Moving Boxes in London:
Where to Get Them (Free and Paid) and How Many You Need

• The cheapest new single boxes we found were IKEA's £2 DUNDERGUBBE and Wickes's £2 small Durabox; Amazon multipacks work out at about £1.20–£1.60 a box.
• Stackt sells small and large boxes for £2.72 each and wardrobe boxes for £8.10, delivered in London with tape, paper and bubble wrap.
• Free boxes are easy to find in London but come in random sizes; supermarkets give them away at each store's discretion, not as a policy.
• A studio needs about 18 boxes, a two-bedroom home about 38 and a four-bedroom house about 68. Work out your own number.

These are the prices each retailer showed on its own website. Box sizes are not standard, so the table gives dimensions where the retailer publishes them; compare the size you need rather than the name on the label, because one shop's "large" is another's "medium".

Two things matter more than the headline price. First, strength: double-wall boxes (Wickes Durabox, Pickfords and the heavy-duty StorePAK range) cope better with books and kitchenware and survive being stacked in a van or a storage unit. Second, getting them home: a flat-packed bundle of 40 boxes is awkward on the Tube, so in London delivery or click and collect by car is usually part of the real cost.

If the boxes are for storing rather than moving, lidded boxes are easier to stack and keep dust out: IKEA's PAPPIS box with lid is £1 and Argos sells StorePAK archive boxes with lids. Fill them fully so they do not collapse when stacked, and keep heavy boxes at the bottom. If you are short of space at home, Stackt can collect and store individual boxes: storage by the box starts at £3.20 a week for a small box (£6.50 for a large one), with lower rates on longer terms.

Instead of buying cardboard you can hire lidded plastic crates, which are delivered before the move and collected afterwards. Top Removals lists a standard 80-litre crate at £2.00 a week plus VAT, with London delivery and collection from £20 plus VAT (or £31 inside the Congestion Charge zone for fewer than 40 crates). Handy Crate in Feltham lists a standard lidded crate at £1.43 a week. Crates suit books, files and kitchenware on a short move; for a long stay in storage, cardboard is usually cheaper because hire is charged weekly.

Free boxes are plentiful in London, but you rarely get a full matching set in one go. Start a week or two before you pack and collect from several places:

• Supermarkets (Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and others). None of the big chains guarantees free boxes. Tesco has said publicly that it is down to each store's discretion and that you should ask a manager. Most spares are open fruit and vegetable trays and banana boxes, and staff flatten cardboard for recycling soon after restocking, so ask a day or two ahead whether they can save some.
• Freegle and Freecycle. Free local giveaway groups; post a "wanted" for moving boxes in your area, and you will often find someone who has just finished unpacking.
• Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree. Both have free listings (Gumtree's is called Freebies). Search "moving boxes" and filter by free or by price £0.
• Your office. Boxes for printer paper have lids and are strong, and the size is right for books.
• Off-licences and wine shops. Wine boxes with cardboard dividers are useful for glasses and bottles.
• Friends and neighbours. Ask anyone who has moved recently, and offer your boxes on afterwards.

Check every free box before you fill it: avoid damp, stained or crushed boxes and anything that held food that could attract pests. Keep free boxes for light, bulky things such as bedding, cushions and clothes, and pack books and kitchenware in boxes with sound bases.

For a studio with a car and a free afternoon, free boxes are often enough. For a flat or house, buying at least some new boxes usually pays for itself in time and breakages avoided. The honest trade-off:

• Matching sizes stack. Two or three box sizes load into a van, and into storage, far more tightly and safely than a mix of odd shapes. That can mean a smaller van or fewer trips.
• Stronger bases and handles. New boxes come with a stated load limit (Stackt's are rated to 15 kg for small and 20 kg for large); reused boxes have no rating and often have weakened bases.
• Time. Collecting 38 usable free boxes for a two-bedroom home can take several trips; a delivery takes one.
• Cost. The main argument against: 38 new boxes cost roughly £75–£190 depending on where you buy, before tape and wrap.
• Waste. New boxes are recyclable, and you can pass them on afterwards through Freegle or Gumtree, which also gets them to someone else for free.

A sensible middle way is to buy small boxes for books and kitchenware and large boxes for light things, and use free boxes for everything else. If you would rather not pack at all, Stackt's packing service starts at £179 with materials included, and our guides to the best packing materials and packing a house efficiently cover what to put in each box.

The table uses the same model as our packing calculator, set to typical belongings with no extra book shelves or fragile items. The range allows for homes that hold a little more or less than average; furniture is not included. The last column is what that many boxes cost from Stackt, with medium boxes priced as large.

