Type ‘fedex shipping boxes’ into Google and you get drop off locators and packing tips. What you do not get, at least not on the first try, is a price. That is because FedEx runs two separate box systems, and only one of them has a price tag.
One system is free. Ship with a FedEx Express service and the box is bundled into what you already pay for the shipment.
The other system is retail. FedEx Office sells boxes off the shelf.
The price list lives on a fedex.com packing supplies page that almost nobody finds, and an 8 inch cube there is $2.00.
Here is how to tell which fedex shipping boxes apply to you and what each one actually costs. I will also cover why grabbing a free Express box for a Ground shipment is not the shortcut it looks like.
Free fedex shipping boxes only come with certain services
FedEx gives away envelopes, paks, poly bags, boxes, and tubes to account holders. The condition is right on the page.
Complimentary packaging is only for FedEx expedited services, FedEx Express Saver, or FedEx International Economy. Expedited means the overnight and 2Day family.
You order them free through your FedEx account and FedEx ships them to your door at no charge. That is the same process you would use to request free FedEx envelopes for a document shipment.
Check the exact terms on FedEx’s packaging supplies page before you assume a box is free. FedEx Ground and FedEx Ground Economy are not on that list. If you ship Ground, FedEx expects you to supply your own box.
This is the biggest source of confusion around fedex shipping boxes, and honestly, I get why. FedEx trains people to think its boxes are free, then Ground checkout never offers you one.
Where the FedEx box price list actually lives
For Express shipments, the box has no separate price. It was never sold on its own. Asking what a FedEx Express box costs is like asking the price of the bag at a fast food counter.
FedEx Office boxes are a different story, and here is the part most guides get wrong. FedEx does publish a full price list.
It sits on the boxes page under packing supplies on fedex.com, not on the FedEx Office site. That is why searching ‘FedEx Office box prices’ sends you in circles.
The list shows three prices for every size: the bare box, the box with FedEx Office staff packing your item, and a fragile tier with extra cushioning and a fragile label. Here is a sample of the standard sizes as posted today.
| Box size (inches) | Box only | With packing | Fragile packaging |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 x 8 x 8 | $2.00 | $5.49 | $13.49 |
| 12 x 9 x 6 | $2.25 | $6.99 | $14.49 |
| 13 x 9 x 11 | $3.00 | $7.99 | $17.49 |
| 14 x 14 x 14 | $4.00 | $10.49 | $17.99 |
| 16 x 16 x 16 | $4.50 | $13.49 | $21.39 |
| 20 x 20 x 20 | $6.75 | $17.99 | $26.99 |
| 24 x 24 x 24, double wall | $12.25 | $21.99 | $30.99 |
| 28 x 28 x 28, double wall | $15.25 | $26.99 | $34.99 |
So a plain box runs $2.00 to $15.25 depending on size. Packing service roughly doubles or triples that. The fragile tier on a small box costs more than six times the bare cardboard.
Two fine print lines matter. Not all products are available at all locations, and specialty box prices are different in Alaska and Hawaii. None of these prices include the actual shipping.
What else FedEx Office sells
Walk into a FedEx Office and you will find padded mailers, bubble wrap, and tape sold alongside the boxes. This is a completely separate business line from the free envelopes tied to your Express account.
The specialty boxes are where FedEx Office earns its keep. A bike box is $16.25 and a guitar box is $14.00. A laptop box is $20.25.
Flat panel TV boxes run $15.00 to $28.25 bare, or over $100 with the fragile packing service.
Those odd shapes are hard to find anywhere else on short notice. For a plain cube, though, a hardware store or moving supply aisle usually beats FedEx Office by a dollar or two. Compare against boxes you can get at no cost before you pay retail for a one off shipment.
If it were me, I would pay FedEx Office for the packing labor on something fragile or awkward. I would not pay it for bare cardboard I can get cheaper across the street.
Can you use a free FedEx box for FedEx Ground?
The cardboard does not know which service is picking it up. Nothing physically stops you from taping shut an old Express box for a Ground driver.
But that is not what free packaging is for. FedEx scopes those boxes to expedited shipments.
Reusing one for Ground gets you nothing extra. Ground pricing runs on your dimensions and weight, not on whose logo sits outside.
I would not bother trying to game this. Use a plain box sized to your item, and save the Express boxes for actual Express shipments. UPS draws the same line with its own branded box program.
There is a practical wrinkle too. An old Express box often has leftover barcodes or service markings that can trip up scanning. It can also look sloppy to whoever receives it.
Cover the markings completely or start with a fresh box instead.
Can you use a FedEx box for a USPS shipment?
Same logic, different carrier. A FedEx branded box will not stop USPS from accepting your package. It is not built for that job, though.
USPS spells out its reuse rule on its package prep page. All old logos, barcodes, shipping labels, and addresses must be covered or blacked out. The word logos is doing real work there, because a carton printed with FedEx Express branding on every side is a lot of blacking out.
Depending on the clerk, you might get asked to switch boxes on the spot. Grab a plain box instead, the kind covered in our general guide to picking the right shipping box, and skip the awkward conversation.
Sizes you will actually run into
FedEx’s free Express lineup covers an envelope, a larger pak, poly bags, a few box sizes, and a tube for posters. FedEx does not print the dimensions of the free boxes on its public supplies page. You see them when you place the order inside your account.
FedEx Office stocks a broader range. Its retail boxes run from an 8 inch cube up to a 28 inch double wall cube. It also carries the specialty shapes above for artwork, electronics, and sports gear.
Before you buy, run your package through our dimensional weight calculator. A 20 inch cube from FedEx Office costs $6.75. The dimensional weight on it can add far more than that to the shipping charge.
Bottom line
FedEx is not hiding a box price from you. It posted one, in the wrong place.
Express boxes are free and bundled into the shipment cost. Ground shippers supply their own box. FedEx Office boxes run $2.00 to $15.25 bare, listed on the fedex.com packing supplies page.
Match the box to the actual service you are using. Skip trying to stretch free fedex shipping boxes across carriers the program was never built for.
