Storage totes are useful, and I own a ton of them. But let’s look at their UX hassles:
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1. Typically opaque, so you cannot see what’s inside without opening the lid.
2. The only opening is a top lid, so you cannot access the contents of a unit stacked beneath another unit.
3. The sidewalls have draft angle both for manufacturing purposes and nesting, so you lose some interior storage space relative to the space they occupy.
In contrast these Multifunctional Foldable Transparent Storage units, by Chinese home goods manufacturer Joybos, seem designed to solve for each of the issues above.
1. They’re transparent on all four sides and the top, making identifying contents easy.
2. Each transparent panel can be swung open, allowing access no matter the unit’s orientation or stack order.
3. Being made from injection-molded parts that snap together, no draft angle is required for manufacturing, and thus the sidewalls are perfectly plumb. Every square inch of interior space is utilized relative to the footprint.
Additionally, I’d add:
4. Collapsed flat, these take up far less space than unused nested totes.
5. They look a damn sight better than totes.
Of course, those design improvements and manufacturing differences bring added cost. The small 28-liter (7.4 gallon) unit runs $56, going up in price to the XXL 116-liter (30.6 gallon) unit at $130.
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At your local big-box, you can buy a standard tote with more storage volume than Joybos’ XXL for less than the price of their smallest. As with all things, you get what you pay for.
Source: core77