Welcome! I’m sure you clicked on this link because you, like so many others out there in the gaming and technology space, have this issue. We all purchase either games, geek culture, or tech that come in some really cool-looking boxes, and then we just have them piling up in our homes. I have an entire closet full of boxes, while the bigger ones I’ve tossed up in my house attic. I know, I’m not proud of that.
But why do we do it? What can we do about it? Is this even healthy? Why can’t we part with our boxes?
Well, I don’t have all the answers for you, but I do know from experience the reasons why we just want to hang onto our precious boxes. Just as well as there are reasons we really should be chucking them into the trash bin. So, let’s dive into what I’ve learned and hopefully it can help you out with your dilemma.
Why You Should Keep Your Boxes
Reselling Your Stuff
For me, there’s no bigger reason to hang onto my boxes than to resell stuff. Gaming and technology items are expensive, and the prices aren’t coming down anytime soon, if ever. So, to save myself some money, I save my boxes to resell my stuff on eBay, Mercari, Facebook Marketplace, or other places.
Trust me, trying to resell anything without the original boxes will not end up well, as most people who want to buy your items will want to have the boxes along with them. Failing to have those boxes, you’ll likely have to drop some cost off what you were selling them for. That’s a bad deal, so this is the number one reason I hang onto my boxes.
They Look Really Cool
Did you know that a lot of the companies that sell you stuff have a team that does nothing but decide on how interesting the boxes that your stuff comes in, look like? If anything, these are the people you can blame for why you collect so many of them. These people are why we have various people showcasing boxes on shelves, or in many backgrounds that we see on YouTube or other streams that we watch. Placing an interesting and eye-catching box into your gaming room or office does wonders for livening up a room. I still have my box for my Nvidia RTX 4090, which is a damned good-looking black box.
Keep Them if You Move Around a Lot
While this may not apply to everyone, keeping your boxes does help if and when you happen to move to another location. Not everyone is fortunate to stay at the same location for the rest of their lives, and when it’s time to move, you may be forced to find other means of transporting your items. If the original boxes aren’t around, it could get messy and expensive if you need to find replacements.
Did you know that there are people who sell empty boxes for just this reason? I spoke to a few of them who resell boxes on eBay, and they stated they actually make a nice amount of money doing this.
You May Need them for Warranties
While this doesn’t apply to gaming and geek boxes, if you tend to purchase items such as video cards, processors, hard drives, or any other technology, you may want to keep the boxes for warranty purposes. I’ve experienced conflicts when telling a vendor that I discarded my box just a few months after purchasing my video card. Never get rid of your boxes until the warranty period is over!
Why You May Want to Hang Onto Those Boxes
There’s Clutter Everywhere
While I mentioned that the boxes that our gaming, electronics, and other geek culture stuff come in do look cool, they also take up space. And in some instances, lots of space. It took a lot of willpower for me to remove nearly all of the boxes that I had adorned in my office. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing, and no matter how they looked, when they start to build up and all you see is boxes, that looks horrible. Nobody wants to be a packrat, right?
Potential Fire Hazard in the Making
Did you know that most boxes that your lovely items come in are made of cardboard? And that cardboard is extremely flammable? Why do we possibly set ourselves up for a fire hazard that could rob us of all our cool items, and possibly our lives? If you need a reason to part ways with those boxes that are cluttering up your room, attic, or other places, then this one is it.
If you do need to keep those boxes, maybe think about some sort of storage unit to house them in instead. That way, if the unthinkable happens, at least you’ll be protecting yourself.
No More Room for Anything Else
If you keep collecting all those boxes, how exactly do you have room for anything else? Yes, this includes other boxes. Unless you have access to a pocket dimension that you can pull out whenever you please to toss other stuff into, room is finite. There’s only so much to go around before you’re stuck when you decide to bring more geek and tech stuff into your room.
At the end of the day, only you can choose to part with your empty boxes and it’s not a bad thing to keep them. However, if you’re sitting on boxes for stuff that you don’t even need anymore, like that box from your Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2, or the video card that had a meltdown and you chucked it in the trash, then it’s time to part with those boxes. Look at the bright side—if you get rid of the boxes you don’t need, you’re making room for some new boxes. Though maybe you shouldn’t, but that’s your call.
Just be sure if you do get rid of those boxes, that nothing is inside of them first!
