I suppose it mainly depends on what country you live in, and whether you are of a certain age.
As the Christmas season gets into full swing, a quick tour of either my local Evesham supermarket or London's Oxford street this week has shown Marcus that austerity is definitely off!
Sales outlets are pumping out large volumes of Christmas only relevant merchandise. From jumpers, to decorations, to seasonal food, and drinks, and of course the Christmas tree. All of this stuff is not just seasonal, it has value only around Christmas, i.e. outside of this narrow time period it is useless and will consequently be discarded early into the New Year if not before.
Other Merchandise
So principally when I ask about box keeping, I'm talking about 'all the other stuff'. I mean, for Marcus and Agata, that constant stream of purchases that supports our active, yet minimalist and frugal lifestyles in England.
In Switzerland
It's a dirty secret that returning goods in Switzerland is usually impossible. As long term Swiss residents I can assure you the number of times we have had to keep something that did not work 'quite right'. I don't mean defective, I just mean, not suitable for us. It was then basically "tough shit" time as we had the option to try and gift or sell the item in question. The shop would not take it back.
In England
In our third or so year back in England I still have a wide smile when I return anything back to the retailer. Normally it is Amazon and they have a no quibble return policy for the first month of ownership, on just about everything they sell.
I am totally in awe, and use this still remarkable facility, only when needed. I appreciate this facility could be abused and I am careful never to do so.
Why Should I keep the Box
In the 'olden' days shops might stipulate that returns must be in 'original packaging'. Keeping the box was therefore an accepted norm. But if you are a 'young person' of today you might have a wildly differing opinion. The proliferation of stuff, more choice, variety, and paid for by the generous bank of mum and dad has resulted in some pretty spoilt, entitled, young persons. They never keep the box, never think of how to return the item, and may also be unconcerned by the waste that their constant demand for new is creating. Unfortunately these people really exist, and in some quantity.
So then, do I keep the Box?
Well mostly yes. Here is the rationale.
- Most of our goods comes via online order and then transport e.g. Amazon
- We always keep the box and packaging, initially until we are sure that we want to keep and not return the item. We try to decide within 7 days, we don't want to piss off our online retailer
- Our boxes then move to our garage. This is the picture above
- Our boxes then are kept for anything upto 1 year. After 1 year Agata and Marcus agree that the box can be junked
- But there is another reason to keep our best sturdy boxes! We use them to resale our older technology items. For example the Nest SmartCamera I sold yesterday was packed in the box of the new home Power over Ethernet Webcam.
- Boxes after 1 year must be disposed of. Anything else leads to clutter, and other weaker disposal rationales include: home for rodents, or fire hazard.
- Note super expensive product boxes, like Apple gear are kept indefinitely in case of resale. Second hand users just love an original box.
- Of course all recyclable boxes are first flat packed, then recycled. Good Swiss training taught us that.
So yes, we initially keep the box, but after 1 year it will be gone.