Do Moving Companies Provide Boxes?

Quick answer/overview of article: Yes, moving companies provide boxes if they offer “full-service packing” services. Many companies don’t provide boxes by default but can do so for extra payment.

Moving boxes make things so much easier and smoother when you’re changing homes or offices. They help you store your smaller items and belongings in one place so that they stay safe and organized.

Acquiring moving boxes can be quite a hassle when you’re busy with all the other stuff that a move requires. You could be wondering, “Do moving companies provide boxes?” If they did, things would be so much easier, wouldn’t they?

In this post, we’re going to help you get the answer to this question, along with a ton of other useful related information about moving companies and moving boxes.

Do Moving Companies Provide Boxes?

Yes, many moving companies provide boxes and packing supplies to their customers. If companies offer full-service packing, then they will not only provide the materials, but also pack the items/belongings for the customers. This way, the entire process of packing and moving the items is in the company’s hands, and the customer can just…relax.

Understanding different types of moving companies

Understanding the different types of moving companies is important to understanding whether or not you’ll get packing supplies and boxes during the move.

Below, we’ve created a list of the main types of moving companies.

• Move only: These companies offer only moving services. They will take your stuff from point A to point B, and that’s it. They don’t offer any sort of additional services whatsoever.
• Moving + materials provider: These companies provide moving services and they also sell packing materials for extra costs. You can contact these companies prior to the move and acquire the materials. Typically, in this arrangement, the packing is done by the customers themselves. These companies provide boxes.
• Full-service packing + moving: These companies provide the materials, perform the packing, and move the items all by themselves. When working with these companies, you don’t even have to worry about what type of boxes you need and how many of them you need, etc. All of the headache is taken care of by the company.
• Full-service packing + moving + storage: These companies provide all the services mentioned above in the Full-service packing + moving section, along with storage services. These companies give boxes to their customers, but they also take care of the part where the boxes have to be used.

Understanding the cost of the provided boxes

When hiring any moving company, it is important to carefully check and understand the quote that you’re furnished with. In many cases, the quote only contains the cost of the moving job, and every tiny additional service that you may need comes with an extra charge. While there is no problem in charging extra for said services, it has to be made clear and transparent beforehand so that the customer knows just how much they’ll have to spend.

Keeping that in mind, you have to be careful about checking the cost of the provided boxes. Make sure to ask if the boxes are included in the full service or excluded. In the latter case, you will have to pay extra on top of the initially quoted amount.

Storage items “renting” options

Many companies don’t provide moving boxes, but they do offer moving supplies that you can borrow and use for the duration of your move. For example, many moving companies offer plastic shipping containers/crates that you can use to load up your belongings and move them easily. Once you’re done, you can hand the containers back to the company.

If you’re hiring the movers for packing + moving, then they will take care of the former by themselves using the “rented” containers. They will simply charge you for the use of the containers and then take them back once they are done.

This option can actually be quite handy, as it saves you the cost of buying boxes outright, and it also saves you the hassle of worrying about what to do with them once you’re done shifting your items.

Where Can I Get Boxes on My Own?

In the sections above, we have talked about whether moving companies provide boxes or not. But, we haven’t answered the one question that arises if the answer to the previous one is in the negative: if moving companies won’t give me boxes, where do I get boxes on my own?

There are quite a few places where you can buy moving boxes. For example,

• You could go to your local department store, such as Walmart or Target, and simply buy the boxes there.
• Or, you could go to Amazon.com and buy moving boxes in bulk. This can be great if you want to avoid the hassle of going to a store yourself.
• If you don’t want to spend money on moving boxes, you could simply walk into any grocery store or bookstore and ask if they have any lying around. Usually, if you’re on friendly terms with a store, they will be willing to help you out.

How Do I Choose the Best Boxes for My Move?

Quick answer: You can choose the best boxes for your move by picking the ones that are suitably sized according to your needs, numerous enough for your belongings, and durable enough to safely carry them from point A to B.

Long answer: Okay, so let’s say you found a good store to buy moving boxes. But then you could be wondering about another thing: how do I get the best ones for my move?

There are quite a few factors that have to be considered here. Before buying the boxes, ask yourself these questions.

• What size boxes do I need?
• How many boxes do I need?
• What type of boxes do I need?

The answers to these questions will guide you to choose and buy the best ones for your needs. Let’s elaborate on them below.

What Size Boxes Do I Need?

When choosing the sizes for your moving boxes, keep in mind the items that you need to move. Large items need bigger boxes while smaller belongings can be better off in compact boxes since they are durable and easy to move, store, and organize.

Here are a few pointers to keep in mind about normal box sizes:

• Small boxes are about 1.5 cubic feet. They are great for story items like accessories, electronics, and books.
• Medium boxes can be around 2.5 to 3.5 cubic feet. They are suitable for kitchen appliances and utensils.
• Large boxes are 4.5 cubic feet and above. Due to their large size, their structural integrity is a bit weaker. They are good for clothes, linens, cushions, and other similar items.

In a typical residential move, you’ll need a few boxes of all three sizes.

How many boxes do I need?

There isn’t really a standard or definitive answer to that. It simply depends on the number of items you’re moving.

If you’re moving houses, here is a formula that you can loosely apply to determine how many boxes you’ll need:

• For each bedroom, allocate one large box, one medium box, and two small boxes.
• For the kitchen, allocate two small boxes, three medium boxes, and one large box.
• For the office/study, allocate one large box and three medium boxes.
• For the drawing room, allocate three to four medium boxes. (The furniture will be moved as it is, while the knick-knacks and decoration pieces will have to be packed.)
• The same goes for the dining room.

What type of boxes do I need?

There are various types of boxes that you can choose from when buying them from a store. Below, we’re going to list some of those so that you can understand which ones will be suitable for your particular needs.

• Normal moving boxes: These boxes are made of simple cardboard, and are great for storing items like clothes, linen, etc.
• Multi-layered, corrugated boxes: These boxes have a thick and durable construction, and are excellent for fragile goods like electronics and appliances.
• Dish pack boxes/dish barrel boxes: These boxes are purpose-made for shipping fragile kitchenware. They have sections inside them to safely hold the kitchenware items, like dishes or glasses, so that they don’t move around and break.

Once again, in a typical residential move, you’ll need a few of every type. Only if you’re moving only a particular room can you choose one of these in exception to the rest.

You can find more details on moving boxes and their various types by checking our article on What type of moving boxes do you need?

Is It Cheaper to Get Boxes on Your Own or from the Moving Company?

If your moving company is offering boxes on a separate charge, then it is usually cheaper to get boxes on your own instead of coughing up the additional money.

Why?

Because in many cases, you can get the boxes for free instead of having to pay for them. And even when you do pay for them (such as when buying from Target or Amazon), they usually come really cheap.

On the other hand, if your moving company is offering the boxes as a part of its full-fledged service, then the question of acquiring them on your own doesn’t arise. The boxes become quite affordable when acquired as a part of a larger service.

Conclusion

And there you have it.

Moving companies do provide boxes if their services entail them. Many of them don’t, and instead ask for additional payment for the packing materials.

You can simply ask your company and make sure whether you’ll be provided with the boxes on the day of the move. If not, you can make your own arrangements.

In the article above, we have delved in detail into all of these aspects. We’ve talked about how you can acquire boxes on your own, whether it’s more affordable than the company-provided ones or not, and so on.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article, and we hope it gave you some much-needed information!