Cardboard Boxes for Moving: What They Actually Cost

Cardboard boxes for moving are rarely free once you add it all up. Between buying enough of them, tape, a dolly, and the time spent breaking them down and hauling the flattened stack to recycling, a "free" cardboard move usually costs more time and money than renting totes — and the boxes are trash the moment you're done with them.

What a full set of cardboard boxes actually costs

Item	Typical cost
25–35 new boxes (1-bedroom)	$80–$150
Packing tape (4–6 rolls)	$20–$35
Dolly rental (if you don't own one)	$25–$40/day
Trip(s) to haul flattened boxes to recycling	Your time and gas
Total, out of pocket	~$125–$225

That's before counting the hours spent driving around collecting free boxes from grocery stores, which are inconsistent sizes, sometimes damp, and occasionally bring in bugs from wherever they were stored.

What renting totes costs instead

A Studio / 1-Bedroom tote package is $139 and includes 28 heavy-duty 52L totes, a moving dolly, free delivery, and free pickup — for a 7-day rental. There's a refundable $150 deposit on top, returned in full once the totes come back. No tape, no box-flattening, no recycling run.

Home size	Totes	Package price
Dorm room	12–18	$99 (10-day)
Studio / 1-bedroom	24–32	$139
2-bedroom	40–50	$189
3-bedroom	58–72	$239
4+ bedroom / commercial	90+	from $299

Where cardboard still wins

If you're moving something small — a few boxes of books to a storage locker, a partial dorm room, one-off shipping — free grocery-store boxes are genuinely fine. Totes earn their price on full moves, where the number of boxes, the tape, and the disposal step all stack up.

Common questions

How many cardboard boxes do I need to move a 1-bedroom apartment?

Most 1-bedroom moves need 25–35 boxes of mixed sizes. That's roughly what a 28-tote rental package holds.

Are cardboard boxes actually free?

Boxes from a grocery or liquor store are free to take, but they're inconsistent sizes, may be damp or bug-exposed, and you'll spend real time driving around collecting enough of them. New boxes from a hardware store or U-Haul are not free — a full 1-bedroom set typically runs $80 to $150 plus tape. See our guide to where to actually find free boxes locally.

Is it cheaper to rent totes than buy cardboard boxes?

For a single move, renting is usually cheaper once you count boxes, tape, a dolly rental, and the time and gas spent hauling flattened boxes to recycling afterward.

Related reading

Plastic totes vs cardboard boxes · The complete moving checklist · How many totes do I need? · Where to find free moving boxes locally

We deliver totes across Guelph, Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge.