Most fencing jobs finish with something left over. A run gets measured up, you order to the next full sheet or bundle, the ground does something you did not expect, and you end up with a few Colorbond sheets, a bundle of palings, a couple of posts and a rail or two spare. My husband is on the tools and this is the pile that follows him home more than any other, because fencing gets over-ordered by its nature. You order for the whole boundary, the return you did not end up building, and the bit you cut wrong.
None of it is scrap. A near-new fence sheet is worth real money to the next person, and the next person is usually close by, because someone is always finishing a fence a panel or two short. Here is how to sort it out before the skip turns up.
First, work out what you have
A buyer needs three things before they will drive over, so get them straight while it is in front of you.
What it is. Colorbond and steel fence sheets, treated pine palings, hardwood palings, posts, rails, plinths, gates and gate hardware are all different markets. Say which one it is.
The size and, for steel, the colour. Fence sheets come in set heights, and the colour name is the whole game.. someone matching an existing run needs the exact colour, not "grey". If you still have the offcut with the label or you know the colour name, write it down. Posts have a size and a length. Palings have a height and a profile.
How much. Count the sheets, the palings, the posts. "Half a fence worth of Colorbond" is not something anyone can buy. "Nine sheets, 1800 high, Woodland Grey" is.
Store it properly if you are keeping it
Steel fence sheets need to be flat and dry. Water sitting between stacked sheets is what causes white rust and staining, and a stained sheet is a lot harder to sell than a clean one, so stand them up or stack them flat with something between them and get them under cover. Treated pine palings and posts want to be off the ground and out of the weather too, or they cup and go grey.
Storing it only makes sense for a few months. Fence colours and paling profiles get discontinued, so the longer a matched sheet sits in your shed, the smaller the pool of people it still matches. If you are keeping it for a job you have not booked yet, be honest about whether that job is real.
Reuse ideas that are actually worth it
Spare fencing does turn into useful things. A short run of leftover sheets makes a decent side gate infill or a screen to hide the bins. Palings become garden bed edging, a compost bay or a chook pen. A couple of posts and a rail will give you a clothesline frame or a trellis.
What is not worth it is holding a full pallet of palings for years on the theory that you will fence the back paddock one day. That is how a shed fills up. If you would not start the project this season, it is stock you are storing, not a project you are doing.
Sell it or pass it on
This is the one most people skip, and it is the one that puts money back in your pocket. Someone within a few suburbs of you is finishing a fence right now and is a few sheets short, or trying to match a colour the merchant no longer stocks in small numbers. To them your leftover pile is exactly the thing they cannot easily buy.
This is why we built Overrun. It is an Australian marketplace for surplus building materials only, so the people looking are trade and renovators, not tyre-kickers after a couch. You list it in about a minute from your phone, the buyer collects and pays you direct, and we never take a cut of the sale. A bundle of matched sheets or good palings tends to move quickly, because fencing is one of those materials people need in exact, awkward quantities.
If selling is more bother than it is worth to you, offer it to whoever is fencing next door, or put it out the front. It is still better than paying to bin it.
Disposal is the last resort
If it really has to go, steel has scrap value.. a metal recycler will usually take clean fence sheets and offcuts, which beats paying by weight to put them in a general skip. Do not burn treated pine palings or posts, because the treatment is not something you want in the smoke or the ash. For anything going to the tip, green waste and treated timber are handled differently and the rules vary, so check what your local facility accepts before you load the ute.
Fencing is heavy, and a skip is priced by weight, so binning a good pile of it is one of the more expensive ways to get rid of something that other people actually want. Sort the sellable stuff out first. The bin can have what is genuinely finished.
Quick answers
Can you sell leftover Colorbond fence sheets? Yes, and matched sheets sell well because people are often finishing a run a panel or two short and need an exact colour the merchant will not break a pack for. Note the height and the colour name and it will move.
How should I store spare fence sheets so they stay saleable? Keep them flat or standing, dry, and with air between stacked sheets. Trapped moisture causes white rust and staining, and a marked sheet is much harder to sell than a clean one.
Is leftover fencing worth listing if it is only a few sheets or palings? Usually yes. Fencing gets bought in exact quantities, so a few matched sheets or a bundle of good palings is often precisely what the next person needs. Listing on Overrun takes about a minute and the buyer collects.