Selling and moving this spring. Question 1: Where's the best place to pick up packing boxes? Probably have to move to temporary storage, then again when I buy a new place.

Question 2: Only semi-related as I off-load stuff. I have a complete collection of National Geographic magazines going back to 1968. Yes, including the famous Afghani Girl in the 70's. I had about decided that these were going to have to be donated to a school/library since it is all available online. Then my daughter said, "Don't be crazy! Other people will go crazy!" OK - maybe. I'll be having an estate sale (sorry, no guns or tools ) A locally advertised estate sale may not be the best way forward. Not sure how to advertise this stash that would fill a pickup, or if it is worth the effort. I have all the maps, but they are unfortunately separated from the magazines, and it would be quite the effort to re-insert them in the proper edition. Open to advice...

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Some collect art; I shoot it!

Amazon and Walmart sell them.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Best prices on moving boxes I've seen are at Lowe's or Home Depot. All the storage and van rental prices charge an arm and a leg.

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Release the Kraken

I am not sure there is a market for magazines or books anymore. But, if you do go through with it, sell them a year at a time or decade at a time. If you let folks cherry pick the issues, you will be left with the pits.

As for moving boxes…just moved 2.5 years ago. Get the small sized boxes from Lowe’s, HD, Menards etc. Anything larger will get very heavy when you load it. Strapping tape, with the filaments in it, holds better than the clear stuff.

Kevin

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Unshared knowledge is wasted.

The ABC store gives boxes away.

No cherry picking on the Geographics. All or nothing. Although I do like your idea of selling parcels. That would probably yield the highest dollars, but, hey, I'm more interested in getting rid of stuff than maximizing dollars. Plenty of other things to do.

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Some collect art; I shoot it!

Produce dept. at the supermarket. Ask for apple boxes.

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The best I can with what I got

Liquor stores usually have strong boxes......Ben

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Cogito, ergo BOOM!...

U-Haul has them, bit pricey but sometimes give discounts with truck rental.

Unless you want to buy banker’s boxes, liquor stores have always been willing to let me have as many boxes as I want.

Your National Geographics may prove disappointing. You collected them one month at a time, not all at once. That’s a manageable pace. You don’t get overwhelmed as you would if you acquired them all at once.

There was a time when it seemed like every garage sale had a bunch of National Geographics. That’s less common now that it’s all online. If there are copies you want to have in hard copy, you can order them straight from National Geographic.

If you offer them for ten cents per copy you may unload some, although not all of them. I think it unlikely anyone will buy them all.

Check to see if the local schools or libraries will take them.

Walmart sells boxes also

When I sold my Dads home National Geographic Mags were left to new owners son. We researched various options no one wanted them!!

We moved into our new home 8 months ago. Being Prime members we ordered boxes from Amazon.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

I just helped a friend and his wife load a small rental trailer for a move and they bought small, medium, and large cardboard boxes from Home Depot and they were very good quality with punch outs areas to aid in carrying.

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James
On the Llano Estacado

Back in 1987 or so, my father's Nat Geos going back to 19-something were donated to Stanford University along with all my father's papers and published works. He had the complete set going back to the first one published. Nobody would pay for them, but several places (libraries) would accept them if free. I halted my subscription and sent all of mine to a recycler.

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Mike Maher #283

In my town everybody and their brother looks for outlets for donating Nat Geo's and they don't exist. I had about 6-8 years worth in the binders plus another stack when I thought to myself "Why?". I have two years worth from the Covid years next to my easy chair and when I get around to ever reading them I'll feed my recycle bin.

For moving boxes check local ABC stores or as posted Lowes or Home Depot. Have found other boxes not to be very good. Guess I’m lucky as had a SIL that worked for Chic-Fi-Lay and their boxes are tough. A Huge issue is that boxes from grocery stores and other similar place have roaches in them or roach eggs. By chance you use such Unload boxes and put them outside in the Trash. You DoNot want those boxes to stay in your house/ apartment. BTW Im moving too and its hard on a 73 year old….

I have learned to buy the boxes new. They come packed flat and get the strapping tape and a taping machine. The tape machine takes practice and is the devil's work. but having small boxes of a uniform size and a a few medium boxes and a wardrobe box or two makes the job much easier. We found you could rent a truck (we liked Penske) and hire a crew to load and unload it and save a ton of money. Plus you do not get the cockroaches hitchhiking on food and liquor boxes

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Kind regards, Heinz

Most libraries refuse donations of books/papers/magazines due to the risk of introducing mold or insects to their entire collection. Attempt to yard sell the or rent a dumpster to pitch them and any other unwanted items in.

Might want to consider one of the “Pods”. You load it with your boxes. They haul it away and store it for you and then will deliver it to your new home. A lot less hassle than loading boxes, toting them to store, unloading them, and then going back, reloading them, moving them to your new home and unloading them again��

I've been in the process of packing for an upcoming move from Maine to Arizona, and I've been getting boxes from Wally world and Home Depot, Lowes boxes are more expensive. Bubble wrap and foam peanuts from Amazon. Staples has odd shaped boxes for special items.

I weigh everything from a standpoint of "do I really want to haul this across the country" and have made countless trips to the dump and good will.

