Where do you get your boxes from ?

There are too many places to get free boxes, I'd never pay for a box.

 

John I get my boxes from work and of course other trades that come in. While I've never done it, driving by house on recycling day I actually look at boxes sitting curbside and think about how nice some would be to stop and grab.

 

I just recently ordered boxes from ULINE and if you ever make it towards Allentown, they have a center around there where you can pick up your order instead of having it shipped. I got some of the 14 and 16 cubes from this list:

http://www.uline.com/BL_418/275-Lb-Test-Double-Wall-Boxes

I really like them a lot for box in a box methods since for cold weather they have an insulated liner that fits pretty well around a 14 cube and inside a 16 cube box even though they are a bit expensive:

http://www.uline.com/BL_2163/Insulated-Box-Liners?keywords=insulated liner

I used to only ship with single walled boxes from bargain stores and reused trade ones, but at least for trades with nicer and hard to replace bottles, those double walled ones will probably help me sleep better at night.

 

I almost always get them from work before they get recycled. And save the boxes from trades I've received. Local liquor stores sometimes has boxes to take as well.

 

If I just want boxes, I get free whiskey or beer boxes from my local store, but then I put those inside a larger, plain box that I'll get from WalMart (14x14 boxer are like $0.98 and 16x16 a little bit more)

But if I'm planning to use a shipper, which I do almost exclusively now, I get styro shippers from UHaul. For link, click HERE. They have 1, 3, 6 or 12 bottle shippers, and while not super high quality, I can usually get 3-4 shipments out of each, which makes it well worth it.

 

Uhaul had wine boxes and if you order $50 or more, they ship to you for free

That said, yesterday I called a wine shop near my office and they sold me 2 12bottles shippers (1 styofoam, 1 pressed cardboard) for $5 each.

I'd call your local wine shops (the nicer, the better - more likely to have good boxes) and ask if they have any you can take or buy for a cpl $'s.

I wouldnt worry about a brand name on the box - people recycle boxes all the time for mailing.

 

Home Depot double walled cardboard boxes. Sm, med, and lg are <$2.00 per box. I also like to think they don't raise as much suspicion, though I'm sure that's all in my mind. the double walls help to muffle noise at the very least.

 

If I can't find any from friends I've always used the rolls from walmart's office isle but now I'm going to check out HD/Lowes and compare pricing. The HD boxes are pretty solid for shipping.

 

Does anywhere ever give out free bubblewrap?

 

My brother in law works for a box company and he can make me any custom made box. But I will usually use a free FedEx box to ship.

 

I get my boxes from webshops, they ship their beers in good boxes that are made to transport bottles, some shops even fill them up with package material like bubble wrap or package noodles, all I have to do is just switch the bottles and the box is good to go!

 

I used to work at Lowe's and we recycled all of our bubble wrap, we used to put it out back in a tractor trailer that they came and picked up. Now that I don't work there anymore I just ask friends what work there and I usually walk away with a car load of free bubble wrap. Its worth a shot asking at your local HD or Lowe's.

 

I'm so lucky to work at a factory with a big shipping and recieving area haha. It's like a beer trading gold mine for bubble wrap and boxes...I can literally be picky about the type of bubble wrap and box i want to use! I've recieved the Home Depot boxes though and think if i was paying i'd buy those as they are VERY rugged.

 

other traders

 

I wish I could get free bubblewrap. It's the biggest expense for me from a packaging perspective. I certainly try to reuse from other traders & this is a big reason I use rubber bands to fasten bubble wrap, so it can be easily reused for the next trader. For boxes, I use the box in a box method almost exclusively. Pick up the inner box for free in the discarded box pile at Binny's and pick up the outer box for about .69 at Walmart.