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Mac Packaging...

UltraNEO*

UltraNEO*

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 16, 2007
4,057
16
近畿日本
Curious about something...

What do you folks do with all your Mac packaging? Judging from some of your siggies, many of you own more than one machine.
What do you do with the boxes? Do you keep them in the loft, outta harms way? Put them in a corner and treasure them (so to speak)??

Me.. I have five macs around my apartment (two MacPro's and three MacBooks/Pro plus a few displays),
for a while now I'm being wondering what to do with them. For the MacPro and it's displays there's two boxes/cases,
one's the originally shipping carton and then there's a plastic pelican case... and they keep stacking up!

There's speaker boxes and cases, boxes for amps, audio & video equipment, flight cases for various components and
lets not forget about the wiring... Need i say more??

Then on top of that.. I have a newly build PC with a ton of tiny boxes for all the crap I've installed...

I simply wanna make more space for my work and enjoyment.. At the moment I sometimes feel like I'm living in a warehouse full of empty crates. :eek:

So, what do you do with your boxes??
 
Well, the boxes are good to keep in the case you someday decide to sell your computer. It always looks a little bit better when reselling to have the original box available. In some events, it could even raise the value.

But in the case you know you'd never sell your favorite Mac, I usually do something constructive with the box. Like carefully cutout one side of the box and frame it. Not only does it look great, it expresses your geekiness to visitors as well. (Hey, you've got to put something on the walls of your college apartment!)
 
I keep the boxes in the loft. If I buy used stuff I'll usually only buy if they have the original packaging.
My logic is:

The packaging was designed to protect the item during shipping. Therefore it's the best protection.

Also if the person has kept the packaging they usually care for the item very well.
 
OP: i would advise you to keep original packaging. They make the difference when reselling. If you don't have storage space at home, maybe you could look into putting them into renting storage? I know storage places can be relatively cheap like 5 bucks a month or something like that.
 
zer0tails said:
OP: i would advise you to keep original packaging. They make the difference when reselling. If you don't have storage space at home, maybe you could look into putting them into renting storage? I know storage places can be relatively cheap like 5 bucks a month or something like that.
Click to expand...

Not in Japan... Real estate is the most expensive commodity here! For instance, if you own a car, you must rent parking space for it within 2Km of your home and if your in the city (like me) chances are, your vehicle is parked in a automatic carpark. Or in my case, I sold it and bought a push-bike. That's stored in the basement of my building along with everyone elses.
 
If it's something I can ship without specialized packaging, the box gets thrown out. For my Mac Pro and cinema displays, the packaging is kept at my father's house because his place is bigger than mine.
 
UltraNEO* said:
Not in Japan... Real estate is the most expensive commodity here! For instance, if you own a car, you must rent parking space for it within 2Km of your home and if your in the city (like me) chances are, your vehicle is parked in a automatic carpark. Or in my case, I sold it and bought a push-bike. That's stored in the basement of my building along with everyone elses.
Click to expand...


Could always move to somewhere somewhat less insane…
 
bartelby said:
I keep the boxes in the loft. If I buy used stuff I'll usually only buy if they have the original packaging.
My logic is:

The packaging was designed to protect the item during shipping. Therefore it's the best protection.

Also if the person has kept the packaging they usually care for the item very well.
Click to expand...

That's good logic. That's what I would do in the UK, if i had a loft. Hmmm... But what happens when the living space you have is limited? And packaging from toys start filling up the living space?? I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one living in a box-shop, am i? Am i???
 
UltraNEO* said:
That's good logic. That's what I would do in the UK, if i had a loft. Hmmm... But what happens when the living is you have is limited and packaging from toys start filling up the living space?? I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one living in a box-shop, am i?
Click to expand...

Just throw them out then, mate. If you've no choice, you've no choice.
 
Keep the box around if you can, when the time comes to sell your Mac it is a lot easier to ship with the original box/packaging unless you specify local pick-up/delivery.
 
grue said:
Could always move to somewhere somewhat less insane…
Click to expand...

And what's the fun in that, then?
Besides I like being here, there's a twenty-four hour post-office less than a block away, allows me to send away overdue work without further delay. Down-town is one stop away! Bullet-train station is about two stops away!! It's just really convenient!! :) OK, rent is crazy but I can handle it.
 
gjw4u said:
Use the boxes to make a nice bonfire in order to please the apple gods.
Click to expand...

grue said:
but throw as much plastic and other stuff in the pile as possible to piss off the greenies.
Click to expand...

