If you want to buy Mystery Boxes, please read this first. I have been selling online since 2005 and I have even dabbled in SELLING mystery boxes, so I want to give you all the details that nobody else will. Lets begin.

A Mystery Box is exactly what it sounds like. Sometimes it can be called a Blind Box, but a Bling Box is technically a little bit different. Either way, it means you don’t REALLY know what you are buying, but usually you have a general idea of the category. For example, lets say you are buying a $200 “Art Supplies Mystery Box”, you can assume it’s Art Supplies and isn't going to include a pillow case or juice boxes… but what Art Supplies specifically?  Should I expect sets of markers? Canvas? Acrylic Paints? An individual pencil? Puffy Paint?? ... that’s the Mystery.

A Mystery Box is different from a "Random Pull".  For example, here at BigBrandWholesale.com we offer "Grab Bags".  A Grab Bag is a random pull, but you are getting exactly what the listing says.  For example, here's one of the Grab Bags we listed in September 2021:

the buyer knows they are getting 14 total Mens Alfani brand sock 4-packs.  The "Grab Bag" part is that they will get a random pull of colors.  As you can see from the image above these sets come in multiple color variations. So this listing isn't a "Mystery" because the buyer knows they will end up with 56 total pairs of socks inside 14 total boxes, all are Alfani brand and all are mens.  The only thing the buyer doesn't know is if they will receive the blue theme set, the red / black theme set or a different color combo. 

WHY DO SELLERS OFFER MYSTERY BOXES?

Quite frankly, it’s a great way to get rid of stuff (AKA “Liquidate”). This does NOT mean the stuff is bad, but it does mean it’s not our top sellers. Why on earth would I dump my top selling inventory? I wouldn't, nor would any (successful) business because we don’t stay in business by giving away the items that generate the most profit / sales / money.

With that being said, Mystery Boxes often contain stuff we have an absolute ton of, stuff we have had problems moving or stuff that we need to get rid of asap (seasonal, close to expiration, weird, etc). This is where the Mystery Box comes in.

A seller can offer a “25pc Mystery Box” and get rid of 20+ items they need to liquidate then throw in a handful of prime pieces. Since the buyer is paying for 25 items they have not only covered the cost of the prime pieces but also offloaded the 20+ things we need to dump.  Make sense?

MORE INSIDER INFORMATION:

This may be one of the most important things you read if you are debating buying a Mystery Box:  

You may see videos on YouTube or Instagram showing "Mystery Box Unboxing".  While some of these videos are real, a very large majority are kind of fake.  Let me explain:

We have people contact us almost daily to tell us they are social media influencers and want us to give them free inventory in exchange for them making an "unboxing video" for us.  We decline the offers because we want our REAL buyers (the people who have a financial investment in our company) to provide legitimate Unboxing videos showing their REAL order(s) because we stand behind our products.  Anyways, there's nothing truly "wrong" with trading inventory for a free unboxing video BUT if the seller knows in advance that the person they are shipping the order to is going to make an Unboxing Video the seller is going to triple-check to make sure the order is perfect.  And, obviously, if the product being sent for free in exchange for advertisement is a Mystery Box, the seller is going to make sure it contains the best-of-the-best.  It's basically the same as when you know company is going to be coming to your house next weekend; obviously you are going to tidy up a bit whereas if the company showed up right this moment your home isn't going to be as clean as it will when you have time to prepare.  Kapish?

Sometimes you can tell if the Unboxing video was paid for in some way (free inventory or real PAY) because sometimes the video publisher will include a disclaimer at the very, very bottom of the Description area of the video that says something like "I may have received compensation of some form to create this video".  However this is NOT fool-proof.  Some people don't put any kind of disclaimer because they feel that getting free inventory is not the same as getting actually paid in money, but in reality is basically is the same thing. 

ARE MYSTERY BOXES A GOOD BUY?

Maybe. Maybe not. Usually the buyer isn’t happy, which is why we stopped selling these in 2014/2015 (and trust me when I tell you that our mystery boxes were friggin awesome!). Regardless, as a buyer I would advise that you LOOK AT THE SELLERS OTHER LISTINGS. You can likely assume you will be getting the same types of stuff, but DO NOT only look at the “best” listings. Look at the “worst” listings, meaning the stuff you really, really don’t want, then assume you will be getting 75% of whatever that is. If the 75% of “worst” is pretty damn awesome in your opinion, chances are you are going to friggin’ love the mystery box. If the 75% of the worst is stuff you would never use, then absolutely do not buy a mystery box from that seller. Depending on the seller, you may love the mystery box so much that you rush to order more. Equally you may be so upset and miserable that you never order through that seller again, when, in reality, they have a ton of wonderful merch that you would love to buy if you DID NOT buy the mystery box.

SOLUTION

Unless the mystery box is VERY CLEAR about what you will receive you should probably avoid it.

If you are hoping to love 100% of the Mystery Box; YOU WON’T. At best you might love 50%-75%.

If you see a seller who PROMISES that “1 out of every 10 Mystery Boxes will get ____”, assume you won’t be one of them. Heck, there’s absolutely no way to even verify that the seller is even actually giving away the premium item or if this is just a sales tactic. IF you do end up being the lucky 10%, great. But plan ahead that you will be in the 90% who don't get it and ask yourself if you would still be happy if you do not receive the Big Kahuna item.

Honestly, you are usually better off just buying the item you are hoping to get in the Mystery Box. 

If you are watching Unboxing videos, click on the publishers profile and look at their other videos.  If their other videos are about other topics and/or there's Mystery Box Unboxing's in a specific niche, chances are its a legitimate video.  On the other hand, if the person is non-stop posting all different types of mystery boxes chances are they are getting the merchandise for free in exchange for the video.