How much would you spend on a paper shredder?

[ilovedolphins]

I have bought two paper shredders that cost about $20 - $30. They both jammed up with just one paper and stopped working. I tried to unjam my most recent one and it just won't work.

Do you have a paper shredder? If so, what brand and how much did it cost?

If you don't have one do you just throw your papers away or tear them up by hand?

My daughter bought one for $150.

[bean29]

I have two.  One cost about $150 Fellows Signature Series P1100S  We bought this with DH's first year Office Supply budget.  He rips his stuff up, so I have it at home.  This is supposed to do about 10 sheets at a time (or more IDK), and it does, but after it does so much shredding, it over heats and it stops working.

I allso have a smaller shredder that does 4-6 sheets.   It is also a Fellows 400c. When the above one overheats I use this one for awhile - or if I wait a half hour the other one will start working again.  

With both, I have to proactively empty the bucket b/c it the shredd stuff is overfull it will back up into the shredder mechanism and then I have to pick the paper out of the grinder to get it working again.

I suggest you wait for black friday and see if anyone has one cheap.  I think mine are from Office Depot - I know the bigger one was purchased at Office Depot, the other may be from Office Max.  Office Depot and Office Max are the same now.  You can also check Staples online.  We don't have a store in my area though.

I have taken stuff to office Max and paid to have it shredded...I was afraid confidental info in the garbage could be not only a risk to us, but problematic if it was customer info.

This year I was going to take some stuff to the Community Shredding event at State Fair Park one weekend, but I got going too late.  I was on my city website the next week and saw my city was having a shredding event the next weekend, so I called DH and told him to load his stuff in his truck on Friday, and he dropped it off on his way to work on Saturday am.  The banks often offer this once or twice a year so you might try googling shredding in (your city).

[msventoux]

I have an AmazonBasics 8-Sheet Micro-Cut Paper, CD, and Credit Card Shredder with Pullout Basket that cost about $70.  I've bought the cheap $20 ones before, and they were a joke.  It ended up being easier to shred everything by hand than deal with all of the jams.

This one seems to work well for the most part.  I had a backlog of shredding to take care of when I got it.  It would start to overheat after filling up the 3 gallon bin a couple of times, so I would shred until the bin got full and give it a bit of a break after that.  It says you can do 8 sheets, but I usually only do 5 or 6.  I've had it a little over a year and it's still working fine.  I doubt it's heavy duty enough to be used a lot every day, but it did fine on my backlog of junk mail and for keeping up on the amount I get weekly.

[Deleted]

Mine is something called "Executive Machines." I have had it seven or eight years so I don't remember what I paid for it, but it had to be less than $30.   Maybe I got a rebate on it or something.  Anyway, it has never given me any trouble.  My only complaint is that it only holds about half a kitchen garbage bag before it is full.  That's what I have in there.  I think it's the original kitchen bag (LOL) that I just keep emptying into small Walmart bags. 

It also has a slot to shred credit cards.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I had a cheapo shredder in KY, but when I went back to clear out my apartment to move, it was useless due to the sheer bulk of items I needed to shred.

i wound up taking a couple of garbage bags to Office Depot.  I think it was about $18 for it all, but cheaper than buying a new shredder to deal with his.

[Lizard Queen]

At home, I've had a $15 & a $30 one.  At work, there was a big one that was probably $200 at least.  It broke--apparently, you're supposed to oil the blades.  They replaced it with a smaller, slightly cheaper one.  Both of those large ones still only took about 8-10 pages at a time.  When faced with boxes and boxes of files to shread, I so wanted to just build a bonfire.  Last summer, I ended up trying my fire pit at home for my own stuff.  It didn't work nearly as well as I expcted it to.

[sesfw]

We have an el-cheapo home shredder that we seldom use any more. We put all our papers in a box and take it to the shredder truck when it's in town twice a year.

I take scissors to the back of credit cards and destroy the magnetic strip on the back, then put it in the box to be shredded.  DH, in his infinite wisdom, put a card in the microwave one time.  I chewed him pretty good for that one and he hasn't tried it again.

Now our pile is down to a reasonable level and have just one bankers box to go next week.

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

Most people jam or break their shredders trying to put through too many pieces of paper at the same time.

Mine's a Swingline Personal Shredder - around $80 - for my home-office. It fits under the desk. I can do up to 7 sheets of paper at a time - among other items - cardboard, credit cards, etc. A 10-sheet shredder is about $20 more.

From the manual:

• Fits under your desk making it easy to protect your documents
  
• Shreds: Paper, staples, paper clips, credit cards into 3-gallon bin
  
• Cross-cut shred style

.

[sarcasticgirl]

Zero $... I suppose, since I don't have one. If something requires shredding, I take it to work to the shredding bins.
Most things just get ripped and thrown in the trash.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using proboards

[ZaireinHD]

sorry for laughing ilovedolphins
but that's pretty horrible to break so easy!
I've had two, only two and I am currently on my third.
they last me for years - 8 to 10 pages at a time with credit card slot - made by Staples $50 to $60?
my only problem is the difference between my expectation of the meaning of quiet!
this last current shredder is advertised as 'quiet'
I think it's just as loud as the last one I had.

[8 Bit WWBG]

I have spent up to $100, and the next time I buy one, I will probably buy the $150+ model:

IMO, it depends entirely on what kind of shredder you are.  If all you shred is a few full size (8.5x11) sheets (like statements) and stay on top of it, the cheaper ones will probably do.  If you are like me and collect a backlog of mail, receipts, envelopes, and so on, then do them in a big batch, you will want to have a higher capacity/more powerful model.  If you ever go through your desk or whatever and do a big purge, you'll also be very thankful for the extra power.

[thyme4change]

I have heard so many people say their $30 shredders dropped dead quickly.  I had something specific to shred, but thought if I was buying one, I would be pissed if it died shortly after I was done.  I debated taking it to Staples and paying them to shred it, but just picked up a shredder at Target.  It was $65-$70, if I recall correctly.  I shredded quite a bit of stuff, and the kids think it is awesome and shred everything - you know, like blank pieces of paper and other totally unneccesary things.  I have no idea if a $20 one would have been sufficient - but I tell myself that the cheap ones are all pieces of crap and I'm glad I dropped a few extra bucks.

[Formerly SK]

We have a $50ish model.  It has worked great for 5ish years.  I don't put more than 5ish papers in at a time though, and I respect the fact it can overheat if I do too much at a time.

That said, it's mostly a big dust-collector now because I've discovered that banks/police dept/county regularly offer free shredding days to the public.  It's much easier to just stockpile my stuff and drop it off 1-2 times a year than spend a morning with the shredder. 

[TheHaitian]

I believe about $75 and it has been 8 years now...

[alabamagal]

$0.  I have a wood burning fireplace.  Just burn everything one or two times a year!