Stress is synonymous with moving home. All the physical work that you need to do, not to mention the emotions involved in moving, it is definitely one of the most stressful events that you’ll experience in your life. And oh, did we forget to mention? It is also costly. Because of that, we want to help you find every possibility of cutting the cost down for your home move.
When moving, you’ll always find yourself spending on moving supplies, specifically, moving boxes. You can’t take that out of the equation when moving. For a 2-bedroom apartment move, you’ll spend between $100 to $150 on moving boxes alone. But that’s not to say we can’t find a way around that. In this article, we will give you a list of places where you can get free moving boxes in Canada.
Friends, Workmates and Neighbours
One of the easiest ways to find free moving boxes is by asking people you know who might have recently moved. Don’t be shy to ask around if they have some moving boxes they haven’t discarded yet. If they don’t have any, they might know someone who has unwanted moving boxes or supplies.
Retails Shops
Pay a visit to your local retailer and you are sure to find a great number of boxes piled up or discarded at the back of their store. With different kinds of items being sold at the store, you should be able to find various sizes of boxes that are perfect for packing all kinds of stuff that you have.
Make sure to ask for the manager’s permission before taking any boxes.
Liquor Stores
Do you have any liquor stores near your area? It’s worth popping around to see if they have any boxes they are about to discard. Boxes from liquor stores are good for packing glassware and stemware because those boxes have partitions.
As usual, always ask for permission from the manager or workers of the store. Most of them are glad to give the boxes away.
Bookstores
One of the best places to score free boxes is your local bookstore. Given that the boxes have been used to pack books, they are for sure very sturdy which is ideal for packing your small but heavy stuff, e.g books.
Recycling Centers
If you haven’t been to a recycling centre, then you should know that this place is a treasure chest of unwanted cardboard boxes. Your city probably has more than one recycling centre. Find out the locations of each recycling centre in your city and schedule a visit. Ask for help from the attendant and he’d be most happy to show you where the discarded boxes are placed.
Be picky and only get boxes that are clean and in good shape. Boxes with minor damages can be fixed with packing tape. If you must get them, just use them to carry light items like linens, clothes, etc.
Craigslist
This is a popular online marketplace where you can find postings of jobs, house rentals, furniture and items for sale, gigs - just about everything. And, it also has a “FREE” section. You only need to find your local Craiglist website and browse the Free section to find people who are giving away moving boxes for free. Or, you can also use Craiglist to post an ad that you are looking for free moving boxes and other moving supplies.
Kijiji
Kijiji is an online classifieds website for buying and selling of new and second-hand goods in Canada. This platform has a “Free Stuff” section too, just like Craiglist. Once you click on the Free Stuff section, select the area you want to search from to narrow down your search and easily find it there is someone giving out free moving boxes near you.
Looking for boxes using Facebook is easy and is worth trying. Just go to Facebook Marketplace and type “free moving boxes” in the search tab. Don’t forget to filter the search location to be sure you are only going to get results from places near you.
Community groups on Facebook are also a great way to connect to your local community and source free moving boxes. Join your local community group on the platform, and post on the group page that you are looking for free moving boxes. You’ll be surprised to find friendly people in your community that are happy to give you free moving boxes and other moving supplies.
Moving Companies
Lastly, if you’re looking to hire a moving company for your home move, don’t be shy to ask if they offer free moving boxes and other moving supplies. We always assume that moving companies will always ask for a fee for everything that they offer, but there are actually a lot of moving companies who offer free moving boxes to customers.
Still haven’t found a trusted moving company for your upcoming move? Top Move has a network of moving companies across Canada who is trusted to perform a hassle-free move. Fill out our form and get multiple quotes from different moving companies and choose the best one for your next move.
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