Anyone who has ever moved knows that moving everything you own from one home to the next can be overwhelming. As a real estate agent, I’ve helped hundreds of people plan their move. I’ve also moved several times myself and know how much of a hassle it is to deal with cardboard boxes.
So when STL Rent A Box agreed to let me try their service for free in exchange for sharing my experiences here at Arch City Homes, I was really excited to try an alternative to standard moving boxes.
STL Rent A Box Review:
I first heard about STL Rent A Box about a year ago, but I’m always hesitant to recommend a company or contractor without trying them first myself. My clients count on my recommendations and I want to make sure I’m always giving them the best possible advice.
I’ve been a real estate agent for 14 years and have helped over 280 families with their move.
But living through a move is such a totally different experience than advising someone else on their move. I should know. I move a lot.
I have moved 3 times in the last 10 years. In the past, I used cardboard boxes and a lot of bubble wrap. I’ve kept my moves as green as possible by reusing boxes I got from friends or neighbors instead of purchasing new boxes, but dealing with boxes is never fun.
Cardboard boxes…even flat…are a hassle to move to your home when you are ready to get started packing. You need a big vehicle and a dozen trips from the car to unload them. Then you have to tape up every box before you pack it up, going through rolls of tape and slowing down the packing. With STL Rent A Box, the crates are delivered to you ready to pack. No tape required.
After the move, you simply unpack and stack the empty crates. When the last one is unpacked, STL Rent A Box comes back to get them.
While I did get STL Rent A Box services for no charge this time, I will never make a move again without them.
I put together a short video to show you how the reusable plastic crates from STL Rent A Box made my packing experience so much easier.
Along with the crates, the standard package includes a 4 wheel dolly, zip ties, labels, delivery and pick up after the move.
I also received a roll of green wrap which I highly recommend for protecting your valuables.
While most people won’t need a 2 wheel dolly, you can rent one of those too. If you have a large home or will need to move a lot of empty crates to the 2nd story or basement before you pack them up, the 2 wheel dolly would come in very handy.
I found it easy to carry 2 empty crates at a time while packing. While I was provided with a 2 wheel dolly, I didn’t use it even once during my move.
If you are moving yourself rather than hiring movers, you’ll definitely want a 2 wheel dolly!
While almost everything you need to pack for a local move will fit in the crates, I did have a few things that were too big.
STL Rent A Box has just started carrying some wardrobe boxes and easy to assemble boxes (no tape needed) for those bigger things like lampshades and pizza pans. They didn’t have them yet when I arranged my move, so I used some boxes I had already.
You’ll also want to transport by car your pantry items, cleaning supplies, lamps and expensive electronics including televisions and computers.
The movers loved the green crates as much as I did. They agreed that using nested plastic boxes speeds up the loading process (which means a cheaper move) and there was no risk of heavy boxes crushing cardboard boxes below.
Honestly, I have nothing negative to say about my experience with using STL Rent A Box services!
If I was moving again, I would pay for 1 extra week so I could have 2 weeks before moving and 1 week after to unpack. I would get 2 rolls of green wrap and some of the new wardrobe boxes. The 40 box package for my 2 bedroom condo was perfect, so I suggest you trust their guidelines on how many crates are needed per bedroom.
