Straight comparison
Plastic Moving Crates vs Cardboard Boxes: Which Wins?
Cardboard is cheap to buy but expensive in every other way - tape, assembly time, and a trip to the tip afterwards. Here's how plastic crate hire compares.
Cost over one move
For the same number of boxes, cardboard looks cheaper at the checkout until you add tape, packing paper, petrol and the time spent building and breaking them down. Here is how our crate packs compare with buying the equivalent in heavy-duty cardboard.
| Crate hire pack | Wombat Crates price | Equivalent cardboard + tape + paper |
|---|---|---|
| Studio Stash (25 crates) | $109 delivered & collected, 2 weeks hire | ~$140 new boxes, tape and paper |
| Two-Bedder (50 crates) | $189 delivered & collected, 2 weeks hire | ~$265 new boxes, tape and paper |
| Family Burrow (75 crates) | $249 delivered & collected, 2 weeks hire | ~$390 new boxes, tape and paper |
| Big Burrow (100 crates) | $309 delivered & collected, 2 weeks hire | ~$515 new boxes, tape and paper |
Cardboard estimate based on $3.50 per heavy-duty box, $1.50 per box in tape and packing paper, plus a $15 marker and tape run. Crates include delivery, collection and two weeks of hire.
Strength & protection
Attached lids mean no soggy bottoms, no collapsed boxes, no packing tape. Rain on move day is not a problem, and full crates stack five high on a dolly without crushing the bottom one.
Environmental impact
A crate hire puts nothing in your bin: the crates go back to us, get washed and sanitised, and nothing goes to landfill. Cardboard can be recycled, but it is usually single-use, tape-covered and ends up in the general waste stream.
Convenience
No assembly, no disposal - we collect everything when you're done. Crates arrive clean and nested, ready to pack. When you're unpacked, we pick them up from the new place and take them away.