ft 6in. Cor-ten and corten steel are the weathering steel most containers are built
from. Where a term on this page is not one of these, it is being used in its ordinary sense and
not as a rating.

Next step on this Shipping Container

If this Shipping Container looks like the right unit, the fastest way to a firm number is to send the
product name and your postcode. That gets a delivered price, which is the only price worth
comparing against another supplier's delivered price. If the layout needs changing, describe the
change at the same time and both can be quoted together rather than in sequence.

If it is not quite right, say what is wrong with it. Too long, too short, wrong colour, wrong
grade, wrong end of the budget — every one of those is a useful description, and it is quicker
than starting the search again from the top of the catalogue.

Quick answers

Is this shipping container in stock? Yes — stock is confirmed when the order is quoted — ask before you commit and the answer will be specific to this unit rather than to the catalogue.

What condition is the shipping container in? Yes — it is offered in the grade named on this page, inspected on the unit itself and photographed as found before dispatch.

Can I inspect the shipping container before buying? Yes — yes — inspections at the Queensland yard are welcome by arrangement.

What do I get for the price of the shipping container? Yes — the unit itself, inspected and photographed before dispatch, with delivery quoted separately against your postcode.

Can the shipping container be delivered outside Queensland? Yes — yes — delivery runs Australia-wide from the Queensland yard, priced on distance and site access.

Can the shipping container be modified before it is delivered? Yes — yes — doors, windows, power, insulation and fit-out are quoted as a separate scope once the layout is known.

Can I hire the shipping container instead of buying? Yes — yes — short and long terms are available, and a hired unit is inspected to the same standard as a sold one.

How do I pay for the shipping container? Yes — by bank transfer or PayID, quoting the order number so the payment can be matched.

Photographs of this unit

Delivery & hire

Delivery is quoted by postcode and site access — tilt-tray where the truck can reach, crane where it cannot. Hire is available on this unit for short and long terms, with the same inspection standard applied to hired units as to sold ones. Modification is quoted separately once we know the layout you need.