Free FedEx boxes

[glorigoods]

I generally ship everything with the Post office unless it's heavy or far away and FedEx will be cheaper.

I never noticed my FedEx store have boxes out to take. FedEx person said these are free to take and ship with.

But if you go online to FedEx these cost money to purchase. 

Do you get charged extra at so  me point if you use these?

[714ricki]

My local FedEx Office charges for those corrugated boxes. The only thing free are the standard FedEx Express boxes & envelopes.  I prefer to order corrugated boxes from Uline due to the endless supply of sizes. 

[jnwaite1]

There are certain boxes that are free and other boxes that cost money. The "standard" or "one rate" boxes are the free ones. These are labeled Small, Medium, Large, and Extra-Large. Each of those sizes has two shapes associated with it. Poster tubes are also free, making a total of 9 free box sizes/shapes to choose from, plus envelopes. These are also the boxes that must be used in order to qualify for the flat rate or "one rate" shipping rates. None of the other boxes qualify for those rates.

You can order these boxes online for free, including free delivery. My local Fed-Ex office prefers customers that use a lot of boxes order directly rather than depleting the local supply. 

[mtgraves7984]

I think the bar code marked "BOX PURCHASE" should have been used to charge you for those boxes.

[glorigoods]

I'm thinking you're right and the fedex employee was wrong.  I asked him if all these were free, and he said yes.  Next time I'm in fedex, I'll ask someone different. 

[glorigoods]

Thanks for taking your time and explaining this.

[glorigoods]

 So these marked small and large are free to take but use a set shipping price I guess.

[jnwaite1]

Yes, those are the free ones. There are two pricing systems for them: Standard and One Rate. The Standard Rate is based on weight and distance whereas the One Rate only depends on box size with contents up to 50 pounds (similar to how USPS Flat Rate works). You have to pick which rate plan you want to use when generating your label (at least, that's how it works on the Fed-Ex website. eBay may be different). Without any special discounts applied, the One Rate is sometimes more expensive that the Standard rate for lighter-weight packages, but if you take advantage of the special eBay rates (or if you have your own commercial account), then I've found One Rate to be the best option regardless of weight, especially when shipping from Alaska like I do.