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Boxes Of Boxes... What To Do With Them


markh

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Over many years I have acquired many pens. (We'll skip that part that I have too many pens - I already know that, and there is apparently no cure.)

 

Each pen came in a box, which I kept.

 

After a while, too many boxes, so they went into larger storage boxes - think bankers boxes.

The larger boxes have accumulated in a storage area in my house - I guess you could even say it's a bigger box filled with boxes, each filled with pen boxes.

 

It seems unlikely that any of these boxes will ever meet their pen again. So now what?

 

I'm thinking it's time to send the boxes of boxes to cardboard recycling heaven. But I thought before I started that process I would check with the hive-mind here to see if anyone has a better idea.

 

I would have to guess there are at least several hundred pen boxes in the large boxes.....

 

Ideas?? Burning isn't allowed by local ordinance :)

 

thx,

 

.

 

 

...

"Bad spelling, like bad grammar, is an offense against society."

- - Good Form Letter Writing, by Arthur Wentworth Eaton, B.A. (Harvard);  © 1890

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Don’t know what kind of boxes they are, but I’d imagine you could sell some of them on eBay perhaps?

 

For example, I’m always looking for reasonably priced Parker 51 boxes.

 

Just a thought.

 

Mike

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You have given me an idea -- put the pens back in the boxes they came in and burn the lot. I have a large patio in my backyard and it has a fire pit in the middle.

 

Sell them instead? My wife doesn't want me making trips to the Post Office. Corona virus concerns.

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

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Oh my!

Okay, I apologize in advance for even suggesting a reason to keep something you probably feel you should throw away/get rid of (because I remember you mentioning "burning", yikes!).

One thing that immediately came to my mind was this: if you intend to sell any of your pens or give any of your pens as a gift, it would be very kind to the recipient if you could give the box the pen came in.

For the buyer, the box is extra protection for the pen during shipping and is a valuable bonus in the event of the buyer selling the pen in turn.

Also a kindness: including any paperwork, inserts, cards, brochures, etc, that came with the boxed pen. Any paperwork, except the receipt, that came with any pens I buy usually arrives in the box and in the box that paperwork stays. (I don't have anywhere safer to put it and I won't have to remember which box/pen it belongs to if it stays in there.)

For the gift recipient, the box is just a really cool presentation prop and it automatically gives the recipient something nice to store the pen in.

Note: both suggestions above gets the box out of your house and out of your hair. It might take a little longer but that box will leave your possession.


Of course, if you're not thinking of selling or gifting any of your pens, you might be able to reuse the box for something else. Perhaps it can store jewelry like a watch (usually long and narrow enough to lie flat in a pen box) or if the box is of a bigger size, perhaps you can use it to keep a cell phone under cover while charging over night. Just plug the phone to the charger and close the box on the phone, cord and all. If you can't see it, you won't be tempted to scroll through your social media feeds til 3 a.m. instead of sleeping. (I totally don't do that, honest!)

Some boxes have no markings to give away their original purpose so those would fare best in getting discreet repurposing.

If you have young kids to give these boxes to, the presence of a brand name might not matter at all. I know that had I been given a pen box as a kid, I would have treasured it--it could have held my favorite drawing pens and pencils or my dip pens, or my best barrettes. I could have stored cash in the hidden compartment below, camouflaged by all the art supplies overflowing above. (I was a weird kid--I loved collecting retasking containers in large part because I liked figuring out what would fit in them ... and I spent my allowance on art supplies. It was my addiction back then. But I digress ...)

Perhaps there are people buying and selling the boxes as a hobby/side business. One man's trash, as the saying goes, is another man's treasure. If there's a buyer for your boxes, you've got a lot of boxes to sell. If you can make back some of the money you've spent to acquire these boxes, then that's a benefit of having so many to sell, right?

I realize that these suggestions of mine might cause more inconvenience than any benefits gained, but I thought I'd mention them.

Edited by taimdala
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Boxes for cheap pens get tossed. Boxes for pens that have a resale value which is high (subjective), get kept and stowed in a drawer in my (other collectable) display stand.

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Don’t know what kind of boxes they are, but I’d imagine you could sell some of them on eBay perhaps?

