Used Carton Boxes in Malaysia: Grades, Prices and Where to Buy
Short answer: a once-used Grade A carton box from us costs RM0.90 to RM6.50 a piece for the small-to-large sizes most people need (RM15.00 for the XXL), depending on size and wall type — cheaper than a comparable new box — and for moving house, storage and most parcel shipping it does the job. The catch is knowing what you’re buying: “used” covers everything from a clean, once-emptied export carton to something that has been round the block five times. This guide explains the difference.
What “once-used” actually means
The boxes we sell as used are once-used Grade A cartons. Each carried one shipment, was emptied at a warehouse, and was collected before it could be crushed or pulped. They are flattened, sorted by size and checked by hand: a Grade A box is rigid, dry, clean and odour-free, and anything torn, damp or smelly goes to recycling instead. They still carry the previous owner’s printing, and they are not food-grade or halal-certified packaging — use them as outer cartons.
That is a different thing from a marketplace “used box”, which may have been through several house moves already. A box loses stacking strength each time it is taped, filled, and crushed into a lorry — the corrugated flutes inside the wall compress and never fully recover. Once-used stock keeps most of its original strength; twice- or thrice-used stock does not, and you can’t always see the difference from outside.
How the pricing works
| Once-used box (wall) | Size (mm) | Price per piece | Nearest new box, per piece |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ain1000 (single wall) | 320 × 220 × 280 | RM1.10 | — |
| Ain500 (single wall) | 320 × 165 × 230 | RM0.90 | — |
| Bary (double wall) | 300 × 200 × 250 | RM1.90 | A4, 310 × 220 × 220 — RM3.00 |
| Sania Blue (double wall) | 390 × 280 × 230 | RM2.30 | A3, 440 × 310 × 230 — RM5.50 |
| Yellow (double wall) | 460 × 330 × 310 | RM3.50 | Q440, 440 × 310 × 310 — RM3.90 |
| ALP 5 (single wall) | 580 × 480 × 400 | RM3.90 | Jumbo XL, 485 × 485 × 500 — RM9.00 |
| PDC (double wall) | 590 × 380 × 380 | RM5.00 | NLN, 590 × 390 × 390 — RM8.00 |
These are single-piece prices from our own list at the time of writing; bundles and pallets are priced separately. See the full range with current stock on the used carton boxes category. One pattern worth noticing: the gap between used and new grows with the size of the box, and at the medium size it narrows to a few tens of sen — so compare the two listings before you assume.
Which grade for which job
- Moving house: used double-wall, every time. A house move is exactly one trip, the box’s printing doesn’t matter, and the saving adds up across the 50–70 boxes a three-bedroom home needs. See how many boxes a Malaysian house move actually needs.
- Storage: used boxes are fine for dry, indoor storage. In Malaysian humidity, keep them off bare concrete floors — cardboard goes soft when it drinks moisture.
- E-commerce shipping: depends on your brand. The parcel arrives with someone else’s printing on the box — many Shopee and TikTok Shop sellers happily trade that for margin; premium brands usually want plain new boxes.
- Fragile or heavy goods: buy new double-wall, or step up a wall grade in used. The wall, not the age, carries the load — but with fragile items you want every percent of crush strength the flutes have.
The environmental case, honestly
Reusing a carton comes before recycling it. Recycling still means transport, re-pulping and re-manufacturing — a used box skips that loop for one more life. The recovered-paper system will still get the box eventually; reuse just gives it another trip first. If your customers ask about packaging sustainability, “our cartons are on their second life” is a better answer than most.
FAQ
What is a once-used Grade A carton box? A carton that carried one shipment, was emptied at a warehouse and was collected before it could be crushed or pulped. It is flattened, sorted by size and checked by hand: rigid, dry, clean and odour-free. Anything torn, damp or smelly goes to recycling instead. It still carries the previous owner’s printing.
How much cheaper is a used carton box than a new one? Usually, but by how much depends on the size. The gap between used and new grows with the size of the box, and at the medium size it narrows to a few tens of sen, so compare the two listings before you assume.
Are used carton boxes fine for storage in Malaysia? For dry, indoor storage, yes. Keep them off bare concrete floors, because cardboard goes soft when it drinks moisture, and Malaysian humidity gets into a box from the ground up.
How is once-used different from a marketplace “used box”? A marketplace box may have been through several house moves already. A box loses stacking strength each time it is taped, filled and crushed into a lorry, and the flutes never fully recover. Once-used stock keeps most of its original strength; twice- or thrice-used stock does not, and you can’t always see the difference from outside.
Where to buy in KL & Selangor
Quinocycle stocks once-used cartons in small, medium, large and jumbo sizes at our Balakong warehouse — walk in and pick sizes off the pallet (Mon–Fri 8.30am–5pm, Sat 8.30am–1pm, closed Sundays and public holidays), or order online with next-working-day delivery across KL & Selangor on our own lorry — free for orders of RM300 and above, RM30 flat per trip below that. Elsewhere in Malaysia we send by courier, quoted case by case (WhatsApp us first), and shipment to East Malaysia can be arranged on request. Self-collection is free. If you need quantities in the hundreds for a factory or office move, ask us about pallet pricing on the wholesale page.