To keep the boxes or not?

John Koehrer · Aug 18, 2016

Now if you had a like new Compur Leica in the original, like new box. That's a bit different.

mgb74 · Aug 18, 2016

winger said:
Oh yes, I can play. I'm out of practice now, but would also like it if my son would play, even a little bit. And the piano has been in the family for longer than my camera boxes. The house is big enough for it and this is a good reason to do some organizing (some stuff is still in boxes from the move back to PA from IA last year).

I don't play, but would never get rid of a piano with that history. My 30-something son still plays (after many years of Suzuki lessons), and now my almost 6yo daughter plays. Recently, while on a visit back here, he took his daughter to visit and play for his former teacher. She (the teacher) truly enjoyed seeing how her efforts have been passed to another generation.

However, I do keep my old camera boxes.

removed account4 · Aug 18, 2016

hi bethe:

camera and lense boxes it is OK to get rid of, but if they were film and paper boxes
i'd say you were crazy to get rid of them. film and paper boxes, 35mm on up is worth saving !
we have a spare room and i store every box neatly folded flat. i've got boxes going back to 1970 when
i opened my first box of verichrome pan 127 film ... i slide the boxes under the door. and every 6 or 7 weeks
i stack them and band them with a rag paper and wheat paste band, and put them in an empty 8x10 paper box.
when i get a shipping container full, im going to send them all them to the smithsonian ... or sell them on eBoink
im sure someone will want to buy lots and lots of empty film and paper boxes.

Theo Sulphate · Aug 18, 2016

Save any box that may be significant to you.

The very first camera I ever bought (as a kid and with my own money), was a $19 Kodak 8mm movie camera back in 1964. I still have the camera, the box, and the manual (and the processed Kodachrome is still good).

My very first new 35mm camera was a Pentax SP500 in 1971. The box was inadvertently tossed when I left California in 1978.

In 1988 I bought a new F3/T with a 50/1.4 AIS lens - foolishly, I saved neither box.

Since then, I've saved everything. The Hasselblad and Leica boxes are nice and don't occupy too much room. All the rest can be recycled; it's hard to believe they're worth much.

Old-N-Feeble · Aug 18, 2016

Did any of you see the eBay listing for a box that sold for US$86? Or all those that sold for US$20-40 and more?

Some of you folks must have tons more money than me to not care about $20 per box.

Theo Sulphate · Aug 18, 2016

Old-N-Feeble said:
Did any of you see the eBay listing for a box that sold for US$86? Or all those that sold for US$20-40 and more?

Some of you folks must have tons more money than me to not care about $20 per box.

Ok ... I just did a search on "Nikon empty box". Yeah - crazy prices - $119 winning bid for Nikon F2 box.

AgX · Aug 19, 2016

Theo Sulphate said:
Ok ... I just did a search on "Nikon empty box". Yeah - crazy prices - $119 winning bid for Nikon F2 box.

So, what boxes are looked for and what not?
I need a guide...

John51 · Aug 19, 2016

Grand pianos use less space than uprights because you can put stuff under it as well as on top.

Some years ago I saw an empty box go on fleabay for over $1000 buy it now.

Was for a very rare Leitz lens. Seems the vendor knew that there was a collector with that lens but no box.

CMoore · Aug 21, 2016

All kinds of stupid things sell on Ebay.
Look at it this way......two identical lens. The one with a box is 30 dollars more. Would you pay 30 bux for 18 cents worth of cardboard.?
Let the OCD guys imagine there is value added with a box. Better yet, tell them to keep their valuable box and DEDUCT 50 dollars from the price.
BTW, the joke is....."A woman is like a piano, she's nice when upright, but grand when lying down".

Lee Rust · Aug 21, 2016

Even though you may have no plans to sell anything, most of your stuff will probably get sold somewhere down the road. At that time, some boxes may be worth more than others due to name brand recognition, nostalgia or prestige. You'll have to be the judge of that, but I would definitely keep any Leica boxes you might have.

Old-N-Feeble · Aug 21, 2016

It's

CMoore said:
All kinds of stupid things sell on Ebay.
Look at it this way......two identical lens. The one with a box is 30 dollars more. Would you pay 30 bux for 18 cents worth of cardboard.?
Let the OCD guys imagine there is value added with a box. Better yet, tell them to keep their valuable box and DEDUCT 50 dollars from the price.
BTW, the joke is....."A woman is like a piano, she's nice when upright, but grand when lying down".

It's precisely the OCD guys we save boxes for... they'll pay more for items in the original box. If someone is willing to give me $20... 30... 50... $100 for an empty box then I'm happy to sell it to them. Trashing a $50 box is like throwing a $50 note in the garbage.

Andre Noble · Aug 21, 2016

Dude, sorry this is late, KEEP the boxes. Been there done that (thrown them out, and ALWAYS regretted when time to sell). You can sell your item for 50% more on EBay with boxes, buyers assume person who keeps boxes also takes care of their gear (at least that's what I assume) and are wiling to spend more on such item.

