Products · cartons
Used shipping boxes, by the bundle or the pallet.
- Pricing
- By quote from partner suppliers
- Sold as
- Bundles, pallets, bales
- Quote request
- Free, no obligation
Ask what sizes are available
Carton availability changes week to week. Send internal dimensions and a tolerance and a partner supplier follows up.
Answer first
Three ways to buy used cartons, and only two of them are boxes.
Bundled cartons are sorted, flattened and strapped in counts, ready to use. Palletised mixed cartons are a working assortment of sizes for people who pack varied product. Baled OCC is compressed scrap sold by weight to mills: feedstock, not packaging. Confusing the three is a common mistake for buyers.
Say clearly what you intend to do with the cartons when you ask for a quote, so the supplier can tell you which format fits.
Formats
What each format suits.
| Format | Typical contents | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Single-size bundle | Identical cartons, flattened and strapped | Repeat packing lines, e-commerce, kitting |
| Mixed pallet | Assorted cartons, roughly size-banded | Varied product, moving companies, resellers |
| Double wall heavy | Sorted heavy cartons | Industrial parts, export packing, machinery |
| Gaylord-full loose | A gaylord filled with unsorted usable cartons | Charities, workshops, prop and set departments |
| Baled OCC | Compressed bale sold by weight | Paper mills and recyclers only, not reusable stock |
Questions
Carton buying, answered.
Can I buy used shipping boxes in one specific size?
Are used cartons clean enough to ship to customers?
What does a bale of used boxes contain?
What is the minimum order?
Where they come from
Common sources, and what each one produces.
Carton availability depends on who cleared out what this week. Knowing the source helps explain condition, consistency and price.
- 01
E-commerce and 3PL inbound
Vendors ship to fulfilment centres in cartons that are opened once and discarded. Often good condition and sometimes single-size in large lots.
- 02
Contract packers
Component cartons arriving for kitting operations. Consistent sizes, clean interiors, often with one neat label.
- 03
Appliance and furniture retail
Very large double-wall cartons with high board strength. Awkward to store, useful for anyone shipping bulky or heavy items.
- 04
Print and paper trade
Heavy reinforced cartons built for paper weight. Often among the strongest single-wall stock available.
- 05
Retail back-of-store
Mixed sizes, mixed condition, plenty of shelf-edge labels. Useful for moving and workshop use, poor for anything customer-facing.
- 06
Returns processing
The most variable: mixed sizes, previous shipping labels, some tape residue. Expect to sort.
Checking cartons
What to check, in order.
Cartons are judged against the same principles as bulk boxes: structure first, cosmetics second.
Generally worth reusing
- Square, dry, no soft spots when squeezed at a corner
- Seams intact, manufacturer's joint unopened
- Few previous labels, none over a seam
- Flaps complete, no tears extending past a score line
- Maker's stamp legible where present
- No odour of any kind
Better recycled
- Any damp, any water line, any warping
- Wax coating, which contaminates the recycled furnish
- Food residue or staining of unknown origin
- Tape residue across the printed face, if being reused customer-facing
- Crushed corners on double-wall heavy stock
- Anything that previously held chemicals without a liner
Who buys them
Uses that work particularly well.
- E-commerce sellers covering the old label with their own
- Moving and relocation companies using mixed pallets
- Charities and food banks, where cost is the binding constraint
- Workshops, makerspaces and prop departments
- Kitting and sub-assembly lines using one repeat size
- Internal transfers between buildings on one site
- Trade counters selling loose to walk-in customers
- Film, theatre and photography set construction
- Typical bundle
- Identical cartons, flattened, strapped, counted. The standard unit for a repeat packing line.
- Mixed pallet
- Assorted sizes, roughly size-banded. Often the best value per carton and a fit for varied product.
- Gaylord-full loose
- A bulk box filled with unsorted usable cartons. Cheapest per unit; you do the sorting.
- Standing request
- Ask a supplier whether they will note your internal dimensions and tolerance and tell you when a matching lot comes in.
- Baled OCC is different
- Baled OCC is recycling feedstock, not reusable stock. Make sure you know which you are being quoted.
- Minimum
- Varies by supplier. For very small quantities, freight can cost more than the cartons are worth.
Give the size and how many a week.
Carton availability moves fast. A partner supplier follows up with what matches your size and volume.