Moving totes vs. cardboard boxes
Cardboard boxes cost less to buy. Rented totes cost more, but they're delivered, need no tape or assembly, and get picked up when you're done. Here's the full comparison, and when cardboard is the better choice.
The short answer
Lowest price up front
Cardboard
Buying boxes costs less than renting totes.
Least work
Totes
Delivered, no folding or tape, picked up after.
Moving out of town
Cardboard
Our totes stay in the Kokomo area.
Rain and heavy stacks
Totes
A puddle or drizzle is fine, and they don't crush.
Side by side
Totes win most rows. Cardboard wins two, and they matter.
Getting them
CardboardBuy at a store and bring them home
TotesBetterDelivered to your door
Assembly
CardboardFold and tape every box
TotesBetterNone — the lid is attached
Tape
CardboardNeeded for every box
TotesBetterNone
Stacking
CardboardSoft boxes can crush under heavy ones
TotesBetterRigid walls stack without crushing
Rain and damp
CardboardCardboard soaks and sags when wet
TotesBetterWater-resistant — a puddle or drizzle is fine
Moving day
CardboardBring your own dolly or carry by hand
TotesBetterA dolly is included
How long you keep them
CardboardBetterAs long as you like
Totes2-week rental, extensions usually available
Where they can go
CardboardBetterAnywhere
TotesKokomo and nearby communities
Afterward
CardboardBreak down, recycle, or store
TotesBetterWe pick them up
When cardboard is the better choice
You're moving out of the area
We deliver and pick up around Kokomo, so the totes can’t go with you to another city. For a long-distance move, boxes travel with you.
You'll be unpacking for months
Totes are rented in 2-week blocks. If things will sit packed in a garage or storage unit indefinitely, boxes cost nothing to keep.
It's a very small move
Our smallest package is 20 totes. If you only need a handful of boxes, buying them is simpler.
You already have boxes
Free boxes from a friend or a Buy Nothing group are hard to beat on price, as long as you don’t mind mixed sizes and taping.
When totes are worth it
A local move with a lot of stuff and not much time. Totes arrive clean at your door, stack neatly in the truck without crushing, and leave with us afterward, so there’s nothing to buy, build, or throw away.
Every tote is the same size
2.5 cubic feet inside (25.2 × 15.5 × 11 inches), about the size of a medium moving box. Outside they measure about 27 × 17 × 12½ inches, so they stack square in the truck and in your closet.
Moving around Kokomo?
Check your area or book totes — we deliver, and we pick them up.