Matching buyers and sellers of cardboard boxes

Anyone who’s ever moved has probably experienced the ages-old Quest for Boxes, involving either significant expense for new shipping boxes or countless trips to retail stores and restaurants in search of usable discards. A new San Francisco startup, however, aims to change all that with an online process that makes it easy for those in need of boxes to find those who have extras to dispose of. BoxCycle allows people or organizations (retailers!) with extra boxes on hand to list them on its site, including how many they have, what sizes they are, where they are located and when the boxes can be picked up. Buyers can then search for sellers based on location or price, reserve their boxes by arranging a pickup appointment, and pay for their purchase online. At that point BoxCycle gives the buyer the seller’s address and issues a proof-of-purchase pickup slip. Upon arrival, the buyer can look over the boxes and select which ones they want. BoxCycle handles the advertisement, pricing, order processing and payment collection for each seller’s boxes; in exchange, it charges a fee of 50 percent of the list price. Box prices range from USD 0.75 to USD 8 each, and there is a minimum order of USD 2. With its eco-friendly solution for both buyers and sellers, BoxCycle has the potential to remove a significant proportion of the pain associated with packing, shipping and moving. It’s currently focused on just the US–one to bring to the rest of the packing world? (Related: Eco-friendly pack & move solution.) Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann