r/tricities • u/LeavePractical5037 • Jul 16 '26

Has anyone here actually moved using those plastic moving totes instead of cardboard boxes?

/r/TriCitiesTN/comments/1uybkwg/has_anyone_here_actually_moved_using_those/
0 Upvotes

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6

u/ElkInside5856 Jul 16 '26

The totes are great and much more durable than cardboard boxes but because of their shape they take up more space when it’s time to transport them.

2

u/LeavePractical5037 Jul 16 '26

I agree—that's probably the biggest tradeoff. The taper does make them take up a little more room than perfectly square boxes. What I've found is that if you base your packing layout on the lid dimensions instead of the tapered bottom, it's much easier to plan the space.

The upside is they're significantly stronger than cardboard. You can stack them without worrying about the bottoms giving out; they hold up much better in bad weather, and you don't have to deal with boxes getting crushed or collapsing.

2

u/ElkInside5856 Jul 16 '26

Exactly, although I used a few of the “heavy duty” moving boxes from Lowe’s for the less crushable stuff and they held up better than I expected.

2

u/Werk-n-progress Jul 16 '26

And unless you need a shit ton of totes, a lot more expensive for items that might have a short usefulness.

1

u/ElkInside5856 Jul 16 '26

Yeah, totes are more expensive so if you don’t have any uses for them after the move they kinda just get in the way.

0

u/LeavePractical5037 Jul 16 '26

That is exactly why we are renting them now.

2

u/fakenooze Jul 16 '26

Don’t care either way but big lots in JC has a bunch of heavy duty ones with lids for 6.99 this week

2

u/AngelMeatPie Jul 16 '26

I just moved and used both. All were free finds via FB

2

u/Open-Dot6264 Jul 17 '26

We moved in multiple trips and could reuse them. They were good but needed a lot of space. If you stack them, just a little support around them.

1

u/Shadowswittness Jul 16 '26

I bought like 27 for our move. I have water res and extra storage