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cardboard boxes: online or offline

Where to buy cardboard boxes: online or offline? Think outside the box!

Cardboard boxes have many great uses, which include house moving, storage and shipping. They are used by both the public as well as businesses. They are the most popular type of box in the UK because they are 100% recyclable, unlike plastic boxes and other alternatives. Cardboard boxes are increasingly difficult to find and buy. The main reason for this is because most businesses are now choosing to re use their boxes again and again within their organisations, because it is better for the environment for them to do so, and it is more cost effective than continually buying boxes. Ten or twenty years ago you could have easily picked up some second hand boxes from a supermarket, but today that is nearly impossible.

Where to buy cardboard boxes

So what are the most common places that you can buy cardboard boxes from today?

  • Order cardboard boxes online from a packaging specialist website. There are many different websites that specialise in boxes; these range from house moving specialists who offer moving packs and small quantities of boxes, to packaging manufacturers who sell large quantities at lower prices. They often have a huge range that is tailored to your requirements, and often you can get the best prices online with quick delivery. This is the most popular option of buying boxes in 2022 and is what we recommend as being the best option.
  • When looking for where to get cardboard boxes near me you can buy boxes from home ware stores such as big yellow or b and q. They only have a very small selection of three boxes and they are sold at a very high price. These are to be avoided at all costs. The quality of the boxes is often single walled, which means they are quite weak and won’t be able to hold a heavy weight inside of them, and they won’t protect the items that you put into them, and they won’t be ideal for stacking on top of one another either. In many cases, they don’t hold them in stock either.
  • You can try to get second hand boxes from supermarkets or other businesses. As we mentioned earlier, this is very difficult today. Most businesses re use their boxes to save costs and to become more environmentally friendly. Many deliveries to businesses are made without boxes now. It doesn’t hurt asking however, because if you can find second hand boxes, they are free of charge to you, other than the time it takes to find some. It really depends on what time you have available.
  • You can order moving boxes from a local packaging company. These are dotted around the country in different locations, and they mainly supply businesses with large quantities of packaging. They are often not interested in supplying the public for moving house or storage, but will supply a business with a few thousand boxes at a time. You will need to set up an account with them to make a purchase as they often won’t supply businesses they do not know or trust.

 

So generally speaking, we recommend purchasing boxes online. You wouldn’t need to create an account with them to make a purchase, and they often offer next day delivery so you can get the boxes you need nice and quickly. They will be sent to you flat packed, so they don’t take up much space when stored, and you can buy bubble wrap, strong packing tape and other packaging materials to help you at the same time in one place. It would only take you two minutes to order, as opposed to several hours if you visit a shop, so you can spend your time doing the things you enjoy the most. When you have finished using your boxes, you have a few options. You can store the boxes away so that you can re use them again in the future. You know that you will always have another use for a box soon because they have so many great uses.

The second option is to recycle the boxes. You can take them to a normal recycling centre locally, or if you only have one or two, put them with your normal recycling collection bin each week. The third option is to offer them to a friend or family member who lives close by who may have a use for them. Maybe look for a ‘for sale’ sign by a house nearby because they will certainly need boxes soon. Never throw boxes away as this is a complete waste of a perfectly good product. At the very least, offer them to a local business or offer them back to the packaging company you bought them from, because every business needs boxes at some time or another so they certainly won’t turn them away. If you order boxes online, you can enter a specific delivery address and it doesn’t have to be your home address. If you know you are not going to be home when the delivery is due, you can simply have them delivered to your work address or a friend or family member’s address instead.

You can also choose which delivery date suits you best; it does not have to be delivered tomorrow, you can choose to have the cardboard boxes for moving delivered on a separate date that suits you. You can also request to have the boxes delivered to a safe location for example in the garden shed if you are out. This way you always get the boxes that you need with no problems. If you are unsure which boxes to choose when shopping online, give the company a call and a member of their team will be able to talk you through which boxes are going to be best for your requirements. They will be able to tell you which type and size of box would be best, along with the quantity that you would need for the job as well.

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