Do I have to use removal firm's boxes?

comeandgo

Our removal company came and saw what we had to move prior to giving a quote, then left boxes, they said we could certainly use our own too but to be no bigger than theirs. After we moved we were told to phone them when we were ready for them to pick up the empty boxes, the boxes were flat when we received them, had to use packing tape to make them up, and were returned to them flat.

Slinky

Use their packing service. It really is money well spent if you've got anything more than say a 1 bed flat IMO.

franklee

We identified the removal firm we wanted to use and then purchased new boxes from them by going to their shop/warehouse. It wasn't particularly cheap but at least we knew the boxes were up to the job, the cubes being double walled etc. We also sourced our own smaller double walled boxes for books as their smaller boxes were single wall. We did this as we wanted to keep the boxes packed long term and they have stacked fine for years. If you buy single wall for things like books the pile can collapse.

I also recommend buying packs of white news offcuts to use as packing paper, it's cheap, clean and no print to come off.

Do read a guide to packing also so as not to overload the boxes. Large boxes should only be used for light items.

I'd suggest you start by having a chat to your preferred removal firm and see what they suggest you do. They may even lend you boxes if they allow provisional bookings or bookings with a reasonable fee to move the date etc. So I'd ask them what they do when a removal date isn't yet set. Be aware if you get too close to Christmas you won't get a booking as everyone will be wanting to move then. It will help if you can avoid weekends.

DRP

IME they rent them to you like bottles of pop in the old days - when you return the boxes weeks later they return your deposit.

marleyboy

Our removal firm packed the boxes for us as part of the service. As such they would insist they used their own boxes, something to do with a box count.

They would leave the boxes until we had unpacked the odds n sods and then return to retrieve the flattened boxes.

dacouch

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Removal firm packing cases are very strong and depending on the weight of the contents hold a lot. Also easier to stack.

I agree.

If you buy boxes from a company like this https://www.mad4boxes.co.uk they will not be the same as a removal firms boxes eg proper double or triple wall. The result is the boxes can only be stacked two high in their van. This means they either stack higher and the boxes all crush or they need to make more than one trip due to it all not fitting in as they could not stack the boxes.

Katgrit

I bought second hand double walled boxes from my Removal Company in advance, and they were still in good nick, and only £1 each. The best advice I got was to estimate how many you think you'll need and double it. I was horrified to hear it, but it was perfect advice!

poppasmurf_bewdley

I've only ever used Pickfords for my house removals, as they have always been the best value, and they have always supplied a variety of different sized boxes free of charge (including ones for hanging clothes) and collected the used ones at our convenience.