Yesterday I was showing my husband a photo on my phone when he asked what the picture of the “mystery box” was about.
So I told him about how when The Duck Lady and I were at the {lackluster} yard sale the other day we spotted a couple of mystery boxes for sale for $10 each.
The Duck Lady and I agreed that it was a clever but goofy idea and that nobody in their right mind would pay good money for a box of unknown stuff at a {totally boring} yard sale.
And then he was like… “I’d buy it.”
“Seriously? You won’t even buy dead people’s stuff from a thrift store… Do you really expect me to believe you’d lay down $10 for a box of mystery junk at someone’s garage sale? You won’t even get OUT OF THE CAR when I make you pull over for garage sales!”
But he went on and on about how he thought there’d be really good stuff in the mystery box and how the people would have overcompensated with the value of the items in the box because of the faith in the “unknown”.
“Whatever” I said. But I still wouldn’t buy it.
And then he told me to ask YOU.
“Fine. I’ll ask them. But I seriously doubt anyone is going to say they would have bought it.”
So. We need to know. Would you have bought a $10 mystery box from a lackluster yard sale, or would you have just walked on by?
~Mavis
Amy says
Team Mavis all the way! I wouldn’t plunk down $10 especially at a ho-hum yard sale!
Sharon says
A big NO on this one. From my limited experience yard sales are 95% someone else’s junk, and you’re asking me to spend money on secret junk?? Nooooo!!!
Donna says
“Secret junk” made me literally laugh out loud 🙂
Rosemary Calhoun says
Nope. I might consider a “mystery box” at a craft store but even then, I would probably hesitate. I like to know what I am buying.
Now, if I could fill the box with all the items I wanted for $10, I might do that! Of course, there would have to be items there that I wanted . . .
Nancy Settel says
I would buy a $10. mystery box from say the Duck Lady with a bunch of veggies I hadn’t tried before but lack luster yard sale? Not a chance.
Wendy C says
At a lackluster yard sale-no. At an awesome yard sale, I would pay $5 for a mystery box. My daughter and I were at Micheal’s craft store one day and they had mystery bags for $2. They were huge. We bought one just to see. It contained various craft supplies, some scrapbook paper, and a very nice corkboard/bill holder that hangs in my kitchen today. You just never know. But I would like to “never know” for $5 or under.
Chyrl says
No way at a garage sale but I would have bought a couple of $2 mystery bags atMichael’s.
Kim says
My daughter has been dying to score one of these Michael’s mystery bags, but we’re never lucky enough to be in there at the right time. There are supposedly some incredible deals in those.
If the garage sale was good, I’d buy the $10 mystery box. Our garage sales consistently pull in over $1000 each time we have one, and people have always commented on how nice our items our. I would think this would be something fun to offer. I always buy mystery boxes for my kids whenever we run across them at stores. It’s a novelty and it’s a super fun idea. Why not?
Kathy in PA says
Absolutely not! Not even at a really good yard sale.
Connie says
Nope. No way.
Angie says
I am a pessimist on this one and I have to say no. I have enough of a task in my own home making sure that we are decluttering and not holding on to our own junk, I definitely would not pay to haul home someone else’s junk. I do have to say that the concept of a mystery box at a garage sale is a good one. It reminds me of the people who pay for pallets of returned items from Amazon having no idea what they will actually get – of course $10 is not the same investment as the cost of the returned items pallet.
Jamie says
My husband would have bought it. Me, no.
Kath says
Nope!
Lynda says
No way! Might as well burn the $10 bill.
Anne in VA says
Probably not at a yard sale. I’ve bought a number of boxes of stuff for $1 at estate auctions over the years. I didn’t really know what was in there, but for a dollar, it was fun to see.
I recently read that there’s an internet craze of people buying returned items from Amazon and getting really cool stuff. I probably wouldn’t do that for fear I’d get broken items or ten thousand plastic doo-dahs that I can’t use.
