I spent £39.99 on a mystery box of Amazon returns – and unwrapped an amazing £302 of electrical gadgets.
On the one hand, I thought I’d discovered an amazing at-home money-spinner – but I soon realised there are lots of caveats and hacks that I want to share before you dive in.
It all started when I saw a post from an influencer who bought a mystery box of Amazon returns for £25.
I decided to do the same and began pouring over listings on eBay, using search terms like “Amazon returns box” and “Amazon ex-warehouse box”.
At first I thought finding a huge box of mystery items would be easy – but in fact most of the listings are open boxes where you can see the kinds of things you will receive.
One advantage of this was that I could avoid a box load of dog leads or a stock pile of cat food on sale for just £25 with the simple fact that I am not a pet owner.
Yet there were drawbacks and red flags which I couldn’t escape.
The most common fear which came to mind was wondering when the sellers were opening the boxes to show what’s inside, surely they’d cherry pick the best stuff to sell it themselves?
That seemed to be true when I clicked on the eBay sellers’ stores: many sell boxes of returns, with a few high-value items separately listed.
But back to my box.
The options ranged from £10 listings with just a couple of items, to enormous pallets of Amazon returns costing £300.
I went for one called “box of Amazon customer returns – (30+) electronics accessories & consumables” for £39.99.
The images showed a few headphones and a camera that looked unopen and easy to sell.
Then I had to pay another £10 for delivery, which I knew would eat into any profit I hoped to make.
It took four days for the parcel to be delivered, and I excitedly unboxed the contents.
First impression? There was LOADS. And much to my relief they were what they said they would be: I could see the Amazon packaging and barcodes on individual items.
The first Amazon returns I pulled out were a smart home camera, worth over £120 and sports sunglasses for £20.
Then there were about 10 phone cases, some boxed which I put aside to list on eBay or for a car boot sale, some clearly cracked, broken or for such old phone models I couldn’t imagine much demand.
A wired computer headset was new and unused, listed on Amazon for £29.
Other new and unbroken items included a Go Pro-style action camera, dome speaker, TV aerial, aluminium tripod, HDMI splitter and other cables, printer cartridges, ethernet cables, DVD player, and ring light.
These would definitely bring in more than the initial £50 investment if someone listed them individually on a site like Vinted or eBay.
What is an Amazon mystery box?
AMAZON mystery boxes offer a long list of items for those willing to part with their cash with the hope of discovering a hidden gem.
Savvy shoppers should be cautious if hoping to hop on the trend of mystery boxes with many buyers having already been scammed.
Whilst those buying from credible sources such as Amazon, mystery boxes offer bargain buyers the chance to nab any number of defected stock.
Mystery boxes could hold an array of items from returns which have been opened before posting back to the sender to damaged packaging.
The collective retail sale price of the items contained in the box usually ranks far higher than what mystery box buyers will actually pay.
This is why so many customers are willing to run the risk in the hope of finding a hidden treasure.
However, it wasn’t all so successful.
My kids joined in the unboxing and we were all excited to see a blue headphone set and another multicoloured cat design.
But when we pulled them out of their boxes, one was cracked and another had loose wires hanging out.
With little idea of how to restore these myself, I was forced to bin them, as well as several of the phone cases.
This meant that I was now left with less items and the guilt of adding to landfill when Amazon should be taking responsibility for its broken returned goods.
Some of the items were also impossible to identify: phone cases with strange holes that left them unidentifiable as to what model they were made for and mystery cables bundled at the bottom.
The most high-value item, the £120 home security camera, just had one solitary wire in the box, no manual and no other packaging.
It had definitely been used, and without owning the security system myself I had no way to check if it worked, so couldn’t risk selling a dodgy or broken item and ruining my seller rating on a site like eBay.
Overall, I really enjoyed the fun of unboxing the Amazon returns and definitely can make money out of it: the £302 value doesn’t include broken or unknown goods, like the security camera.
But it does relate to the sale price of the items new on Amazon, where in reality for a listing on any kind of selling or auction site, I’d have to slash the cost to make the sale.
Still, even if it went for half price that’s £150, meaning a £100 profit once the cost of buying the mystery box is accounted for.
For anyone who likes the thrill of buying and selling or is looking for an easy at-home money-spinner that fits in with school runs and other jobs, this could be a money-maker for you.
Everything in my Amazon return box
- KWMobile onePlus 10T 5G black matte £5 new
- KDD Tablet Desktop Stand – £26
- Status 3 x USB Cube Socket – £13
- Cat kids wireless headset – broken
- Amazon basics lightweight tripod £8
- Earbay USB Headset With Microphone For Laptop, PC Headphones With Mic Noise Cancelling, Computer Headsets With In-Line Volume Control & Mute, Compatible with Ms teams, Zoom, Webex, Office, Home – £29
- Kitvision escape 4KW 4K action camera – 1080p at 60fp – Waterproof Case 30m, £25
- Amazon Basics 127 cm (50 inch) lightweight Tripod with Bag, Black / Brown, £18
- Ink cartridges x 4 (unbranded) 202XL
- Labgear LDA101K 1-Way Aerial Amplifier, £20
- TV Aerial, 4K Digital TV Aerial for Freeview TV, £18
- YisrLery 3 in 1 clear silicon phone case – dirty and cracked
- Three more defunct / broken phone cases
- Dayton Audio Midrange speaker, used, £10
- Philips Headphones TAE4105 £5
- Venker Headset 2 M Length Headphones with In-Line Control, £20
- Ezviz C8C smart home camera £120, but appears to be missing wires / unsure if working
- Lloytron radio alarm clock £13
- Sports sunglass camera £20
- Type C to 10/100 mbps ethernet network adapter £5
- HDMI splitter £3
- Black ink cartridge £20
- Yellow ink cartridge £3
- Roxel DVD player, used, s700 £27
- AixpI ring light 10”, £13
The Sun has approached Amazon for comment.
Where to find mystery boxes
MYSTERY boxes are becoming more and more popular, with people keen to take a gamble in buying one. But where can you get one from?
Charity shops
Lots of charity shops have started putting together mystery boxes as a way to get rid of stock that they’ve been otherwise unable to sell. While you can never guarantee what you’re going to get, these boxes are usually cheaper than ones bought elsewhere.
eBay
Many retailers use eBay to sell their stock, with options on the auction site including unclaimed luggage or parcel returns, all put together in a mystery box. It’s not like a normal ‘auction’ though – there will usually be a buy it now price so it’s just like any other internet transaction.
Online retailers
As the popularity of mystery boxes increases, other retailers have started selling them in the hope that they will be a hit among customers. Have a look on sites such as Amazon, Etsy and Wowcher, and you’ll often find the mystery boxes are listed by genre too.
If there’s a particular niche mystery box you’re looking for, it’s always worth searching for it. There are so many websites out there selling mystery boxes, you’ll undoubtedly find what you’re after.
As with buying anything online, make sure you are purchasing from a trusted retailer and a secure website.
