When the device has a strong potential for resale or re-donation. Imagine you searched eBay and found two identical iPhones listed at the same price, but only one came with the original box. Which would you choose? For high-end items like a smartphone or laptop, or for potential collectibles like, say, a limited edition video game controller, the packaging is almost part of the product and therefore increases its market value. When you include the box in your ad, it suggests that the item has been kept in good condition.
“It’s always good to have the original box,” says Sara Beane, media relations specialist at the online marketplace Swappa. “It creates a better unboxing experience. This is especially important, she adds, if the buyer intends to give the item as a gift.
When the warranty is still in effect, especially for bulky or delicate items. Hang in there maybe even longer if you plan to move. Most manufacturers will allow you to return a television, monitor, or other device under warranty for repair in any box. (Companies like Apple will even send you a box for your return.) But it is certainly easier to pack the device in the box it came in than to bubble wrap it and squeeze it in another box, especially if we are talking about bulky and unusually shaped items like televisions. “I still have the 18-year-old flat panel monitor box still in working order,” Twitter member @ TheSkepticalSc2 told me in a tweet. “It’s been with me for six shots.”
When storing the box is also profitable. A laptop shipping box with foam padding costs around $ 25, and TV moving boxes can cost over $ 40, depending on the size of the set.
When the gadget is a specialized item or you store additional parts. “Outdoor projectors and screens, which were so popular during the pandemic, can be saved because you will be storing your equipment there most of the time,” Thalia Poulos, president of the American Society of Professional Organizers and professional organizer in California . , told me in an email. Plus, sometimes people have extra parts for their electronics, like extra mounting hardware for a Ring home security system. In that case, says Poulos, it’s a good idea to keep the box so that you can protect the items and easily remember what they are and where they are.
If none of the above apply to you, break free from the tyranny of packaging.
That box that came with a pair of inexpensive $ 20 headphones? Let it go. That box that housed a state-of-the-art laptop that is now 3 years old? Thank them for their service and send them to the recycling bin.