Jennifer says
I don’t know that I would have bought it, but I think the HH is right in that they would over compensate to make it worth it? A $5 box, I would probably take a chance on. $10 would be too high at a ho-hum yard sale. Interesting idea though.
Angela D. says
I’m with Jennifer: a $5 box, sure….. but not $10.
Phillis Patmor says
No, I would not buy a mystery box. There are mystery boxes lurking deep in the back of my closet already.
Virginia says
Ha, ha. I’ve got that problem too. Sadly, my “mystery boxes” seem to be in every room, not just the closet.
Diana says
OMG, that’s on my list of goals for this year. Find all of the random boxes and empty them. UGH… what a mess…
Lesley says
Hard NOPE.
Tanya says
Team mavis.
Lynne says
I agree that this is a combination of the venue (ho-hum yard sale) and price point ($10 is more than I’m willing to gamble). While it is possible someone would feel obligated to put things that are arguably valued at a bit more than $10 in the box, I’d also assume that they’d put the stuff they had that was good enough to sell on its own for sale on its own, so the stuff in the box is not likely to be better than the other things in the ho-hum yard sale. I would pass on the mystery box.
Dawn says
I’d have to pass on the mystery box even if it wasn’t at a ho-hum yard sale. I’d be afraid I would end up with a bunch of broken stuff and already have plenty of that at home.
Charla Stankiewicz says
I’ve bought a mystery box at Michael’s but no, I wouldn’t at a garage sale
Ida says
Wouldn’t have picked up a mystery box even if it was free and at an awesome lawn sale. Just feels like a sure way of ending up with a bunch of odd ends that you’ll then have to figure out where to put.
Pj Truman says
I would not buy the $10 mystery box and surprisingly, my husband said he wouldn’t either.
Emily says
At a lower price point and a better venue I’d be tempted for the element of surprise. I’ve gotten some fun mystery yarn that way at my local yarn store.
Jeni says
If they had left the top open, covered it with plastic wrap so I could “see” some of what is inside, maybe
Margo says
Nope, keep n walking. if the stuff you could see at the yard sale was marginal, I’m willing to bet the stuff you can’t see is garbage nobody would want.
Cathrin says
NO way
Mary G says
Absolutely not. I’m afraid my risk tolerance is rather low. We have bought “surprise bags” from Too Good To Go, but these are from local bakeries or restaurants that we are familiar with, so it’s a surprise on the level of, what are the five or six things going to be? Ciabatta loaf, muffins, etc. With a box put together by someone who is a total stranger and with no idea what could be inside, I just don’t think I’d take that chance. I’d rather save my $10.
KC says
Yeah no. A mystery box from somewhere that I could reasonably either use or give away at least 90% of the items likely to be in the box: sure! (wool for needle felting; fresh produce; you get the gist) But random “stuff”? NOPE.
That said, it might work on some people.
I grew up with the “lotteries are a tax on the people who can’t do math” idea, and believed that until I met a nontraditional student who used the anticipatory enjoyment of a $1 scratch ticket as motivation to stick through attending classes (buy it in the morning, scratch it at the bus stop after classes). Given the cost of tuition, $1 was pretty cheap to trick the brain into associating positive things with sitting in a desk listening to a lecture, instead of tuning out.
So for some people, maybe $10 would be worth that little endorphin boost even if they were most likely not going to want/need anything in the box.
But: not for me.
Cathy says
I would look at the other wares for sale and approximate the family structure. . . I am totally going for it. . Have to shake it a bit to hear what kind of noise it would make and feel like it’s a present . . You never know what kind of treasure could be in there. I’m just adventurous like that. . As a matter of fact I might buy quite a few depending upon the noise they make. Gotta live a little every once in a while.
Linda Sand says
If the sale had been a good one to start with I MIGHT have risked it. But, probably not. As a minimalist, I like to see what I am buying to know if it is something I actually want to own. I don’t register to win prizes I don’t want to own either.
