Mystery Boxes/Mystery Grab Bags

[chaidragonfire]

Ok, I've read the posts and comments on this subject.   I think I'm understanding whats going on.

You can have a "Mystery Box" or "Mystery Grab Bag", as long as a generic description of the contents is listed.   Example:  "super hero collectibles, comics, toys".  But you don't have to SPECIFY what super hero collectibles, comics, and toys they ARE.   Right?

Ebay doesn't want MYSTERY "Mystery boxes".....something completely unknown.  It's a mystery of what type or kind of super hero collectibles, comics, and toys you will get.....but you KNOW you are getting super hero collectibles, comics, and toys.  It's just not a mystery as to IF there is anything in the box or not, or whether it's somebodys garbage or not.

Thats the way I'm understanding this issue anyway.

If that's the case, I have a bunch of collectible items I'd like to sell as a "Mystery Box" (actually it would be a few of them), I just don't have time to look up collectible values to sell everything separately or list everything I have.  I just don't have room anymore for these collectibles I've been collecting over the years.  

I think this is a fun way to sell some things, but not all things.  And from the "Mystery Box" videos I've seen on Youtube of what some rich kids like to buy, I don't think this would really be hard to sell certain things this way.

I don't sell often on ebay, but when I do, I feel it's something worthy of selling....and so far, I haven't sold any junk or garbage and I'm not about to start.   I just would like to sell all my collectible stuff in one sale.

So, if I'm understanding the selling points of "Mystery Boxes" correctly.........I can sell one, as long as the descriptions identify the type of items that will be inside the box, but not necessarily have to list them per item, per current value, or condition.  Is that right?

[chaidragonfire]

That can be said of ANY and ALL items sold, regardless of descriptions or not.

[chaidragonfire]

Thats what Im seeing on all these videos Ive been watching on all these people getting mystery boxes off of ebay.   They apparently have the money to be wasting on gambles like that.  Some of these people have paid like $50,000 for a mystery box that only had USED gaming equipment in it, which totalled about $2,000 or so.    And these are TOTAL mystery boxes, that don't have any clues as to whats in them!

I'm sure people will complain about spending $100 for a box and getting a bar of soap in it, but I need to get rid of what collectibles I have left, and going through them again this week, it's a lot more than I thought.

[bigchief2472000]

People sell boxes/packs of baseball cards all the time.  Those are essentially "mystery boxes".  The buyer usually knows the year and brand of the product, but not the particular players that are on the cards.

[chaidragonfire]

I have TOO much to get rid of per item and per type of collectible.  I need to get rid of all of it, all together, all at once.  I don't have time to be going through this stuff finding values, looking at description labels, etc.

I can take pics of whats going into the boxes, but I dont have the time to be sifting through all of this stuff and separating it all.

It's all clean, it's all been in storage for years, and 99% of it has never been opened or displayed.

I'm looking at, at least 5 boxes (16x16x16) of collectibles from different years and different types and genre's.

As for the others who commented about refunds.  I have it stipulated in my descriptions that there are no refunds, and they must contact me if they have questions.  And depending on what I'm selling, I will also let them know if it is "as is", or if there are any other conditions they need to know about.  I'm not one of these sellers who "blind sells" something with basic, generic descriptions....which is why I'm asking about this kind of selling.

I thought selling via "grab bag" box or "mystery box" would be the best way, with getting the best price.

I have been told by ebay support before that if I am selling something with stipulations, such as "As Is" or "No Refunds", then there isn't anything that the buyer can do.  They can still plead for a refund, but it's up to ebay if they give them one or not.   Which has only happened once in my many years of selling, and I did not get a "ding" on it from ebay, because I had my stipulations in place, as they told me to.

I'm looking at selling all of these remaining collectibles "as is", with "no refunds" all in one big lot, mixed collectibles ranging from trading cards to comic books, and collectible plates to action figures, dolls, and beanies.

I'm just looking for the easiest, fastest way to get rid of these things.

[sockmonkeydave]

@chaidragonfire

No Davie don't do it, Don't do it, Davie stop.

Mystery boxes and grab bags are best left under the christmas tree.

[chrysylys]

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@chaidragonfirewrote:

I'm looking at, at least 5 boxes (16x16x16) of collectibles from different years and different types and genre's.

As for the others who commented about refunds.  I have it stipulated in my descriptions that there are no refunds, 

I have been told by ebay support before that if I am selling something with stipulations, such as "As Is" or "No Refunds", then there isn't anything that the buyer can do.  They can still plead for a refund, but it's up to ebay if they give them one or not.  

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5 boxes doesn't sound like too much to detail properly.

Irrelevant.

CS has been know to tell untruths.

[ted_200]

I thought selling via "grab bag" box or "mystery box" would be the best way, with getting the best price.

Those terms are often associated with scammy listings, on eBay. 

One big lot is fine, related items or not, list it in the most appropriate Collectibles category (there may be one for Lots, Bulk Lots, etc.).   Picture everything the buyer is going to get, don't put any pictures of anything the buyer isn't going to get.  It's no "grab bag", no "mystery", What You See Is What You Get.

Bulk Lot, 17 Items

Put that in your title, use the rest of the Title Space to add descriptive keywords that will attract buyers, and fill up the Item Specifics with all those keywords and more, too.

