Best Reusable Moving Boxes

Our top pick: The VENO Moving Bag is tough to beat. In addition to high quality and low prices, it’s also easy to carry.

• VENO Moving Bag: Best overall
• Bankers Box: Most popular
• Pratt cardboard box: Cheapest
• Rubbermaid Brute Tote: Heavy-duty
• Homz Plastic Storage Bin: Big items

• Low prices. You could customize a titanium moving box to last forever and hold hundreds of pounds, but it would cost a fortune. Find a balance between high quality and low costs (reusable moving boxes range from about $1–$45). You probably want about 5 large, 8 medium, and 10 small moving boxes per room.
• High quality. Look for a reusable moving box that can hold plenty of your belongings. This includes the box’s construction materials (plastic is usually better than cardboard), how much stuff you can fit, and how heavy your items can be.
• Easy to use. You often have to break down cardboard boxes between each use—and that’s time-consuming. Pre-assembled boxes are a cinch. They don’t require any tape, and many plastic container options are stackable, so you don’t need a whole room just for your empty boxes.
• Fits your needs. Don’t get a box or container just because it’s cheap or popular. Find one that fits your needs. For example, you want different moving bins for heavy books than you do for fluffy clothing.

VENO Moving Bags are affordable, foldable, and durable. While the $5.50 price tag is about twice what you pay for cardboard boxes, VENO bags hold more stuff and handle more weight. The bags also come with handles and backpack straps, so they’re easy to carry. Since you’re dealing with a high-quality rectangular bag instead of a box, you can also fold it up when you finish (no big boxes taking up space). The VENO box is well suited for most moves.

The VENO Moving Bag is one of the strongest options on the market. It can hold up to 50 pounds and has plenty of space. Its 23-gallon capacity is larger than most cardboard boxes and plastic moving bins. For context, that’s about half the size of a bathtub and big enough to fit about 12 basketballs.

VENO Moving Bags save you space at the end of the move. Instead of stacking your empty boxes or storage bins, you simply fold it up and set it aside until you move again. It’s one reason the bag is popular with college students. There’s only so much space in a dorm.

VENO Moving Bags come with handles and straps. Rather than strain your muscles carrying a moving box in your arms, you can either carry it like a gym bag—or wear it like a backpack. And, hey, if you’re used to carrying around textbooks, you know the drill.

Looking for high-quality and low costs?

The Bankers Box is a proven favorite. It’s tough to find lower prices, and they’re easy to use. The boxes come with lids (no tape required) and have built-in handles that make them easy to carry. You can even use them for storage after you unpack. On the downside, the boxes can’t hold more than 30 pounds.

The Bankers Box costs an average of $2.90, and you can buy them in sets of 10, 20, and 30. That’s about half the cost of woven fabric containers—and almost 20 times less expensive than the strongest reusable plastic moving box. They’re pretty affordable.

The Bankers Box is easy to assemble and doesn’t require tape like cheaper boxes. Your boxes arrive flat, and you follow instructions printed on the boxes to put them together. It’s a bigger hassle than pre-assembled plastic containers but easier to use than super cheap cardboard boxes.

Each Bankers Box comes with a lid, so you don’t have to worry about taping the top of your box. It’s a big time saver, and you don’t have to deal with the annoying mess of repeatedly touching sticky tape.

Want the most popular moving box?

The biggest thing going for the Pratt cardboard box is the price: you pay only $1 per box. However, what you save in money you pay for in extra effort and less quality. You have to tape the boxes together. They don’t come with lids. And they hold only 30 pounds, so you’ll need more boxes than larger alternatives. The Pratt cardboard box is a good choice if you have to move on a tight budget.

You can’t beat Pratt’s price of about $1 per box. These cheap moving boxes are three times less expensive than the popular Bankers Box, but they’re also a pain to put together and take apart. Plan to spend a little extra money on packing tape to assemble them.

Need to move on a dime?

