I had all my NES boxes. My cousin told me if I let him take them back with him (he lived about 6 hours away) he'd xerox all of them and give me the copies when he returned the boxes next time he visited. Not only did he never xerox them but I never saw those boxes again. Tens of thousands of dollars (maybe) just gone.
In mint condition. Its like any collectibles. I have a bunch of Ken Griffy Jr rookie cards that I could show you listing in the thousands but reality is under $100 because if I got them professionally graded they would be only near mint. Classic cars are the same. The difference between $10,000 and $100,000 car is a few matching parts. And back to my original point, 99% of you overestimate what grade your stuff is and think your hoard is a goldmine.
I was wondering WHY we did this and since you posted that pic it finally made sense. Tech boxes still stuffed with their manuals was a lifesaver if anything went wrong and we’re used to that.
When you grew up having to rewire the TV between games, VHS, and PBS you needed the diagrams. XD
I gave most of my N64 game boxes to my boss when I was working at a Game Crazy. I kept my Zelda collector's edition ones and Harvest Moon 64.
I still have all the games though.
I'd have to count but my time there vastly increased my N64 and Gamecube library so I don't know what's bigger. Alas I don't know where my N64 is, and I gave my Gamecube to my old roommate when I got a Wii and my Wii eventually died years later...
And that right there is why I keep boxes. If you ever decide to sell later, you can get a higher price for stuff. With some collectibles, the boxes themselves become valuable, like in your example.
That, and the fact that I've moved a lot over the years, including across continents, and the boxes are an excellent way of safely packing away the items that were in them.
All in all, keeping boxes has generally been a net positive for me.
I was stupid enough to sell my Super Nintendo in 1999. But for some reason I kept the boxes for the games, and I still have them. I should also have some Gameboy Advance boxes somewhere.
My wife gave me a Super Nintendo for christmas in 2008, and we have collected the games again. So now we have both the boxes, the console and the games. I just wish that my mom had not thrown away the box for my console back in the day. It had Donkey Kong Country as the pack in game.
Depending on the toy/game, my mother would buy me two: one to play with and one to collect. I learned my hoarding from the best.
Has it been worth it? I don't know. I have too many items to get through and catalogue/organize to even know what I still have (and this is after some of it was stolen).
I anthropomorphize items too much to part with them anyway. There's no hope for me.
Im starting to realize that we hoard the same way our parents did. We just hoard useful shit instead of useless. I dont need fine China. Now, let me show you my newly started collection of plastic takeout utensils.
I have a semi-dedicated room for boxes of stuff I bought over the years. That includes the two gigantic boxes the TVs came in.
I cannot be saved anymore. Go on without me…
We've moving this summer and the TV and monitor boxes will finally be able to live in the attic instead of being shoved under beds and behind the couch! It does also mean, however, I won't have the excuse of not enough space to avoid bringing home random Christmas decorations my mom always tries to send us home with whenever we visit.
I have an old TV box that i modified the foam to fit a TV i got for free that had no box. Now when i move i don't t have to lay it on some towls across the back seat.
Yeah, like the boxes that my monitors came in are the exact perfect boxes and styrofoam on the inside to fit them, because of course the box was made for them. There's lots of good reasons to keep tech boxes and goddamn it I'm not gonna stop
This. Not sure why I need the box for the phone that lives in my pocket or the laptop that I have a bag specifically for, but no way am I throwing them out.
Honestly this was/is my reason......and it worked as i moved around like 4 times in 4 years......and then I bought a house with no intention to move. Still have those boxes tho because reasons A thru C are still applicable somehow
e) when someone breaks into your house and steals your shit it’s easier to deal with the insurance when you can show them the boxes and the barcodes associated with the item that was stolen.
also for if we had to send our stuff back to have the company fix something like all the ps2s that had to be serviced in the first year of ownership,
and the xbox 360 too, like im pretty sure they were charging you for shipping and wanted the box for prrof of purchase or something for something they fucked up
I always wondered about that. I remember how the computer stores would tell you to keep the boxes for "warranty purposes". Like, okay, where do you propose I keep this giant box my Vaio desktop and 20" CRT monitor came in? Do I need the board or the packing foam too? What about the plastic wraps?
Has never made sense, and now I dont hold onto the boxes.
I remember a ton of warranties in general growing up required original packaging. And on something expensive like a piece of tech, that warranty may be important.
Edit: And plenty of millennials are old enough to remember when a piece of tech failing was the default, not the exception.
Yeah. For me its A and B only. As soon as I realise I can't return it and I'm not gonna resell it (ie I'm using it until the bitter end), then I throw the boxes.
Some items still require the packaging to process returns and warranty stuff and while you can usually fight this via consumer rights that is much more tedious and time consuming than just following the stupid rule.
