It's paving season. Patios, pool surrounds, paths down the side of the house, all of it trying to get finished before Christmas. And almost every one of those jobs ends with a part pallet of pavers sitting on the driveway.
You ordered extra for cuts and breakages, like you're meant to. The job came in under. Now there's a stack of perfectly good pavers that weighs as much as a small car and that nobody wants to move twice.
Here's how to deal with them.
Keep a few for repairs first
Before anything else, put a handful aside for the client or for yourself. Pavers crack, tree roots lift them, someone drops a pot. When that happens in five years, finding the same colour and batch is close to impossible.
A dozen or so, stacked somewhere out of the way and labelled with the product name, is worth more to whoever owns that patio than anything else on the pallet. Tell the client they're there. They'll thank you later.
Everything past that is surplus, and it should go somewhere useful.
Work out what you've actually got
Have a proper look before you decide anything.
- Product and colour. The name off the docket or the pallet wrap, not "grey ones". Pavers from the same range can vary a lot in colour between batches.
- Size and thickness. Pavers get bought by size and by what they're going under. Pedestrian and driveway pavers aren't interchangeable.
- Quantity. Count them and work out roughly how many square metres that covers. Buyers think in square metres.
- Condition. Full pieces, halves, chipped corners. Sort them now, it makes everything after this easier.
Can they go back to the supplier?
Sometimes. Full, unopened pallets are the most likely to be taken back, usually with the docket and not too long after delivery. Loose or broken-open stock is a harder sell, and some places charge a restocking fee. If there was a pallet deposit, ask about returning the pallet too.
Ring before you load anything. Pavers are too heavy to cart somewhere on a maybe.
If they're staying for a while
Pavers are tough, but storage still matters if you want to sell them.
- Keep them on the pallet. Off the dirt, stacked flat and square. A stack on bare ground gets muddy, settles unevenly and is a pain to load.
- Keep the wrap on if you can. Or strap them. It keeps the stack together and the faces clean.
- Out of the way. Not where the bin truck reverses, not where the kids ride bikes. Chipped edges cost you.
- Label it. Product name, colour and quantity on a bit of tape on the stack.
Who actually buys leftover pavers
More people than you'd think, and most of them want a match, not a bargain.
- Someone extending a path or patio who needs the same paver they laid years ago.
- A homeowner replacing a few cracked pavers.
- A landscaper a couple of square metres short on a job.
- Someone doing a shed pad, a bin area or a path down the side of the house, who doesn't care about matching and just wants it cheap.
They don't want to buy a full pallet for a small job, and that's exactly what you've got that the merchant doesn't.
How to list them so they sell
- A plain title. Product, colour, size and roughly how many square metres. "Charcoal 400x400 pavers, about 6 square metres" will get more serious messages than "pavers, make an offer".
- Photos in daylight. One of the whole stack, one close up of the face, one of a cut or chipped piece if there are any. Pavers look different wet and dry, so a shot of one wet helps someone matching an existing patio.
- The product name. For anyone trying to match, it matters more than the price.
- Pickup details. Pavers are heavy. Say the buyer needs a trailer or a ute that can handle the weight, whether it's on a pallet, and whether you can help load.
- A sensible price. Check what the same paver costs new and come in well under it. The buyer saves a delivery fee and buying more than they need. You get your driveway back.
Halves, chips and broken bits
Halves and decent offcuts are useful for edges and cuts, so include them in the listing as a bonus or sell them cheap as a bundle. Some people want broken pavers for garden edging or a crazy-paved path and will collect them for nothing.
Proper rubble is different. Keep clean concrete and pavers separate from general rubbish. Some recyclers and waste facilities take clean concrete on its own, which can cost less than mixing it into a general skip. Check what your local options take before the bin arrives.
Where Overrun fits
I'm Chelsea and I run Overrun, a marketplace for leftover building materials. My husband's on the tools, and it came from watching good material go in the skip at the end of every job.
You can list a part pallet of pavers in about a minute. Someone local buys it, you sort pickup between you, and they pay you direct. No commission on any sale. It's building materials only, so the people looking are after exactly this sort of thing.
After a match for your own patio? Put it on the want list at overrunau.com.au. It's free, there's no account needed, and it emails you when a match is listed.
Got a pallet on the driveway? List your overrun at overrunau.com.au. First 3 months free on Tradie with code 3FREETRADIE, then $19 a month.
Quick answers
How many leftover pavers should I keep? Enough to replace a few cracked ones later. A dozen or so of the same batch, labelled with the product name, is plenty for most patios and paths.
Can I return leftover pavers? Full, unopened pallets sometimes, with the docket and within the supplier's time limit. Loose stock is harder. Ring first, and ask about the pallet deposit while you're at it.
What's the easiest way to sell a part pallet of pavers? List the product name, colour, size and square metres, add daylight photos, price it well under new, and say it's pickup only with a trailer.