The Rubbermaid Brute Tote can hold up to 400 pounds, fits easily on a hand truck, and even has ribbed construction so you can drag it without causing damage. If you’re strong enough to carry it, the crate has ergonomic handles that perfectly fit your hands. The containers also fit inside each other, so you can stack them without taking up tons of space. But the Rubbermaid Brute tote is expensive (about $40). Not to mention it’s overkill for most moves. Use this tote for moving things from your garage that are small but heavy (like tools and weights).

The Rubbermaid Brute Tote can hold up to 400 pounds. That’s enough to carry a full-grown gorilla if you could somehow shrink it down to size.

Rubbermaid knows that most people can’t carry 400 pounds and designed the Brute Tote with that in mind. The container’s dimensions (27.88 x 17.38 x 15.13 inches) make it easy to fit on a dolly. It also has ribbed construction, which basically means you can drag the sucker without ruining it.

Don’t need the full 400-pound weight limit? The Rubbermaid Brute Tote has ergonomic handles that fit nicely into your hands.

Rubbermaid Brute Totes fit inside of each other so you can stack them before and after your move. You can also use the tote as a storage container that you can easily stash in your attic or garage.

Need a box for the heavy stuff in your garage?

The Homz Plastic Storage Bin is a great option for extra-large items like pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals. It’s the highest-rated supersized plastic container we’ve found (customers give it an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars). The Homz Plastic Storage Bin also comes with lockable ergonomic handles and transparent plastic. But it’s also super pricey (about $43) and holds a maximum of only 40 pounds.

The Homz Plastic Storage Bin can hold up to 28 gallons. With dimensions that measure 28.75 x 18.25 x 16 inches, it can fit about 15 times as much stuff as a cheap cardboard box. That makes it perfect for storing big and fluffy items like winter coats and comforters.

Clear plastic construction lets you see what’s inside your Homz Plastic Storage Bin without needing to open it. That can save time when bringing new boxes into your new home. For example, you can instantly see if the plastic moving boxes should go in the bedroom, bathroom, or kitchen. No need to mess with labels.

Each Homz Plastic Storage Bin comes with ergonomic handles that latch into place. Not only does this make them easier to carry than old-fashioned cardboard boxes, but it helps keep out nasty things like dust and bugs.

Trying to find an extra-large plastic container?

• VENO Moving Bag: Best overall
• Bankers Box: Most popular
• Pratt cardboard box: Cheapest
• Rubbermaid Brute Tote: Heavy-duty
• Homz Plastic Storage Bin: Big items

The best plastic moving boxes are the Rubbermaid Brute Tote (it holds up to 400 pounds) and the Homz Plastic Storage Bin (it’s ideal for large items), according to Move.org.

The benefits of reusable plastic moving boxes include saving time (you don’t have to put them together) and money (you don’t need to pay for tape). Plus, green moving is good for the environment.

You can get plastic wardrobe boxes from Homz. The Homz Plastic Storage Bin is one of Move.org’s Top 5 reusable moving boxes and is ideal for clothing items like dresses, shirts, and coats.

Most people use moving supplies like packing paper, bubble wrap, and tape when they move.

You can find help to pack and load your moving boxes through a moving labor company. The best moving labor companies are HireAHelper, Dolly, and TaskRabbit, according to Move.org.

A plastic crate is typically better than a cardboard box. Plastic crates are more expensive than flimsy cardboard boxes, but they generally hold more weight, last longer, and are stackable.

Good reusable boxes are strong, easy to use, and affordable. You also want to look for reusable boxes that fit your size and weight needs (for example, you often want different boxes for bedding than you do for books).

Yes, you can rent moving boxes. Companies like U-Haul, BungoBox, and Boxbee let you rent plastic moving boxes. However, most stores have only plastic containers (they don’t rent cardboard moving boxes).

Yes, Rubbermaid makes good plastic packing crates. The Rubbermaid Brute Tote can hold up to 400 pounds and is one of the best reusable moving boxes on the market, according to Move.org.

The cheapest moving box is the Pratt cardboard box, which costs approximately $1.

The VENO Moving Bag is the best reusable moving box on the market. It’s affordable, strong, and easy to use. It even comes with handles and straps so you can carry it like a bag or wear it like a backpack.