How the price survey works

Two readings of the same market

The exact-price survey. We read public listings by sellers in India, on their own websites and in B2B directories, and keep only those that state an exact price for one size and one condition. On 20 October 2026, 54 listings from 29 sellers passed. They make the main price tables. The price in the product data that search engines and Google Shopping read is one per container page, a low market price: the price that a quarter of the sellers of the latest weekly marketplace reading ask or less, or, with fewer sellers, the lower middle of the prices found (see below). An estimate is never used there.

The weekly marketplace reading. Every week we read the container categories of IndiaMART and TradeIndia: the national pages and the pages of the largest cities. On 20 October 2026, 1,058 listings with a price were read and 394 were kept. These are asking prices, often marked “Approx.”: they show where the market sits and how it moves. They are always shown in their own table, never mixed with the exact prices.

Which listings count

In the exact-price survey:

• the price is exact: “from” prices, ranges and “Approx.” prices are left out;
• the listing states one size and one condition (cargo-worthy, wind and water tight, as-is, one-trip or new; “used” with no grade is kept as such);
• the box is a real shipping container: prefab cabins, boxes built from galvanised sheet and listings priced per square foot are left out, and converted offices or homes are counted apart;
• the page was live on the day of the survey; pages older than twelve months are dropped.

In the marketplace reading:

• the size and condition are read from the title and the size fields of the listing, never from its description, which often says “20 ft and 40 ft available”;
• cabins and converted units are left out: 216 of the 1,058 listings on 20 October 2026;
• prices under ₹25,000 a piece, and prices per square foot or per month, are left out;
• TradeIndia dates each listing: those it has not verified in the last twelve months are left out. IndiaMART shows no date: its listings count as seen on the day of the reading;
• a seller who lists the same box twice, or on both marketplaces at the same price, counts once;
• special builds named in the title or the address of the listing (dwarf, battery or BESS, tank, offshore containers, cargo baskets) are left out of the box figures, and an open top, a flat rack or a reefer counts only if the listing says so; a listing whose title names another length than the box it is filed under is left out, and a 10 ft box counts only if its title says 10 ft (in Indian listings “10 ft” is often the height or the width of a cabin);
• a “new” box asked below the median used price of the same size, a used reefer asked below the median price of a used dry box of its size, and any price over five times the used median, are left out as doubtful;
• open tops and flat racks are counted new and used together, since few of their sellers state a condition; for the other boxes, “as is” or “as-is” in the title makes the listing an as-is box.

In the rent survey:

• a rent counts only if the listing says what period it pays for, a month in practice, and names one size; prices with no period, or per piece, are left out;
• the rental pages of the two marketplaces are read again from time to time: on 22 October 2026 one showed no price on its rental pages, and the other showed prices without a period, so none was added;
• lessors’ own websites are not read, so lower or higher rents can be advertised outside the survey.

How the figures are calculated

Median, one value per seller. Each seller’s prices for a container type are first reduced to their own median, then the median of the sellers is taken. A dealer with twenty listings weighs as much as a dealer with one.

Middle half. The range between the cheapest quarter and the dearest quarter of sellers, rounded to ₹1,000. A single listing at ten times the usual price does not stretch it.

By grade and by area. The median of the sellers who write a grade, or who list in an area (areas with at least 5 sellers), rounded to ₹500. A seller who lists boxes of two grades counts in both, so the sellers of the grades can add up to more than the sellers of the box.

The price of a container page. With at least 10 sellers, the lower quartile of the sellers’ prices, rounded to ₹1,000: a quarter of them ask it or less. With fewer, the lower middle of the prices found: each seller’s lowest asking price and, under 5 sellers, the listings with an exact price as well; the page lists them all, so the price is always one that a seller asks. The median stays on the page as the typical price: half of the sellers ask it or less.

Same listings. From one weekly reading to the next, the listings seen both times (same page, same size and condition) give the median change of their price. It separates a real price change from a change in the listings a marketplace happens to show that week.

Thresholds. A marketplace figure is shown from one seller, always with the number of sellers next to it: one or two sellers give their own price, not a market price. The middle half needs at least 4 sellers, the spread chart 15, a price change 10 listings seen twice, and the weekly line 3 readings with at least 5 sellers each. Below that, nothing is drawn: no week is ever filled in or guessed.

Estimates. When no seller published a price for a container type, its page shows an estimate, labelled as such, with its method written next to it. An estimate is never presented as a listed price and never enters the product data.

When the figures change

The exact-price survey carries its date on every page (20 October 2026). The marketplace reading is repeated every week, and each table and chart gives the date of its reading (readings so far: 1). The rules quoted on the site (GST, customs duty, permits) name their source and the date they apply from.

What we do not publish

• Seller names or links next to prices. The figures are references; sellers answer quote requests with their own units and prices.
• Offers. This site does not sell or rent out containers. The price you pay is the one a seller or a lessor writes on the quote. Where a page shows a partner’s offer, it is labelled as such, with the date it was stated, and never presented as a market price.
• Ratings or reviews.

Download the figures

The tables and charts of this site are available as one file: container prices in India (CSV). Each row is either one container type at one weekly marketplace reading (sellers, listings, median, middle half, change of the same listings) or one container type in the exact-price survey (sellers, listings, lowest, median and highest price). It holds aggregates only: no seller, no listing.

Corrections

If a figure looks wrong, write to us through the contact page with the page and the figure: we check it against the listings it comes from.