5 Tips for sourcing free moving boxes

You’ve booked your movers, notified your building and locked in a day off work. Now the planning is done, you need clean, sturdy boxes to fill with your belongings. To get you on your way, we’ve streamlined our Top 5 tips for making it a quick and easy experience to find durable FREE moving boxes.

We recommend that you purchase clean, new boxes when possible, but if you want the free option ensure that they are durable, stable and appropriate for transportation. As a general rule, movers can not be held liable for any damages that occur to your items that you pack in materials that are not designed for moving.

Save delivery boxes sent to your home

The benefit of reusing delivery boxes from major retailers, is they often also come with packaging such as bubble wrap and other padding. In the weeks leading up to your move, be sure to set boxes in good condition aside. If you live in an apartment building, keep an eye out for other clean and sturdy delivery boxes left in recycling common areas. Speak to your Super and let him know what size or type you’re on the lookout for. Most are only too happy to help and it saves them having to collapse and dispose of extra items every day.

Talk to your local grocer, deli or liquor store manager.

These local businesses have an abundance of packaging that comes with the food and goods delivered to them to replenish their shelves. They have a steady stream of boxes you can arrange to pick up at a time convenient to both of you, simply check in with them on a good time to return to collect a few larger items. Grocers receive produce boxes with lids and handle cutouts. Your local liquor store will have specialised boxes that are perfect for your wine collection of glassware. A local college bookstore will have thick boxes perfect for transporting your own library. Coffee shops in your area will receive a range of boxes, you just need to know the main day they accept deliveries and stop in then. Be sure to check the boxes for damage or dirt before you take them home. New York has an abundance of these businesses, and they’re worth a visit in your search for the right supplies.

Tap into social networks

Numerous social media networks can help you in your search. Neighbourhood based networking sites like NextDoor often have numerous people giving away free boxes after their completed move. The free section of Craigslist, LetGo and Offer up are other easy options, where people with listings are more than happy for someone to take their used boxes off their hands. Facebook networks for your area or your city including New York often feature packing supplies and even furniture being given away, it’s worth finding your local group. The benefit of sourcing boxes from these networks is they are close to home and likely have all your supplies in one exchange.

Consider events around the time of your move

From stopping past a local yard sale in the spring, to extra shipments during the Christmas holidays to neighbours and friends, consider the events happening in the lead up to your move for supply opportunities. If you’re moving around September, schools often have multiple supplies arriving for the start of the school year, while college dorms have an abundance of newly arrived students all needing their moving boxes discarded. Put the word out amongst your social circle as soon as you know you’ll be on the move and ask them to keep a couple of boxes to the side. If no particular event coincides with your move, it’s worth stopping past a neary storage facility where people are often sorting through and discarding items including used moving boxes.

Check what free boxes your movers provide.

Some movers provide a set of free boxes on the day of your move and arrive with them in their truck on the day of your relocation. For example, Piece of Cake supplies hanging wardrobe boxes and TV boxes and will pack items that are included in the flat fee to be packed and wrapped. These boxes are filled with your clothes or large items during your move, then are taken away by your movers when the relocation is done. Don’t take on extra work if your movers are facilitating the packing of large and cumbersome items as part of your flat price for your relocation. Check with them in advance and be sure to set these belongings aside for your movers to handle and pack on the day. It reduces your stress and your workload. In the end, you may want to use a combination of free and bought boxes to ensure your most fragile or valuable items are protected with fit for purpose packaging. When you’re finished moving, you can always pay it forward and offer your library of boxes up for free via those social media networks, friends or family.