Knowledge Base

How many boxes do you use for packing and shipping everyday? What if you can get the boxes for free? How much money will you save? In this ongoing series of articles, we offer tips and suggestions on how you, as a retailer, can save shipping costs in fulfilling customer orders.

Our tip today is about free boxes. Yes, you read it right - free, and they come in different sizes ranging from 5-3/8" x 8-5/8" x 1-5/8" to 19" x 17" x 13.8". Where do you get them? Pretty much all the major couriers like USPS, UPS and FedEx offer free boxes with USPS offering the most. You can order the boxes from the courier website or pick them up from one of their local branches.

Free USPS Boxes

• Priority Mail Small Flat Rate Box
• Priority Mail Medium Flat Rate Box
• Priority Mail Large Flat Rate Box
• Priority Regional Rate Box
• Priority Mail International Small Flat Rate Box
• Priority Mail International Medium Flat Rate Box
• Priority Mail International Large Flat Rate Box
• Priority Express Medium Flat Rate Box

Free FedEx Boxes

• Express Box Small
• Express Box Medium
• Express Box Large
• International Priority 10 KG Box
• International Priority 25 KG Box

Free UPS Boxes

• Express Box Small
• Express Box Medium
• Express Box Large
• Worldwide Express 10 KG Box
• Worldwide Express 25 KG Box

Some of the boxes offered by USPS include flat rate shipping which allows gross weight of up to tens of pounds. If your merchandise are relatively small and heavy such as books, they provide the biggest bang for your buck. Besides boxes, you can also get free envelopes from couriers ranging from (padded) letter size to full legal size.

The SolvingMaze Pack and Pack API has many of the boxes and envelopes built-in for your convenience. All you need is to pass in the dimensions of your merchandise and the calculator will figure out which boxes or envelopes to use for packing and shipping as well as shipping rates so you can save money on shipping.