Shipping Boxes

Comments

• dougts Member Posts: 4,110

  December 2013

  ^ i do it at home relatively small time and I still think buying boxes is the way to go. I played the keep/reuse/find box game for the first 6 months or so, but quickly tired of the hassle and stress of it, and the enormous time sink it became. Having to make a box scrounging run in order to pack an order you need to ship that day is no fun.

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• kor Member Posts: 392

  December 2013

  This thread prompted me to makes some calls and try to find the best price on boxes. I have some sealed modulars that have been sitting because I don't have any boxes large enough to ship them in. I called the ups store and they wanted over 15.00 for one dang box! I ended up buying a bundle of 10 from staples website. With tax it came to a little over 26.00 plus they had free shipping. A few bucks a piece is worth it.

  

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• graphite Member Posts: 3,275

  December 2013

  I followed LFT's advice a while back and went with Uline boxes. I did 20x16x4 and 24x20x6 and use them on NIB of the bigger expensive sets. Only bought 20-25 of each and I think it came out to <$2 a box shipped to me which was worth it for the bigger stuff. The outside couple boxes in each bundle were damaged some from the straps but it looks like they're still usable. I've been pulling from the center so far though.

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• BuriedinBricks Member Posts: 1,367

  December 2013

  @kor - thanks for mentioning Staples. I knew there was a local office supply store I was forgetting. Office Max/Office Depot were total busts, with ridiculous prices even in bulk. Staples came it at under ULINE by about $10 for a bundle of 25 and the option of store pick-up, which should keep me from having to scavenge for boxes through next year.

  

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• AFFOL_Shellz_Bellz Member Posts: 1,263

  December 2013

  I've no idea where you might find them but we just received a large set packed in a box from a small flat panel TV or monitor. It was the ideal shape and strength.

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• nkx1 Member Posts: 719

  December 2013

  ^I've thought about using a TV box or two, but subsequently thought that might increase the likelihood of the box being stolen if left on someone's front porch. A plain brown box seems less appealing to steal.

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• ufjason Member Posts: 23

  December 2013

  Iccarus, you should look for a local box company. If you're near a metropolitan area, you're sure to be near a box manufacturer/distributor. My local company has an overrun list they send me about once a week and I get boxes pennies on the dollar. 19x15x6 boxes are $.48 which fit most large $90-100 sets. I just throw some junk mail filler or cut the edges down to get a snugger fit. They don't have every side I need at any given time so I stock up when a size that fits shows up on the list.

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• BuriedinBricks Member Posts: 1,367

  December 2013

  I did contact one for a quote, but they have not gotten back to me yet. The Staples option will have to do for now. As long as it stays under $2 a box, I'm happy.

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• fizicyst Member Posts: 72

  December 2013

  iccarus said:

  @kor - thanks for mentioning Staples. I knew there was a local office supply store I was forgetting. Office Max/Office Depot were total busts, with ridiculous prices even in bulk. Staples came it at under ULINE by about $10 for a bundle of 25 and the option of store pick-up, which should keep me from having to scavenge for boxes through next year.

  @iccarus What size boxes did you get from Staples? I can't find ones of about the size you mentioned for anywhere near $10. Would you mind linking?

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• ecmo47 Member Posts: 2,101

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  I make many of my boxes to fit larger sets. I get large pieces of cardboard from a local moving company. They let me rummage through their cardboard dumpster for mattress moving boxes. I have a shop where I make my boxes. While not for everybody, this method saves money on buying boxes, I just "stock" flat cardboard, and I end up with the right-sized shipping container so I'm not paying for unnecessary postage and packing materials.

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• BuriedinBricks Member Posts: 1,367

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  @fizicyst - The price was $10 less than a similar bundle from ULINE, once you factored in shipping.

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• fizicyst Member Posts: 72

  December 2013

  iccarus said:

  @fizicyst - The price was $10 less than a similar bundle from ULINE, once you factored in shipping.

  Thanks, I didn't read it carefully.
  
  Hey guys, I just noticed that there are no box dimensions or mass/weight for the modulars or larger sets like orthanc here on brickset. Is there any reason for this? I find that information really useful to determine shipping costs and I usually weigh the sets to try to make sure I am not selling anything that might have been tampered with.
  
  

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• dougts Member Posts: 4,110

  December 2013

  (non TH) modulars/HH/Orthanc all ship out in the 8-9 pound range in a 24x20x4 box with some packing materials. You can get some of them under 8 if you skimp on the box and/or packaging, but YMMV.
  
  In the end - look on bricklink. dimension and weight are there on all sets. you do have to convert form metric, but that's easy enough.

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• legogregors Member Posts: 402

  December 2013

  Uline seems to be having a sale, I clicked through on a banner add. $1.57 per box if you buy twenty of the 24x20x4 size for example. Is that about as low as they get?

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• LegoFanTexas Member Posts: 8,404

  December 2013

  legogregors said:

  Uline seems to be having a sale, I clicked through on a banner add. $1.57 per box if you buy twenty of the 24x20x4 size for example. Is that about as low as they get?

  For the average order, yes. If you spend more and a regular customer, you can get them for less.

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• lulwut Member Posts: 417

  December 2013

  Buy uline. Worth the slight premium of not having to spend half a hour cutting down boxes or trying to find filler only to add weight.

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• JP3804 Member Posts: 332

  May 2014

  FYI
  Staples has 40% off on orders of $50.00 or more for boxes, tape and bubble wrap.
  Free shipping for Staples rewards members.
  
  Enter code 93821 at check out.
  
  I have been using their boxes for about 6 months.
  They are the same as U-Lines.
  
  I just ordered 50- 24 X12"X4" and 25- 24" X 16"X4" for $63.09 with tax.
  $.84 per box

  

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• SuperTramp Member Posts: 1,021

  May 2014 edited May 2014

  Is it ok to have a selling thread on here selling shipping boxes? my friend deliveries for a cardboard factory and said he could get me some boxes which are going spare. i said yes and now ive ended up with just over 800(two pallet's). They are the ones like at the Post Office where no tape is needed.

  

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• CCC Member Posts: 20,526

  May 2014

  I don't see why not. At the worst, one of the admins will remove it.
  
  There have been threads for non-lego items (but tenuously related to lego) in the past, like waterslide decals.

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• theLEGOman Member Posts: 1,524

  May 2014 edited May 2014

  SuperTramp said:

  my friend deliveries for a cardboard factory and said he could get me some boxes which are going spare. i said yes and now ive ended up with just over 800(two pallet's).

  LOL.

  

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• doriansdad Member Posts: 1,337

  May 2014

  JP3804 said:

  FYI
  Staples has 40% off on orders of $50.00 or more for boxes, tape and bubble wrap.
  Free shipping for Staples rewards members.
  
  Enter code 93821 at check out.
  

  Also stacks with the usual $20 off $100 staples coupons floating around. Also use your usual 10% affiliate cashback. If you execute your orders properly it will net you 66% off. Purchased 3 years worth of shipping boxes of all sizes. Have not seen it this good in a while. Cheers for the heads up!
  

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