Do You Save Your Lens Boxes?

[bobfriedman]

the boxes and associated materials make resale much more attractive to buyers and it is for that reason that I keep them.

[Akira]

+1 for me Akira on that.

Also, I rarely use the accompanying camera strap.  I always use my Nikon AN-4Y strap on all cameras of any brands unless it is worn out.

[Akira]

the boxes and associated materials make resale much more attractive to buyers and it is for that reason that I keep them.

Here in Japan, recent cash-back campaigns typically require the buyers to cut the bar-code printed on the box to send to the manufacturer along with the copies of the receipt and the warranty card.  I suspect it is to discourage people to put their cameras and lenses into the second-hand market.   

[Macro_Cosmos]

A box adds $50-$100 when reselling, so I do keep them all. I buy used when I can and often or not, there's no box which is a shame.
I've rotated through numerous lenses, buying used then selling them again if I didn't like it or didn't use it as much.

Over the years, I've only held on to several lenses that I both use often and won't sell.
70-200 F/2.8E
24mm F/3.5 PC-E (will get rid of it if there's ever a newer better version)
95mm and 105mm Printing-Nikkor/Rayfact lenses
Schneider Xenon-Sapphire 97mm

I might even sell my Mit 5x and 10x. The 20x is definitely going, found a better copy.

Out of all these lenses, I only have the box for the Mit 10x which I purchased new and the 70-200E which was also bought new. I do have a 17-35 F2.8-F4 Tamron, impressed with the quality, but I'm sure I'll sell it one day as well. I have the box for it too.

[Thomas Stellwag]

a lot of controversal opinions about boxes - BTF (box transfer function) is alive. At B1.4 you get a lovely soft card box in your house, at B22 your desk is filled with subjects, that steel your space - be aware, boxes have no diffraction.
Now nobody wrote about the real reason to keep them (see picture in initial post). There are 8 chairs. If you clean that table and some of your friends come once per week to sit down and talk, only as an assumption,  having one coffee and two  beers, means 8 times $10, you end up in buying drinks at $ 80/week or $4000/year for throwing away your boxes. You just waste one Otus. Never throw away one box - or vice versa, now you know why some of us have so many friends

[Erik Lund]

Sure some people are more than happy to pay more for a lens or camera if the paperwork and box is included but some of us don't care at all.
I only have a few of them left for lenses where there is a big chance they will be sold soon for one or the other reason.
I never kept boxes for other stuff like tripods

Interesting variety of boxes you have there Michael very varied!
Nikon D1x omg that was fun shooting 

[RobOK]

I keep all my boxes and don't sell any gear. I'm not sure that logic computes!

Now that i have a Z6 I will be selling a D750 and some F glass, a Sony A5600 and Sony crop lenses.

Not sold: D70S, D300, Df. Too much attachment and I wouldn't get any money except for the Df.

[Roland Vink]

When selling a lens, apart from any extra value the it may add, the box also packages and protects the lens very nicely for shipping.

[Asle F]

Even empty boxes have their own market value: a quick search on Ebay with keywords Nikon Empty Box turned up 125 results, with prices from 11$ (+shp) for a common lens (e.g. a 28-85 MF Nikkor), up to 300$ for an S3 rangefinder (super-rare) original box.
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Vintage cameras and lenses have a greater value if they come with the original box and papers, and if the serial #s match

I understand collectors has it's own marked for this. But for having something for them, one has to save the box for a very long time, in many cases way longer that the actually gear's lifespan

The conditions of one's boxes give a potential buyer an idea of the treatment a lens has been subjected to,

Ofcourse. I worn out box can indicate that the gear has been put back into the box for transport or retention. A like new box, only indicate the the box has been stowed away in a closet, in the meantime the gear has been worn out in the field, unprotected.

A box adds $50-$100 when reselling,

OK, maybe that is the reason I never get the boxes with pre owned gear. For otherwise likewise gear, I will buy the one $50-$100 cheaper.
Why will anyone pay that much more, just because of a yellow box?

[SA_Photo_Man]

I keep all the boxes I get with the purchase of a factory new camera or lens.  I currently have one box.

[rosko]

A lens box adds some value on ebay, so, I keep all of them, at least when I buy  a lens new.
Ebay buyers like original boxes, mostly collectors.
I keep the bodies boxes which you can flatten and all accessories, original straps I never use and user's manuals.

And some time, the box worth more than the lens...https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Soligar-200mm-F2-8-Tele-Photo-Camera-Lense-With-Original-Box/123792766532?hash=item1cd29fb644:g:UgEAAOSwnpBc9yaf

 

[Michael Erlewine]

A lens box add some value on ebay, so, I keep all of them, at least when I buy  a lens new.
Ebay buyers like original boxes, mostly collectors.
I keep the bodies boxes which you can flatten and all accessories, original straps I never use and user's manuals.

And some time, the box worth more than the lens...https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Soligar-200mm-F2-8-Tele-Photo-Camera-Lense-With-Original-Box/123792766532?hash=item1cd29fb644:g:UgEAAOSwnpBc9yaf

 

I agree. And many folks, perhaps some kind of collector, have a lens but no original box and want one just for the beauty of it.

[Zang]

In the past, I kept my boxes as well as all contents for Zeiss lenses I bought in 90s in Europe. When I moved to Canada in 2009 I left them behind. I only took with me the quality control check list signed by Zeiss engineers. And the lenses, of course

[Brute]

Why Yes ,Yes I do.
Took the photo outside in our backyard because most of the photos I take  are outdoors. Wanted to be a little artsy 
Only have sold off 1 camera and lens a D300 with a 80-400.
The only other lens that I don't have a box for is a 24-70 that I got off of Craigs List.
Store them in a container that goes in the loft of our storage shed.

[Imagelover]

I always keep my lens and camera boxes when bought new in 1980 and until now, from the F3 to the Df (the last which was actually bought used). The boxes are stored different places in my house. It works well!