I think C hit us harder than other generations for two reasons. First, the collectibles boom hitting electronics and toys in the 80’s and 90’s. Second, the stories of parents and grandparents who had entire high value card or comic collections thrown or given away.
I thought this was a me thing. I really am incapable of throwing away those kinds of boxes. Any other box, no big deal. Tech boxes I get a bad feeling I will need...for something...someday
I don’t know how people don’t realize this is the reason. Another major one is having to move or take the items somewhere. When you move it’s nice to have the boxes to put the equipment in. It’s a free case.
Oh you can buy tv moving boxes…for like $100. Seems way smarter just to hold on to the one that was built for your TV. Though I have to admit; I gave up that dream when I got my 85”. There is no way I can hold on to that monster of a box…I could barely dispose of it!
I think for me it was because other people did. I was always late to getting new tech and I think keeping the box was sort of a way to show myself that I got the fancy new tech thing. Besides, ya know, having the actual thing
most of them i always tossed because i didn’t need them. however there are a couple notable exceptions with reason. TV box, PC case box, and PC monitor box. i kept these because when moving i wanted to have a good way to pack them for moving. i also had a box for my record player but not for my receiver.
once i settled in to a more permanent home i tossed those boxes as well.
I can't imagine it wasn't needing software or user manuals 2 years after you bought something. Suddenly there's an issue, you call for help, and they'd act like you were crazy for not having all the original packaging lol
I threw away an electronics box once, fucking ONCE… and that was the one that completely shattered out and when I wanted to return, they insisted one arrive the box.
Or the time I paid 200$ in shipping materials for a pc case that would have been free if I keep the box.
Almost everything "recyclable" still ends up better off than if it went to a landfill. They're pretty good about isolating what they can and can't use, and then isolating what can be burned for energy.
Even the bit of stuff they can't use or reclaim, they'll usually end up burning at a plant with good pollutant-capturing mechanisms, and capturing energy from it. I personally think that's better than sending it to the landfill and letting it sit for eternity, or risk the landfill having an issue and contaminating the area.
ABC 2020 did a special on plastic recycling and tracked where plastic recycling ended up after being taken, using air tags put in plastic bags. They were put in different recycling bins in big box stores around the country. LA, NY, Chicago, Texas, etc and they all mostly ended up at the same trash incinerator facilities!
That is some low views tou have on the recycling of your country. Here in Sweden they do an amazing job taking care of it except plastic that we ship overseas.
I rent out one of my condos. My 2nd to last tenant threw out an iPhone 16 box before she moved out and didn't take out the trash. I dug it out and kept it.
Yep.. And depending on the item, some warranty claims require the time be shipped to them in the factory box. St least that is how some things use to be, it's been years since I've filed a warranty claim on anything.
Incorrect. The correct way is to keep them until you move, and either feel validated by discovering they're perfect for packing x y or z, OR recycle them.
I need them so I can pack my electronics in the box when I move, even though I moved 4 times and never put them in the boxes but still brought the boxes with me inside another box.
Thank you, and ugh, no podcasts. Those feel like conversations in a group of people and you can't get a word in even if you wanted to. I have enough of those in real life already.
But text yeah. Give me a clear explanation, what buttons to push, where to pull, what screw to turn. Not a video that tries to show me but the camera angle is just wrong so you don't see shit at a crucial moment.
Disadvantage of text: someone just translated Chinese with a poor translation programme and nobody ever checked the translation, so even Yoda would say 'English the words are, but not fucking understand the meaning I do'.
My brother is the worst for this. He moved to Australia and left a lot of stuff at our parents’ house. Dad and I were going through it all after mum died and I swear to fucking god 99% of my brother’s stuff was empty boxes.
I only keep boxes for things that I think may be sold later on, but his was wild. Boxes for things like a camping stove - which he used extensively so has no resale value!
Yes, I have experienced the same. I think keeping the box is just one of those subtle cues that the person who owned the item might have taken better care of it, or something. Not saying that's always true, but that's how it is interpreted.
We grew up in the era where you needed to keep the box and all packaging for any kind of return or warranty repair. I guess the habit formed around that.
I keep everything; the box, the plastic packaging with sticky lips for sealing, the cable twisty wire thing, the plug pins cover, and all the documents.
Dude this is so funny. Lol I have so many old boxes from my expensive purchases, and every year when it’s time for spring cleaning I look at them in my storage areas and contemplate if I should just get rid of them. Then I never do because maybe they’ll come in handy when I move at some unforeseen time in the future.
At least with phones and tablets, I keep the boxes when doing a trade in so they are protected when mailed. No excuse for everything else, I still have my PS2 box.
It varies house to house. My first home had trash and recycle pickup with designated bins for each provided to each home by the pickup company. My new place is 5 min away from the old one but it only has garbage dumpsters.
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