To be honest it wouldn't matter to me as long as the lens was OK except for this premium it apparently commands on resale. I'd rather chuck all the boxes out, they take up too much room, but I know it would make the items harder to resell if I wanted to. But why should it?
Anyway most people expect NEW items to be boxed but I was talking about used.
A thought just occurs to me. Can the box in any way go to prove the item isn't a rip of copy?