 

For example, I’m always looking for reasonably priced Parker 51 boxes.

 

Just a thought.

 

Mike

 

The reality is there are just too many to sort through. So while there is probably some of everything, it's beyond the point of finding any particular thing.

 

There is just big load of boxes and boxes...

 

.

...

"Bad spelling, like bad grammar, is an offense against society."

- - Good Form Letter Writing, by Arthur Wentworth Eaton, B.A. (Harvard);  © 1890

.

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Oh my!

 

Okay, I apologize in advance for even suggesting a reason to keep something you probably feel you should throw away/get rid of (because I remember you mentioning "burning", yikes!).

 

One thing that immediately came to my mind was this: if you intend to sell any of your pens or give any of your pens as a gift, it would be very kind to the recipient if you could give the box the pen came in.

 

For the buyer, the box is extra protection for the pen during shipping and is a valuable bonus in the event of the buyer selling the pen in turn.

Also a kindness: including any paperwork, inserts, cards, brochures, etc, that came with the boxed pen. Any paperwork, except the receipt, that came with any pens I buy usually arrives in the box and in the box that paperwork stays. (I don't have anywhere safer to put it and I won't have to remember which box/pen it belongs to if it stays in there.)

 

For the gift recipient, the box is just a really cool presentation prop and it automatically gives the recipient something nice to store the pen in.

 

Note: both suggestions above gets the box out of your house and out of your hair. It might take a little longer but that box will leave your possession.

 

 

Of course, if you're not thinking of selling or gifting any of your pens, you might be able to reuse the box for something else. Perhaps it can store jewelry like a watch (usually long and narrow enough to lie flat in a pen box) or if the box is of a bigger size, perhaps you can use it to keep a cell phone under cover while charging over night. Just plug the phone to the charger and close the box on the phone, cord and all. If you can't see it, you won't be tempted to scroll through your social media feeds til 3 a.m. instead of sleeping. (I totally don't do that, honest!)

 

Some boxes have no markings to give away their original purpose so those would fare best in getting discreet repurposing.

 

If you have young kids to give these boxes to, the presence of a brand name might not matter at all. I know that had I been given a pen box as a kid, I would have treasured it--it could have held my favorite drawing pens and pencils or my dip pens, or my best barrettes. I could have stored cash in the hidden compartment below, camouflaged by all the art supplies overflowing above. (I was a weird kid--I loved collecting retasking containers in large part because I liked figuring out what would fit in them ... and I spent my allowance on art supplies. It was my addiction back then. But I digress ...)

 

Perhaps there are people buying and selling the boxes as a hobby/side business. One man's trash, as the saying goes, is another man's treasure. If there's a buyer for your boxes, you've got a lot of boxes to sell. If you can make back some of the money you've spent to acquire these boxes, then that's a benefit of having so many to sell, right?

 

I realize that these suggestions of mine might cause more inconvenience than any benefits gained, but I thought I'd mention them.

 

 

There are waaaay to many boxes to ever have the right box meet up with the right pen. I don't sell many of my pens, but even if I did this would never happen.

 

In the same way, I don't need many dozen boxes to store my two watches, etc...

 

They are just a "big pile" of what were once pen boxes. Unless someone wants to come to my home and pick them up, I don't see a future for them except as recycling.

 

I get more and more annoyed when a new pen comes in a huge box, apparently in a wasted attempt to justify the price of the pen. I try to buy pens that impress me, the boxes never do.

 

.

...

"Bad spelling, like bad grammar, is an offense against society."

- - Good Form Letter Writing, by Arthur Wentworth Eaton, B.A. (Harvard);  © 1890

.

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Boxes for cheap pens get tossed. Boxes for pens that have a resale value which is high (subjective), get kept and stowed in a drawer in my (other collectable) display stand.

 

A decision I should have made many (30) years ago. In my next life I will do things differently :)

 

 

.

...

"Bad spelling, like bad grammar, is an offense against society."

- - Good Form Letter Writing, by Arthur Wentworth Eaton, B.A. (Harvard);  © 1890

.