I had every issue of American Handgunner going back to number one,
plus others gun mags. I put them in boxes and took them to the clubhouse at the local range. I'd rather give stuff away then mess around trying to sell it, it's not worth the time and effort for what I would get out of it!

Moving Kits, Moving Box Kits in Stock - ULINE

Every kind of box imaginable.

There's plenty of places to buy boxes but the best ones are FREE . If you have the luxury of time you shouldn't have any problem collecting enough from various stores , etc. Just ask the Manager and he/she will probably be happy to give you some . Less work for them . I see the local grocery store restocking all the time and there are piles of empty boxes that they have to break down .

The last time we moved, I obtained all the boxes I needed from my local landfill/waste management drop-off sites. The separation of waste included dropping off broken down boxes in one of their buildings. It was the same building where you took your general paper products, including tons of National Geographic magazines that way too many people keep. You could take all you wanted for free. Check this option out.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

Yard sales...estate sales...an endeavor wherein people actually pay you to haul off your trash. If you go with PODS, you will feel obligated to unpack all that stuff into your new house, thus kicking the can down the road. My suggestion is renting a dumpster instead, load it and forget it.

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Forum consigliere

The local liquor superstores usually have empty boxes in abundance. And they are made of very heavy cardboard. However they are mainly medium sized only. Even the small liquor stores will usually have a few empty boxes.

Most libraries today won't accept anything paper. They don't want books or magazines, many have gone digital.

If you are willing to take used boxes, check with the local Relators' and see who is moving into the neighborhood.
Talk to the new owners since they will have a ton of them that they used to move into the new digs. Many will thank you for taking them away for free.

A lot of storage unit places sell boxes.

Count me as another person to suggest Uline. When I moved several years ago I ordered about 75 or so 12"x12"x12" boxes plus a half dozen rolls of tape and some bubble wrap to be used to pack dishes and glassware. They delivered a half pallet right to my garage door. You'd be surprised at how much will fit in a 12x12x12 box and they aren't too big or heavy when full. Well, unless they are full of books like some of mine were. Make sure to buy a couple of felt tip markers and write the contents on all four sides.

I also bought a hand truck from Harbor Freight. On moving day I told the moving crew to put any furniture in the new house in whatever rooms I directed them to, and put all boxes in the garage. Then each day I moved the boxes into the house that had the critical items inside and eventually got everything unpacked.

Once done, I flattened all the boxes and put an ad on Craigslist for "free moving boxes, come and get 'em" and within a couple of days a young couple came with their pickup truck and took the whole lot. Otherwise I would have had to take them to the dump.

Remember books go in book cartons because book cartons are small boxes because books are heavy.
The book cartons at U-haul are a little too big, thus too heavy for my 67 year old back.
I donated lots of reading material, including National Geographic Magazine, to my local Veterans Hospital. Call ahead for people to be available to unload your vehicle. also some of their campuses are quite large with many numbered buildings.
Also donated new in package underwear and socks from when my older brother dies.
They have also accepted videos and dvd's.

Amazon has boxes too.

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

Book boxes from the big box stores are slightly smaller and thinner than moving company boxes.

Grear suggestion to ask local realtors about folks who have just moved in. Most people end up with lots of boxes they are willing to give away to get rid of them.

I would be surprised if anyone will take your National Geographics. I tossed about 20 years' worth during one of kur moves. I bought the DVD set with every issue from when Jesus was a carpenter to about 2015.




Robert
SWCA #2906, SWHF #760

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Robert
SWCA #2906, SWHF #760

I think the Goodwill where I used to live won't take National Geographics or exercise machines.

When my dad moved to assisted living we ended up discarding 30 plus years of them. No one wanted them.

We save all our Chewy boxes. They're strong. We're slowly in the process of getting (stuff) packed away. UHaul sells special boxes for flat screen TVs and Computers, but I'm sure they can be bought for less than $20 apiece. Good luck in your move.
Oh, yeah, I know of a house in Pittsburgh that will be on the market hopefully in '24, should you change your destination.

Word up!👍

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Someone mentioned Craigslist. I have seen empty moving boxes advertised for free there many times. You Haul and truck rental places like that also sell moving boxes.

True, but all the storage places here charge nearly double compared with Lowe's and Home Depot.

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Release the Kraken

Probably already thought of, but several felt tip pens to label content of boxes or what room they go in.

We moved the contents of several houses into this one. No one thought to label boxes-or all the boxes No, I wasn't the one who packed the stuff the wife brought from her parents.

I'll third this recommendation. These boxes, usually, are very strong. One has to protect all that booze...

Copier paper boxes are pretty sturdy. If you have a home office you can probably accumulate a pretty good supply.

FWIW...

Years ago, during a move, I bought an assortment of heavy moving boxes. Circa 1988 or so.

When finishing the move, I cut the tape, folded them away. Then I used the same boxes repeatedly over the years when moving.

Good investment.

One tip, the bigger the box, the more heavy you will load it. Much easier to carry smaller boxes. Better for my back any-who!


,

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Death? Smile back...

I just added a sturdy dolly to my shopping list.

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Some collect art; I shoot it!

The last time we moved we found a place that rented reusable plastic crates. They were much stronger than paper boxes. The company also delivered them and picked the up after the move - but this only works for local moves.

I buy my boxes online from Uline.com.

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'Merica!