Usually most fit inside each other. I have two big boxes in my attic filled with smaller boxes. I can get 10-20% more when I sell old gear when I keep the boxes, and I always have a suitable box to ship sold gear in. Why is this such a hard concept?
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It has always been this way. It’s the best way to ship the stuff. 
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I mean, has it though? That’s the real question I was originally posing. Then it got derailed by the philosophical debate about the value of the box itself…
Clearly there is some large chunk of the population that values them enough that it’s become a selling point as opposed to a logistical question.
So, when did that change occur? I don’t remember it when I was buying used gear in the late ‘90s. Does anyone remember wanting original packaging in the early ‘90s or even ‘80s?
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I’ve still got boxes for some hifi gear I bought new in the 90s, because it makes it much easier to move house. So maybe it was always a thing for some people, and always wasn’t a thing for other people.
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not when you keep the insert foam as well, I trying to deal with this issue right now lol
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I think mostly. part of the rationale is that people know “collectible” items hold more value if they’re as close to new as possible; comic books, star wars figures, mario kart 64, etc… another part is that people psychologically think “I’m basically buying a brand new unit for cheap” if you sell them a used unit with all original packaging. sometimes they’ll pay more, sometimes it just sells faster, sometimes it doesn’t matter. and yet another reason is that it may be safer when shipped in the original packaging.
that said, I’m still OK chucking boxes once I know I’m keeping the thing for a very long time. I have a lot of gear, and I’m fortunate enough to have an entire room for it. I don’t have another room to hold all the boxes because I “may” sell something someday.
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Because not every human has the same priorities in life!
My focus is generally on using the gear. I try to buy gear that I’ll keep, if I’m flipping I’ve generally failed myself somewhere/somehow.
The biggest annoyance sometimes with selling stuff with the original box is the double-boxing can make some items more expensive to ship.
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my korg arp odyssey has it´s own suitcase. A shitload of plastic.
I feel guilty not travelling around to gigs with it in heavy conditions
Lets start a ‘photo of your boxes’ thread
I don’t think it’s a “thing” and not something you can pin on a decade.
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I think having readily available resale markets like eBay, Reverb and Craigslist certainly made it more of a concern for your average person even if there were always persons who keep everything in-box.
I don’t think NIB Star Wars toys and “collectibles” markets of the early 1990s really affected it, though.
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I have always kept boxes for things I want to last as long as possible and/or are very good quality and if I need to ship them in for servicing, would prefer the originally, specifically made box it came in.
Think of anything cool from 50 years ago, it’s even cooler in the original box.
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I have most of the foams, too! Takes a bit of tetris skills but it is possible.
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That was my thinking, before those online venues having the box didn’t matter as much. I’m a bit young to know, but were people shipping gear all over the world in the 90’s before online venues like eBay? Or were they mostly buying/selling local?
Most of what I remember was pawn shops and independent local repair shops.
This is such a valuable thread, and it’s existence has haunted me since i saw it some months ago.
¯\(ツ)/¯
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People have kept original boxes and packaging for donkeys years. Check out original Corgi/Dinky toy cars, model trains, dolls etc etc. I think some folks have been keeping original packaging for as long as there has been packaging. The market has long dictated that items in their original packaging attract a premium.
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I’ve become a box nerd. I was recently tempted by a Korg MS-10 on Reverb in large part because its original box would look so rad next to the box for my new MS-20FS. Fortunately for wallet and sanity I acknowledged the hoarder/collector tendency and didn’t pull the trigger.
I’m on the look-out for the central foam support from the Moog Matriarch packaging, if anyone would like to sell it me.
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I just bought a thing second hand without the box. For a minute I was a bit “woah” then I realised, I have run out of space under the bed for boxes anyway.
In this case I know the person will have taken a fastidious care of the item in question so I’m not concerned.
Keeping the box to enhance resale value is another example of the more you have, the more you can have. I’m going through a…erm…relocation, that leaves me with much less space. Going to have to say goodbye to some boxes.
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