02.01.13
Unsolicited comments on Frogbox
I recently moved, and (because I injured my shoulder and because we are slowly facing up to the fact that we are not 25 any more) we hired packers and movers. We had a lot of boxes, but not enough, and the packers expressed a strong desire to use Frogbox boxes.
I had heard of Frogbox before, but hadn’t really found their service compelling. The boxes looked really big and heavy, in addition to being expensive compared to scrounging boxes from here and there.
What I didn’t understand is that movers and packers absolutely love the boxes. Because all the boxes are a standard size, loading the truck becomes less like a cross between Tetris and Operation and more stacking Mac&Cheese boxes on grocery store shelves.
Because the boxes are very sturdy, they minimize risk, especially for the movers. The bottom isn’t going to fall out of one of the boxes; one box in a stack isn’t going to collapse asymmetrically and tip over the whole stack.
They are big and heavy enough that desk jockeys who are ferrying boxes in their car and then carrying them up stairs aren’t going to like them, but for muscular movers with the right trucks, dollies, and lift gates, they aren’t a real problem (especially if there are elevators instead of stairs).
If you filled them up entirely with books, they would be too heavy for the packers to move easily, but a) I don’t think the packers would do that and b) the packers generally didn’t move the boxes. A packer would set an empty Frogbox in one spot, fill it, close the lids, put an empty Frogbox on top of the first, and proceed to load the second. We ended up with short towers of Frogboxes scattered around our apartment.
The packers did not need to spend time converting flattened boxes into 3D boxes or to tape the boxes shut. This, in turn, meant that they spent no time looking for their tape pistols (or, on the other side, box cutters).
It didn’t seem to me like the lids closed really securely, but it turns out that doesn’t matter: the weight of the box above holds it down, and the lids are heavy enough that unless you are moving in hurricane-force winds, they aren’t going to open by themselves. (And if you are trying to move in a hurricane, you’ve got bigger problems.) The boxes are also shaped to be wider at the top than bottom, which would rather discourage anyone from trying to load them in any manner besides flap-side-up.
I believe there are cheaper ways to get boxes — scavenge from liquor stores, get the ones from your mother’s basement or your company’s loading dock. However, the overall cost might end up being lower with Frogbox because the movers and packers will work a little more quickly and you will have slightly less risk of damage to the contents.
I think that Frogbox is going to do very well as a company. The only thing I can think of that would get in their way is bedbugs. If it turns out that Frogboxes are a vector for bedbugs, then they would need to hose down the boxes after every use, which would increase costs. Yes, there might be bugs in the boxes you get from the liquor store or even from your mother’s garage, but cardboard boxes probably have fewer users.