Which size to use for what:

• Small boxes (about a third of the total): books, tins, tools, records and anything heavy. A small box full of books is as much as most people should carry.
• Medium boxes (just under half): kitchenware, toys, shoes, electronics and mixed everyday things.
• Large boxes (about a fifth): bedding, towels, cushions, lampshades and other light, bulky items. Never fill a large box with books.
• Wardrobe boxes: hanging clothes go straight from the rail onto the bar inside, so they arrive uncreased.

Adjust the numbers for your own home in the free packing calculator and download the list before you order, then check what you already have. Recount after packing the first room: if you are running through boxes faster than planned, order more before moving week.

Usually yes for anything bigger than a studio. New boxes come in matching sizes that stack safely in a van and in storage, have intact bases and handles, and arrive flat-packed, so you are not spending evenings collecting odd-sized supermarket boxes. A typical two-bedroom home needs about 38 boxes, which costs roughly £75–£190 new at £2–£5 a box. Free boxes are fine for a small move, light items or a tight budget; mix the two by buying boxes for books, kitchenware and anything fragile and using free ones for bedding and clothes.

IKEA sells DUNDERGUBBE moving boxes for £2 and £3 each. Wickes sells Durabox double-wall boxes from £2 (small) to £6 (extra large). B&Q sells single boxes from £3, Argos sells StorePAK packs (five large boxes for £20), Amazon has multipacks from third-party sellers, and removal companies such as Pickfords sell cartons from £4. In London, Stackt delivers small and large boxes for £2.72 each along with tape, paper and wrap. Prices checked 10 October 2026.

Home Bargains does not list cardboard moving boxes on its website; its online range is mostly plastic storage boxes. Its help centre says the full in-store range is not sold online, so ring or visit your local store to check. If you need boxes on a specific day, IKEA, Wickes, B&Q and Argos list moving boxes online with click and collect or delivery.

Sometimes, but it is not guaranteed. Tesco has said publicly that giving boxes away is at each store’s discretion and that customers should ask a manager. Most of what supermarkets have spare is open produce trays and banana boxes, and store staff often flatten or bale cardboard soon after restocking. Ask the customer service desk a day or two ahead whether they can put some aside.

Try Freegle and Freecycle (local giveaway groups), the free section of Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree’s Freebies category, where people who have just moved often give away their boxes. Also ask supermarkets, off-licences (wine boxes with dividers are good for glasses), your office (printer-paper boxes have lids and are strong) and friends who have moved recently. Check every box for damp, crushed corners and weak bases before you use it for anything heavy.

Using Stackt’s packing calculator with typical belongings, a studio needs about 18 boxes, a one-bedroom flat 25 (range 21–29), a two-bedroom home 38 (32–44), a three-bedroom house 51 and a four-bedroom house 68. Roughly a third should be small boxes for books and heavy items, just under half medium and a fifth large for light, bulky things. Add two small boxes per extra shelf of books.

Free boxes are the cheapest. Of the new boxes we checked, Amazon multipacks worked out lowest per box (about £1.20–£1.60 a box in packs of 8–20), followed by IKEA’s £2 DUNDERGUBBE and Wickes’s £2 small Durabox. Stackt’s small and large boxes are £2.72 each, delivered to your door in London. Compare the price of the size you need; a large £4 box and a small £2 box are not interchangeable.

Retailer prices read from these pages on 10 October 2026:

• IKEA UK: moving supplies (DUNDERGUBBE, PAPPIS)
• IKEA UK: DUNDERGUBBE moving box 50×31×40 cm
• IKEA UK: DUNDERGUBBE moving box 64×34×40 cm
• Wickes: home moving supplies (Durabox boxes)
• Wickes: Durabox large cardboard moving box (delivery terms)
• B&Q: large cardboard moving box
• B&Q: StorePAK large cardboard moving box
• Argos: cardboard packing boxes
• Argos: StorePAK 20-box moving pack
• Amazon UK: moving boxes
• Robert Dyas: Topbox large 48 l moving boxes, 10 pack
• Home Bargains Help Centre: why the full range is not online
• Pickfords Box Shop: eco boxes
• Pickfords Box Shop: move home kit
• Pickfords Box Shop: delivery
• Top Removals: crate hire prices
• Handy Crate: standard lidded crate hire
• Essex Live (2019): Tesco on giving away cardboard boxes
• Freegle
• Freecycle
• Gumtree: Freebies in London