Andrea says
Team Mavis! My husband wouldn’t purchase it, either. We worked too hard and don’t believe in spending on “foolishness”. We’d rather have fewer high quality things, than more random “stuff”.
Also, the seller’s idea of “over compensating” is only relative to their value system. They may have included $100 worth of baseball cards, but speaking for myself, I could care less about baseball cards and have no interest in figuring out the value, even if the rate of return would be 10 times.
Cindy Miller says
Lolol! No!
Jennifer Beyer says
No, I wouldn’t buy it. I have limited money when I go to yardsales and I have my lists of what I need and I have never written “Mystery Box” on it.
Mimi says
Nope.
Katie C says
I’m team HH. I think my curiosity would get the best of me and I’d HAVE to buy a box, haha! For $10, I could donate/sell/gift whatever I didn’t want.
Patty says
I’m with Katie on this one!
LindaT says
An online yarn place I frequent used to have $10 mystery boxes, but they told you you’d have at least some yarn that matched, etc. I bought a couple and was pleased. But this year they went up on the price and down on the explanations, and I passed, in large part because recently they’ve released some funky odd types of yarn and I don’t want to be stuck with that, even if they GAVE it to me. So no, especially a lackluster mystery box from a lackluster garage sale.
Cindy Brick says
I would probably do some serious shaking. And weighing in my hand. (Is it heavy? Do I hear anything interesting, like jingling?)
And yes, I’d try to peek inside.
But $10 seems a little high. I’d go quicker for $5… or even $2.
I’ve bought mystery boxes at auctions before, with about a 50/50 success rate. But I never paid much. Fabric mystery scrap bags are much more rewarding. And mystery food cans? If you’ll keep the price under 25 cents, you’ve got me in a flash.
Kara says
I would have bought it for the sheer entertainment value. It’s cheaper than a movie ticket
Maybe good stuff, maybe not
But you could have a heckuva lot of fun opening that with a friend!
Marie says
NO! I don’t even do mystery quilt-a-longs, hate not knowing what something is going to look like. The hubs would never buy something like that, he’s to conserved with his money.
Dianne says
If I had an extra $10 in my pocket, I would just for the surprise element. I remember years ago, there was a site on line that sold mystery packages for I think $10. Maybe multiple prices, I don’t remember. I bought one for $10 and got a set of really nice leather suitcase tags. I know there are free at the airport, but I don’t trust the paper ones. I could always find my suitcase on the carousal. If I couldn’t spare the $10 then no. Who doesn’t like surprises? Gotta take a chance. Be optimistic!
Tracy says
I won’t even go to a garage sale. Big no to someone’s mystery box. Lol
Pat says
Oh, HH, take your $10 and buy yourself, or Mavis, a delicious treat at the bakery. Or donate to your favorite charity. Or put it towards your next gas fillup. No, I
myself would not buy the mystery box.
Jo says
Me, no. My husband, absolutely! He would have given the same “logical” reason that your husband gave to you.
Peggy Lineberry says
Yes, I would just because I am nosey
Kippy says
No way. When I was a kid we’d buy $2 grab bags from tourist shops. I was little so that pottery blue jay with a wonky eye seemed cute to me. Mystery boxes at yard sales probably contain old encyclopedias and stuff no one would ever buy.
Debi says
What I do is create a box of related items and say entire box of items for $xx. I have had ppl say I only want this item, so I throw out a price . I usually then add something else. One year the guy gave me the entire amount, took the item he wanted out and said “here you can have these back to sell.”
MEM says
Nope. My cynical little mind would expect a bunch of junk that the yard sale hosts couldn’t otherwise sell.
Lori says
Hey, I would have given them my ten bucks and walked away with a mystery box. If the yard sale wasn’t that great who’s to say they didn’t put all the good stuff in the boxes. Plus people would feel guilty if they didn’t put in more then $10 worth of items. Yup I’m a sucker for the mystery!
Chantal says
No way would I ever spend money on something that I have no clue what it would be.