AgX · Aug 21, 2016

Andre, the OP said that she likely is not going to sell her gear in the future. So the issue is only about the use of the boxes on their own.

Andre Noble · Aug 21, 2016

I am just trying to help, based on personal experience. Sometimes people have to learn their own lessons.

Old-N-Feeble · Aug 21, 2016

People often think they won't be selling any of their gear... then they usually do eventually.

winger · Aug 21, 2016

Old-N-Feeble said:
People often think they won't be selling any of their gear... then they usually do eventually.

Did you miss the part where I admitted to being a packrat? The only gear I might possibly sell is stuff I don't have the boxes for anyway. And I seriously doubt I'll be selling any cameras - just not my style. I tend to be the "donate to someone who will use it" type on the rare occasion that I get rid of something. But in this mess, the first thing to do is reorganize and get rid of obviously unneeded stuff (like the windows 95 tower computer and the dual cassette deck).

Old-N-Feeble · Aug 21, 2016

I'll pay the shipping if you want to send your 'good boxes' (worth $10+) to me.

LAG · Aug 22, 2016

winger said:
Is there a real reason to keep all these boxes? I'm not likely to sell any of this stuff. Help me stop being a packrat and tell me it's OK to dump them.

Excuse me winger

Yes, there are real reasons, anyway unfolding the boxes will help to make some room.

M Carter · Aug 22, 2016

CMoore said:
...Let the OCD guys imagine there is value added with a box.

I've sold a lot of stuff on eBay over the years. It would be hard to get solid empirical evidence, but my intuition is that boxes help raise the final price and overall interest.

When I am looking for something, whether it's a year old or 30, the box and paperwork - to me anyway - is a sign of a picky neatnick who takes care of their stuff. That's seemed to hold true in the people I know as well.

If I'm buying something like a 1980's Mamiya lens or a 60's camera... I really love to see the box and paper. Maybe it's the graphic design background, but I love that sort of retro stuff and I really pay attention to fonts and design styles and so on. It's another reminder of the human hands and brains that went into creating something in a very different era.

If I were never, ever gonna sell something... I'd probably keep the box still, not for every print easel and neg carrier, but for good lenses, bodies, and so on. But when I saw the OP's box pile... ehhh, I dunno. That's a lot of cardboard.

But if you never, ever sell it - someday, someone that loved you may. So I'd keep the boxes for the most desirable stuff. If you sell your boxes on eBay, consider selling them as lots - mix some so-so stuff in with the good stuff (like Nikon lens or body boxes).

Theo Sulphate · Aug 22, 2016

winger said:
Did you miss the part where I admitted to being a packrat?

I'm the same way. I like the things I have and can't part with them. Perhaps it's psychological and comes from not having anything at all for most of my life.

Old-N-Feeble said:
I'll pay the shipping if you want to send your 'good boxes' (worth $10+) to me.

Hey, Joe, you want box? I sell you nice box, fi' dollah! (*)

M Carter said:
... But when I saw the OP's box pile... ehhh, I dunno. That's a lot of cardboard.
...

Heh. That was mine - and not all of it.

(*) not really, sorry

Bob Carnie · Aug 22, 2016

Bethe get rid of them..

I am gobsmacked that a thread about boxes for gear has almost 1000 views and 47 reply's. Not really sure what this says about APUG 2016

winger · Aug 22, 2016

Bob Carnie said:
Bethe get rid of them..

I am gobsmacked that a thread about boxes for gear has almost 1000 views and 47 reply's. Not really sure what this says about APUG 2016

LOL - I'm with you, Bob.

Old-N-Feeble · Aug 22, 2016

Bob Carnie said:
Bethe get rid of them..

I am gobsmacked that a thread about boxes for gear has almost 1000 views and 47 reply's. Not really sure what this says about APUG 2016

It says some of us are opinionated.

DF · Aug 23, 2016

No one, I repeat, no one in the photography world is crazier then me, I have, yes, I have EVERY little 35mm cardboard film box my film came in since 1996! Up untilll 4 years ago, they were mostly yellow (Kodak), some green (Fuji), and grey'ish (Agfa). Nowadays, they're white - Ilford, several giant/jumbo-sized trash bags of'em.
What in the 'Dickens will I do with them? Good question....

Theo Sulphate · Aug 23, 2016

DF said:
No one, I repeat, no one in the photography world is crazier then me, I have, yes, I have EVERY little 35mm cardboard film box my film came in since 1996! Up untilll 4 years ago, they were mostly yellow (Kodak), some green (Fuji), and grey'ish (Agfa). Nowadays, they're white - Ilford ...

Ok... I haven't saved my Kodak film boxes, but I did decide to save a few different types of Polaroid boxes and Fuji packfilm boxes.

I've also saved the Polaroid Polapulse batteries and empty cartridges.

I think the reason is that the process of opening and using these films, especially the pack films, is enjoyable and engaging. I wanted to save a few boxes to preserve the memories. This includes the multilingual pamphlet and dark slide.

I don't think I'm alone in enjoying the experience of opening the pack film, pulling the tabs, and separating the print..

To keep the boxes or not?

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