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I just went through this. I ended up only keeping the boxes for my "expensive" pens which would assist resale, if ever I or my descendants decide to sell them. All of the rest went to recycle.

 

The funny thing is that right after I did this, I wanted to send some pens to my favorite pen restorer/wizard. But I didn't have anymore pen boxes to ship them in. Well, I found one that had been hiding. With that and a couple of pen tubes, they were packed carefully and shipped off. Moral: keep one or two just for shipping purposes.

"Today will be gone in less than 24 hours. When it is gone, it is gone. Be wise, but enjoy! - anonymous today

 

 

 

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Like several others here: I keep the boxes for my most expensive pens. The rest, I save for selling or trading. And, since I have too many of those, I do end up tossing some.

Proud resident of the least visited state in the nation!

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Donate them to an area pen club, independent stationery store, kindergardens, art school, charity shop and Etsy shop owners who live nearby.

 

You can set up no contact drop off or pick up for all those organizations and people.

 

Good boxes are always needed for people who make stuff, they can be covered with fancy paper with the stamped logo of the maker, another thing not needed to be bought, if a maker can find a source for free empty boxes.

 

Selling on Etsy would be a good idea.

 

 

Some people were selling clear plastic boxes for pretty penny, the same that are used to ship items securely then display them at the store, they are made of the same clear plastic as healthcare workers shield.

 

I remembered that I bought a belt that came in the same kind of box and now it houses my colored pencils.

 

 

Pen boxes can be used to house all sort of things from other pens, pencils and art supplies to hair accessories to baseball cards to rocks, beads, stickers.... all kind of stuff parents are right now accumulating and will need the Juniors to organize inside something.

 

Try social media Marketplaces, Freecycle and Next Door type website.

 

You can donate the big box in a pay it forward thread on FPN.

Edited by Anne-Sophie

Is it fair for an intelligent and family oriented mammal to be separated from his/her family and spend his/her life starved in a concrete jail?

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You have given me an idea -- put the pens back in the boxes they came in and burn the lot. I have a large patio in my backyard and it has a fire pit in the middle.

 

Sell them instead? My wife doesn't want me making trips to the Post Office. Corona virus concerns.

You don't have to make trips to the post office. Print out the postage, tape it to the box, and put in a note for pickup for the post office. Next time your mail is delivered, they'll take the package.

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We should start convincing pen makers that beautiful boxes are beautiful - but unnecessary. A stable plastic box is enough for shipping and costs $1.

 

I have many super-beautiful boxes but what do I do with them? Ahem - nothing - blush.

 

One of my beautiful boxes:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_rmASKjWgN/

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1. Pack up your big boxes and move them next to a recycling bin.

2. Open and empty one box for future use. [see #4]

3. Begin tossing low price brand boxes into recycling.

4. Pack high price/collectible pen boxes into the box you saved in #2.

5. Make a list of boxes saved from #4.

6. Invites offers.

7. Rake in $$$

8. Buy more pens.

 

gary

 

P.S.-gotta a Hemingway box?

Edited by gary
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Throw them away. Declutter.

I ride a recumbent, I play go, I use Macintosh so of course I use a fountain pen.

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It seems to me the OP does not want to do anything with his boxes, so to me there are two options left.

 

- Recycle them

 

- Contact the nearest pen club so that any interested member can come by and take away the lot. There might even be someone on this forum interested in that.

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It seems to me the OP does not want to do anything with his boxes, so to me there are two options left.

 

- Recycle them

 

- Contact the nearest pen club so that any interested member can come by and take away the lot. There might even be someone on this forum interested in that.

 

Well, I am one of two people who arrange local pen club meetings - which are on virus hold for a while.

 

What seemed like a good idea was to bring them to the SF Pen Show in August, which is about a 15 minute drive from my home. I could stuff them in my car, and leave them for free at the show.

 

I'm trying to imagine a pen show with "social distancing," and everyone in face masks.

 

Kind of hard to think of...

 

 

.

Edited by markh

...

"Bad spelling, like bad grammar, is an offense against society."

- - Good Form Letter Writing, by Arthur Wentworth Eaton, B.A. (Harvard);  © 1890

.

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