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How to Find Free Boxes for Shipping

Info_lover | May 20, 2010 |

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Although most people tend to throw them away, corrugated shipping boxes can be very useful and is usually required when sending out packages, or moving to a new home. Unfortunately, because they're so easily disposed of, very few people tend to keep such boxes on hand, thus making buying boxes for shipping an additional expense when it comes to moving home or sending out postal packages.

If you want to save money, you can try visiting large stores such as Wal-Mart or Target and find out when their employees unpack all the new products and merchandise. It is often observed that employees tend to finish unpacking new shipments of products around midnight, leaving behind many corrugated shipping boxes that can be easily recycled. Since most of these boxes are usually thrown away, most employees will only be more than happy to let people take them home for free. Just remember to ask nicely and you can benefit from this.

Having said that, people who use recycled shipping boxes should keep the following tips in mind:

Types of Corrugated Shipping Boxes to Look For

The nice thing about using recycled boxes from stores such as Target is that the boxes tend to come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, thus making it easy for you to find the perfect box for shipping. If you are trying to store glassware or even pack a refrigerator, then you need to take a moment to examine each shipping box so as to ensure a recycled box fits any of these needs. In many cases, boxes made of corrugated fiberboard are usually the best recycled boxes to use for shipping or storage. Corrugated fiberboard is a tough cardboard that is made by combining corrugated (pleated) sheets with flat linerboards. Just think of the difference between the feel of a strong shipping box and a flimsy cereal box and you can easily see why most people prefer corrugated fiberboard.

When you are collecting several free boxes for shipping, you should try and get boxes that have been opened and folded up by the employees. This is because folded up boxes are a lot easier to transport and store, and they can be easily reassembled when required by just using some strong packaging tape. In general, shipping boxes used to transport cookware or clothing tend to provide the strongest types of recycled boxes.

Corrugated Shipping Boxes to Avoid

It should not come as a surprise that people should avoid shipping boxes with strong odors. Shipping boxes that transported and stored items like rubber tires or inner tubes tend to carry undesirable odors and you should avoid using them (unless you intend to use these recycled boxes for storing perfumes, candles or tires).

One common mistake that occurs when recycling boxes from stores is accidentally getting a shipping box that comes with a missing top or bottom. This can happen when the box was originally sealed with cellophane, making a top unnecessary. Other times, a box may have flaps that don't cover the entire top or bottom, hence making it useless for shipping or storing items. Thus, you need to make sure that you fold up each box to get a rough idea of how they'll look when they get reused.

Recycled Boxes Save Money and Provide Better Options

By using recycled boxes, you can not only save money but also help prevent otherwise good cardboard shipping boxes from being thrown into the waste. To make sure these boxes for shipping can be used, you will have to do some legwork and find out whether each box fits your required needs.