[muttlymob]

Take the stuff to a reputable local auctioneer or estate seller.

[chaidragonfire]

Yeah, they want money up front to do that.

LMAO!!!!

[chaidragonfire]

"Bulk Lot", I like that!!!!

I can do photos, no problem.   I just have lots of small items, like Beanie Babies, Hot Wheels, and trading cards that I just don't have time for.  

I will have to see how I can do a 'bulk lot" photo......or maybe one photo per box of what goes into it.

Thanks!

[nocoolnamejane]

There is no such thing as “as is/no refunds”. Putting that on your listing doesn’t preclude a buyer from filing a dispute.

You should simply list your items as “lots”, listing what items are part of the lot. No need for gradings, book value or anything, just, for example, “Lot of 8 Masters of the universe action figures”, with pictures of the figures and a summary list such as 

- He-Man articulated figure, still on card, bent corners

- She-Ra action figure, out of the packaging

-etc

Forget about the rich kids of instagram and their unboxing videos. If you really just want to get rid of the stuff, list it simply but unambiguously.

If you’re hoping to get rich quick by getting someone to bid $5000 on a lot just in case, you either won’t sell or lose everything.

[nocoolnamejane]

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@ted_200wrote:

I thought selling via "grab bag" box or "mystery box" would be the best way, with getting the best price.

Those terms are often associated with scammy listings, on eBay. 

One big lot is fine, related items or not, list it in the most appropriate Collectibles category (there may be one for Lots, Bulk Lots, etc.).   Picture everything the buyer is going to get, don't put any pictures of anything the buyer isn't going to get.  It's no "grab bag", no "mystery", What You See Is What You Get.

Bulk Lot, 17 Items

Put that in your title, use the rest of the Title Space to add descriptive keywords that will attract buyers, and fill up the Item Specifics with all those keywords and more, too.

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Or just do what Ted said while I retreat to the slow typist corner where I type with one hand and eat a breakfast burrito with the other 🙂

[ted_200]

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@chaidragonfirewrote:

"Bulk Lot", I like that!!!!

I can do photos, no problem.   I just have lots of small items, like Beanie Babies, Hot Wheels, and trading cards that I just don't have time for.  

I will have to see how I can do a 'bulk lot" photo......or maybe one photo per box of what goes into it.

Thanks!

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I sell coins in lots.  I'd try to get everything into one photo for the Gallery photo... that's easy with coins, might be more challenging with larger objects.  But people scroll / shop from photos on their phones / etc., don't read titles all that often. 

If you can't get them all into one photo, or the items will just be so tiny a user can't see what any of them are or how many or there from a gallery photo... then put the 4 or 5 best or most recognizable items in it.  And be sure to write the title in a way its CLEAR there are multiple items too. 

It is best to have photo of everything as the gallery and photos of individual items following.  Get the best item in front in the group photo, have that immediately following the group photo if there are individual photos. 

I bought a lot of over 300 South African coins here once, the gallery photo showed two of them, other photos showed 6 more, the title said something like "South Africa Penny 1940-1956 315", the Decription was about the same.  But it was easy to miss there were 315 coins from the title, the pictures didn't convey it either.  And some buyers no doubt thought the other 307 of them might be roadkill, or the listng might be a typo, etc.  I won them for less than $30, I resold them in smaller lots properly listed for several hundred over the course of about a year.   

[ted_200]

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@nocoolnamejanewrote:

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@ted_200wrote:

I thought selling via "grab bag" box or "mystery box" would be the best way, with getting the best price.

Those terms are often associated with scammy listings, on eBay. 

One big lot is fine, related items or not, list it in the most appropriate Collectibles category (there may be one for Lots, Bulk Lots, etc.).   Picture everything the buyer is going to get, don't put any pictures of anything the buyer isn't going to get.  It's no "grab bag", no "mystery", What You See Is What You Get.

Bulk Lot, 17 Items

Put that in your title, use the rest of the Title Space to add descriptive keywords that will attract buyers, and fill up the Item Specifics with all those keywords and more, too.

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Or just do what Ted said while I retreat to the slow typist corner where I type with one hand and eat a breakfast burrito with the other 🙂

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No, it's worth repeating.  Gimmicks usually don't work and just p**s people off.  eBay doesn't seem to get this either.

[bargainsandbaubles]

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@ted_200wrote:

 What you can't do is put up a picture of a wheel barrel full of pennies, and say "listing is for 10 coins from the wheel barrel, past bidders have found really valuable 1914-D and 1909-S vdb coins in their 10 coins".  You can't imply what you "might" get. 

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I remember there was a seller on here who constantly listed "mystery lots" and always had some grandiose story on how the cigar box was found behind an old clock, in a basement, etc.

The same seller took low grade silver dimes and rolled them in old wrappers and put "unsearched roll of wheat cents with silver dime on end" and got crazy prices out of it. They had TONS of negs, but also used the ID to sell rocks and gems to counteract with positive feedback.

They even ended up with a website dedicated to the scam they pulled.

Yet people still idiotically bought from them..

"Roll salters" are despised in the coin collecting community. I had about 10,000 antique coin rolls that sold like hotcakes, because people buy them and put one good coin on the end. In reality, there aren't many "unsearchd rolls" in real life.