The moment I'm glad I own a few of these is always the same: it's the night before a move, or the Sunday after the holidays when the decorations need somewhere to live for eleven months, or just the point in October when the closet has lost a fight with the off season clothes. I don't want ten small containers for that job. I want two or three big ones that swallow a lot at once and then disappear under a bed or onto a high shelf, out of the way until I need them again.
Large boxes like this earn their keep in attics, garages, basements and closets more than anywhere else, and they're just as useful in a small rented place with no storage as they are in a house with a full basement. The difference between one that lasts and one that cracks the first winter it sits in a cold garage comes down to the plastic or board itself, not the latch. Thin, brittle plastic goes milky and snaps at the corners after a year of temperature swings, especially if it's ever been stacked under something heavier. Look for thicker walls, reinforced corners, and a lid that actually sits down into a lip rather than just balancing on top, because that lip is what keeps mice and moisture out and what stops the lid sliding off when you pick the box up one handed while holding a coffee in the other. If it's a fabric or canvas box, check the base. A flimsy cardboard insert will sag and eventually let go the first time you fill it with books.
Getting the size right is mostly about not overestimating how much you want to carry. A box that holds everything you own for the season also weighs a huge amount once it's full, and I've thrown my back out exactly once proving that point with a box of hardcovers I should have split into two. Measure the space you're putting it into empty, not full, since lids need clearance to lift, and measure the gap under the bed or on the shelf before you buy a set, not after. If you've got none of these yet, start with one that's big but still liftable alone, something you can carry up a flight of stairs without needing a second person, and see how your stuff actually fills it before buying more.
A good one does this for years without complaint, through a few moves and a few floods it never notices, and it just quietly makes the rest of the room easier to live in.