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One thing I have learned is that having the perfect size box can save you money in shipping. I rarely use the actual size printed on the box when I ship. As an example- I have a stack of 12″x 12″x 12″ boxes. I might cut one down to 12x12x4 and another to 12x12x8 etc. Sometimes the small amount of weight makes all the difference in the world. New boxes actually save me money because I don’t have to settle for whatever I have instead of finding the exact right one. Its also nice to not have to deal with a bunch of used boxes of various sizes stacked up in my shop. Rock On.
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I use both. I’ve got many standard size new boxes such as the ones Ebay offers with the largest at 18″x14″12″. But then, I’ve got some larger items that need bigger boxes or items that have a different shape like slim but long. So, I pick up boxes here and there, and I save all the boxes from things that are shipped to our house. I also pick up some boxes from Costco where they’ve cut off the top, but I can still cut the sides down to make a cover.
Recently, I’ve bought a number of very long but not so wide items where I’m going to have to buy new boxes in specific sizes, like up to 50″. I don’t care to pay for the expensive boxes and shipping from Uline, so I’m going to have to find a store that I can buy from. One of my goals for the new year.
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I sell on Amazon as well as Ebay, and I sell enough volume that I wouldn’t be able to find enough random boxes for my Amazon sales. I buy my new boxes in bulk from Uline and I wait until they have a free shipping promotion for a $300 purchase. There’s certain sizes I have figured out that work best for me and I buy them 100-200 at a time and I only need to order every 6 months or so. I haven’t found anybody else who is cheaper than Uline.
The annoying thing about Uline though is the thick catalogs they start sending frequently, as well as including them in every order. So wasteful.
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I buy and design boxes for the company I work for – and have been for over 25 years. Here are some general rules to get the best price:
Under 500 – always Uline or another pre-fab box supplier – not worth going elsewhere. Some other local “supply” companies may be competitive, but Uline will give you discounts every month by email and just wait for them to place an order.
Between 500 and 5000ish – you can get custom printed/sized boxes cost effectively from a local corrugated company. These companies generally do not make the corrugated material, but buy sheets from paper mills and convert them for you (cut, score, glue, print, fold). For custom sizes they will charge for a cutting die, but usually you can negotiate with them this price or see if they have an existing one close in size to use for free. In this volume, for a box about 12″ square you should pay between 50 cents (unprinted) to 75 cents (printed 1 colour) to $1.25 (white box, multiple colors).
Over 5000, you will want to deal with a big corrugated company – but doubt many eBay sellers are at that volume. These companies are Georgia-Pacific, International Paper, Temple-Inland, and Westrock to name a few that may be in your area. They generally supply industrial companies. When I buy 50,000 to 100,000 boxes you can get down to 20 cents for a custom box – but again, way above eBay seller volumes.
The box design you want to buy if you are looking for a cost effective box is called an “RSC” which stands for Regular Slotted Carton. This is the box design with top/bottom flaps the same size when flat, and is the most commonly used as it doesn’t waste much material. The downside with this design is that it needs to be glued or taped closed, but it is the cheapest option.
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If you don’t have one of these, then you need to get one!
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I buy boxes from eBay and from Pratt on Amazon. I have bought from Uline as well. Those catalogs would have been great back in the days of outhouses.
I love the boxes (from Pratt) which are 30″x 24″x 5″ because they are perfect for framed art and have a lot of real estate if you want to make your own box. If I wanted to ship a kitchen knife for example, I could make about 20 kitchen knife sized boxes out of one of them.
Another trick I have learned is to make two boxes into one when I have an odd size. If I have an item which is 10″x 10″x 25″ long it is hard to find a box to fit so I would use 2 12″x 12″x 12″ boxes and tape them together using the flap to make the extra inch. Now I have a box which is 12″x 12″x 25″or 26″ or whatever. Could go bigger if needed.
I can’t tell you how many times I have knocked $20 or so off the shipping by doing this. Having new boxes makes the math easy and makes it quicker as there is a bit of trial and error- and they really are cheap.
I don’t like to keep too many extra around though. I know they can attract bugs if they get too old.
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I use many boxes for smalls, too often for me to rely on scavenged ones. I have been happy with EcoSwift boxes on eBay, finding the 6x6x4 to be the most useful. They are corrugated but thin, sturdy enough, and significantly cheaper than Uline. I don’t know if I’d trust the lightweight construction in the larger sizes, though.
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