apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I haven't used this service, but what a great idea! When I moved last year I couldn't believe how much I spent on boxes. It really adds up and of course you need twice as many as you thought you would.

I don't think I'd ever need to purchase used boxes, being that my brother works in the office of a warehouse, and the store I work in has several recycling bins out back filled with boxes. Plus we keep a stash in the basement storage under the store, so I could mooch from there.

I guess if you're desperate, but I can't see ever really needing it.

Of course, when I moved, I was pretty much doing most of it with a minivan and a pickup truck (moving across town, no big deal), so I tended to use laundry baskets for books and my under-the-bed bins for carefully wrapped breakables.

That lost poster cracks me up.

Hit the liquor store on the night before trash night - it's free. We live in an area where there are lots of renters always moving in and out, and our local family-owned liquor store (big up Schuber's on Park!) is nice enough to put re-usable boxes on the sidewalk in front for people to pick up. We're moving soon so I plan to grab some when I get our next bottle of whatever.

I'm lucky that I can just fold and store my boxes in an unused closet. In fact, there are some unpacked boxes stuffed in a closet too--even less work for the inevitable move.

Liquor store boxes are good for books, but usually the tops don't seal, and if you have movers help they hate those -- I had College Bound Movers stack three boxes one on top of the other (I can barely lift one) and the structure made the load very tippy.

UPS and other shipping companies frown severely on boxes that are much used -- they don't hold up well in shipping.

But for local moves, reusing boxes is the way to go. I go most of mine at work, I tried Craigslist but never synched with the free ones. Bought a few (Home Depot and Lowes are cheaper than the mailbox stores).

Liquor stores and print shops have always been a good bet for me. The boxes tend to be sturdy and large enough for kitchenwares or books.

pay for boxes, you've got to be crazy?

With all the sources listed above, how could you not end up with any, or enough.

Talk to your grocer, don't just go looking for boxes. actually talk tot them. The produce guy is a good person to find (i used to work produce). Apple boxes work fantastic, they are big, and often have handles. Banana boxes are good too. Also talk to the dairy guy and get egg boxes, this is what i used last time.

At our store we weren't allowed to crush the "good" ones. We had a special place to put them specifically for people coming and looking for boxes.

That and i save almost every box that is shipped to me. i break them down and store them in our small attic. But still did this in every past apartment I have been in.

I did go to usedcarboardboxes.com when I was moving and ran out of time to scrounge up enough boxes from craigslist, the grocery store and the liquor store. They were delivered straight to my door in 2 days and were far, far stronger than any of the free boxes I had picked up. Plus, they came in a lot of different sizes.

My dad made fun of me for buying used boxes off the Internet, but he admitted after we were finished moving halfway across the country that it ended up being a really good idea. (My parents reused them when they moved several months later.)

Highly, highly recommend them.

When I'm moving, I go to McDonald's and ask them to save their fry boxes for me for a couple of days. The frozen fries come in them, so they don't smell. They're VERY sturdy, and they're not so big that once you fill them up you can't lift them. And Mickey D's is going to throw them out anyway - they give them to you for free.