Kyrie, Tao, Deja says
this is a thing, the mystery boxes, at auctions in South Central KY. people buy them like they go out of style. I’ve done it a time or two with a couple of really neat things along with a bunch of crapola included, LOLOL! sometimes it’s fun to be surprised 😉
Tricia says
Would depend on my mood that day. But I would totally offer these now that you have given me the idea and I would put WAY more than $10 of value in it just to reward the person for actually buying it. I think I’ll try it!
Katherine says
It would depend on the quality of other stuff at the sale.
A friend and I won an auction for a small storage unit for $300 without seeing the contents. It was full of all sorts of gorgeous antique and vintage flow blue china. I think there was 18 boxes crammed full of china. We each kept a few pieces and sold the rest for $5000. It was exciting. I will say that over half of the auction winners didn’t get good stuff like we did.
sarah says
This is a MASSIVE yes from me! And for $10 it’s a heck of a deal. I’ve paid a lot more than that for mystery boxes. lol!
Diana says
Uh, no. It’s a YARD SALE. Most stuff is supposed to be like, $.50. That box isn’t big enough to hold $10 worth of stuff.
At my favorite garden center? Oh yeah. I’d buy it, lol.
Torry says
I went to a fabric sale, the woman was trying to reduce her fabric stash. She held it at her church and had lots of tables set up with fabric nicely stacked up. On one table, there were mystery bags. They all had clues on them: “children’s fabrics” was the one I bought. They gave a hint of how much yardage, I think there was a sign that said every sack had at least 2 yards worth of fabric, but not in a 2 yard piece. I paid $5 for it and I wasn’t disappointed! There were 12 fat quarters of fabric that coordinated.
Renee from WI says
I wouldn’t but………my husband is a plumber and took out an avocado green bidet of someone’s condo. The curling club we belonged to had a once-a-year party and raffle of donated items. So, we boxed up the bidet as a mystery prize. It went for $80. The recipient’s face when they opened it was beyond priceless.
Dee says
I like surprises, so I would probably buy a mystery box. I have bought some nice things within the boxes. There may be some thing in there that I can’t use or don’t want. But I usually know someone who would like to have it. I rarely spend more than $ 5.00 for a box. My Dad got us started on this when he took us with him to auctions when we were small children. Hooked on it ever since!
TT says
Yep – I would go for it.
jess says
Yard sale? Absolutely not
BUT, if I were to have a yard sale in the future, I am so going to do this. Mystery boxes are huge on social media; videos abound of people opening them. Some are just literally random crap, some are items from a brand, shop etc.
I occasionally buy mystery bags from a brand of nail art supplies I use regularly and since that is my hobby & soon to be livelihood, it was worth it because I gave me the opportunity to try some stuff I was interested in dabbling in without springing for an entire collection for $15 vs $50+, as well as seasonal items at a discount. I have discovered a few things I now use regularly. If anyone runs a small business, it is certainly a good way to offload older stock
deb k says
I would buy it. My curiosity would win. I keep trying to imagine what was in the mystery box in your picture. I would pay the money just to KNOW what is in the box in the picture that I will never see, own or touch!!! I’m hopeless :-}
Amber says
It would depend. If it was from a store/website that I shopped at regularly, maybe. From a garage sale with lackluster items? No. From a garage sale with some awesome pieces? Maybe, depending on the pieces I could see. I can see the appeal in the mystery of it all, but it would depend on where the mystery box was from for me to consider it.
Brooke says
Hard no fron me. I always end up disappointed with mystery boxes from companies I use and love – definite no at a lack luster garage sale.
Karen says
I would buy it and put it under the tree as one of his Christmas gifts.
Dianna says
At a lackluster yard sale, no.
At a yard sale or estate sale that has awesome stuff that I love? Maybe.
At a store or website with stuff I put on wishlists? Yes.
Mary says
No!
Ryno says
Yep. I sure would. Live a little.
Christina says
I feel like the little rebel in me would just want to try! I’d probably regret it though. Haha