Hmmmmm... That would only be fun, if someone invited Greenpeace to the party!! Besides, I think incinerating waste paper and plastic is an offence, not the fact it's been burnt, but making fires and toxic smoke.
 
Keeping laptop boxes isn't much of a hassle, but when your apartment starts filling up with 24" iMac, 30" Cinema Display and Mac Pro boxes, you know you need to do something (about the boxes and probably about your Mac-hobby too :D).

I usually keep the boxes initially and then toss them away later, say after 3-12 months. By that time it's usually clear does the machine need to get repaired under warranty and if something in your workflow dictates moving it around (my previous 24" iMac travelled a lot so the box was essential).

The minus point is the moment of selling it later but usually a well kept machine speaks for itself, especially if you have absolutely everything that came in the box in the first place. And most buyers don't actually care for the packaging.
 
I keep the boxes until I am sure the machine will not need to be returned to Apple--i.e. there are no design/manufacturing defects/flaws. Then I junk all the boxes. This applies to all my machines, from Mac Pros to Cinema Displays to laptops.
 
I keep it all till the machine goes or about 6 years - whichever comes 1st. All manuals, CDs, and original packaging stay in the box. I have one room furnished out of product boxes. I throw cloths and coverings (wood, straw mat, weaves, etc.) over them and use them for tables, stands and shelfs. The Mac Pro box is covered in rice-mat and lays flay next to a bean-bag chair where half-read magazines and some manga are splayed out. My Video Toaster boxes on the other side of the beanbag chair hold up a lamp and the unread/unopened magazines. There's about 15 or 20 large boxes in that room serving various functions - including holding other boxes. :)
 
I keep all the boxes, from most of my electronic hardware, in case if I will have to send the item for a repair or just decide to sell it...
There was a thread here showing how the Mac Pro case looked like when not shipped in original box...

If you don't have any additional storage space you can always disassemble the box and put it underneath your bed ;)
 
It would be good to keep the boxes for various computer things if they need to go to repair or I move, but the mac pro box is huge, even folded flat. Thinking about it, if I did move I doubt I would of put it in the box, better to keep it separate and move it very carefully.
 
yup they look really good for resale or if you need to ship it for repairs.


plus they look so darn good.


if you really need to get rid of them - i'm sure you could get 10$+ per box on eBay.


a lot of people buy them to increase their resale value, albeit a little silly that someone would buy a box and then pay shipping for it to be shipped inside of another box.
 
My MP and iMac's (G4) are in a corner of my basement, while my MB is in my closet

ziggyonice said:
...
But in the case you know you'd never sell your favorite Mac, I usually do something constructive with the box. Like carefully cutout one side of the box and frame it. Not only does it look great, it expresses your geekiness to visitors as well. (Hey, you've got to put something on the walls of your college apartment!)
Click to expand...

I like this idea... a lot. may have to be creative myself... :D
 
UltraNEO* said:
And what's the fun in that, then?
Besides I like being here, there's a twenty-four hour post-office less than a block away, allows me to send away overdue work without further delay. Down-town is one stop away! Bullet-train station is about two stops away!! It's just really convenient!! :) OK, rent is crazy but I can handle it.
Click to expand...

plus japanese chicks are hot! ;)
 
Keep my Apple boxes.

I do throw out (recycle) boxes of items that are worth less and things in which no warranty claims will be made.

As to boxes of pc components, I find my huge box for Antec p182 is able to store the other boxes.

bartelby said:
I keep the boxes in the loft. If I buy used stuff I'll usually only buy if they have the original packaging.
My logic is:

The packaging was designed to protect the item during shipping. Therefore it's the best protection.

Also if the person has kept the packaging they usually care for the item very well.
Click to expand...

Yeah same here. I keep my Mac boxes.

designed said:
Care to post a picture someday? I'd like to see that in action :)
Click to expand...

yeah pics or never happened =)
 
UltraNEO* said:
That's good logic. That's what I would do in the UK, if i had a loft. Hmmm... But what happens when the living space you have is limited? And packaging from toys start filling up the living space?? I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one living in a box-shop, am i? Am i???
Click to expand...
Can you break down the boxes to make storage more compact?

Plenty of heavy packing tape and some glue would suffice to reconstruct it if needed. ;)
 
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