Thread: Does anyone else save boxes ?

Along the lines of my 'clutter' thread.... I get a lot of stuff in the mail, from ebay, vendors and what have you. I have this weird (I think it is weird) tendency to save the boxes that the items were shipped in.

The motivation comes from the fact that I occasionally sell stuff. Mostly on ebay. I have a lot of bicycles, parts, straights, DEs, pocket knives and other junk that I intend to sell if I would get off my lazy duff and do it.

It is not that I am too cheap to buy a box, rather it is the convenience of having the box when I finally get motivated and list the item.

I have boxes flattened and stuffed under the bed, in closets.... I am inundated with cardboard. Anyone else share this rare disease ?

Yes...... I have a problem....

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Along the lines of my 'clutter' thread.... I get a lot of stuff in the mail, from ebay, vendors and what have you. I have this weird (I think it is weird) tendency to save the boxes that the items were shipped in.

The motivation comes from the fact that I occasionally sell stuff. Mostly on ebay. I have a lot of bicycles, parts, straights, DEs, pocket knives and other junk that I intend to sell if I would get off my lazy duff and do it.

It is not that I am too cheap to buy a box, rather it is the convenience of having the box when I finally get motivated and list the item.

I have boxes flattened and stuffed under the bed, in closets.... I am inundated with cardboard. Anyone else share this rare disease ?

Of course!
I don't trash them just to buy new ones for the stuff I sell.

Yup, I have tons of boxes. I also save bubble wrap and packing peanuts. I'm not as bad as I used to be... you should have seen my box collection back when I was in college and bought and sold lots of computer parts...

Originally Posted by OLD_SCHOOL

I save boxes, but I also go out and buy them.

You can get boxes for Priority mail for free. The only packagign i buy is bubble mailers and tape.

Sounds like you're better off than me! I too buy a lot of stuff online, and end up saving a bunch of boxes, but I don't break them down, lol. I let them collect until they are just taking up way too much room, then I toss em and start over.

I also wind up saving the retail boxes of just about anything I buy, again until they start to take up too much room, and then they go, wash, rinse, repeat.

I don't know if this problem is better or worse because we are in a condo with limited space... It's either better because I can only collect so many before I toss em, so it's kind of self limiting, or it's worse because if we had more space, I'd collect way more, heh.

I'm guilty of saving boxes. I have a box full of each of the following.
Packing peanuts
Bubble wrap
Flattened boxes
Padded mailers,
along with a box full of packing tape, mailing labels, pens and some scissors.

My problem is not being able to part with any of my acquired goodies so I am stock piling both shave gear and packing material.
I have the best intentions of trimming my collection. SOMEDAY.

man if i saved boxes rather then recycling them all i would be swimming in them for sure as i get A LOT running my small business. health supplements often come in glass containers so they put a small box inside a large one with 4 inches of cardboard packing, etc. i wish i could send them the boxes back so they could reuse them but they don't really do that unless it is at my expense.

i always wonder how efficient recycling the boxes is also. what are they used for after that and how much energy is used to do it all.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Yup, I have tons of boxes. I also save bubble wrap and packing peanuts. I'm not as bad as I used to be... you should have seen my box collection back when I was in college and bought and sold lots of computer parts...

Are we related? That exactly describes me. I've cut down, but I still try to save a few boxes and bubblewrap here and there.

I ship so much stuff that for me it pays to save stuff

people tend to really over pack (yet somehow things still break)
and I can make 2-4 packages for every one I receive

1 it's good for the environment

2 it's free for me to pack

3 I've designed my own packaging after something got chipped in a regular box

razors ship in a 1" thick cardboard diamond with bubble wrap and hard foam in the ends to prevent crushing


maybe I'll post pics...........