Why am I getting high bids on an EMPTY BOX?

[tapswagato]

I am receiving bids on an EMPTY MACBOOK PRO USED BOX. This is empty box. And, it clearly states on the description as well as in the title. I was not expecting much bids. However, current bid has went as much as $192. What the heck is going on? Why would anyone wanna buy an empty box for $192?

[cynthealee2]

We know this one has gone off the rails cause the buyer didn't read.

But I'd like to answer why people will buy an "empty box".

Brother is a collector, brother will pay a boatload of money for empty GPK boxes, wrappers, and the like.  He's not the only one either.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=GPK+BOX&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TR...

He just had me use my paypal to buy a load of empty boxes... he was like a kid at Christmas waiting on it to get in.  He doesn't even have CARDS for half those boxes, some he never even saw on his side of the country.

PS he was upset over some of them cause the guy had flattened em to ship, and that could have "damaged" his box.   While I was thinking OMjeebus it's a BOX, it's CARDBOARD... it's not ripped, it's just flat... he's going over it with a fine tooth comb looking to see if "flattening" it cause any creases where there wasn't supposed to be any.   I just shook my head and walked away.

[cynthealee2]

ROFL to make it even funnier...

I have a bunch of Star Wars Display boxes I'm supposed to put up for sale (and they will sell)... prob is I haven't figured out how to SHIP the stupid thing since "breaking it down"  dang near gave HIM a heart attack over the GPK's.  Sooooooooo

Any suggestions on how to ship :

First one is 5ft long about 9in tall, second one is a bit over 2 ft long and about 9in tall...

[inhawaii]

The short answer: Beacuse most people are stupid.

I once sold an EXPIRED Ruth Chris gift card.  The text clearly stated that it was expired, gave the expiration date, even said "i checked my my local Ruths Chris, they said they would still accept the card. Please check with your local Ruths Chris before bidding".  As soon as the winning bidder received the gift card, i got a angry email saying  "THIS CARD IS EXPIRED!"

I recently sold a two dollar bill for $3. In my listing i had a picture of hundreds of stacks of two dollar bills. Maybe 20,000 two dollar bills?  The buyer complained that he only received 1 two dollar bill. I guess he thought he was getting $40,000 worth of two dollar bills for $3.  

[nowthatsjustducky]

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@cynthealee2 wrote:

PS he was upset over some of them cause the guy had flattened em to ship, and that could have "damaged" his box.   While I was thinking OMjeebus it's a BOX, it's CARDBOARD... it's not ripped, it's just flat... he's going over it with a fine tooth comb looking to see if "flattening" it cause any creases where there wasn't supposed to be any.   I just shook my head and walked away.

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And this is why when dealing with collectibles, I like to set up my listings to appeal more to the casual collector than the hard core, and make sure there are pictures and verbiage that have a good chance of causing the types of collectors who would put the item under an electron microscope and then complain about Planck length flaws found in the subatomic quantum surface (or some other technobabble) to hit the back button.

[rolenboy01]

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@inhawaii wrote:

The short answer: Beacuse most people are stupid.

I once sold an EXPIRED Ruth Chris gift card.  The text clearly stated that it was expired, gave the expiration date, even said "i checked my my local Ruths Chris, they said they would still accept the card. Please check with your local Ruths Chris before bidding".  As soon as the winning bidder received the gift card, i got a angry email saying  "THIS CARD IS EXPIRED!"

I recently sold a two dollar bill for $3. In my listing i had a picture of hundreds of stacks of two dollar bills. Maybe 20,000 two dollar bills?  The buyer complained that he only received 1 two dollar bill. I guess he thought he was getting $40,000 worth of two dollar bills for $3.  

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You shouldn't show more than one two dollar bill if that's all that is for sale in the listing.

[mistwomandancing]

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@nowthatsjustducky wrote:

And this is why when dealing with collectibles, I like to set up my listings to appeal more to the casual collector than the hard core, and make sure there are pictures and verbiage that have a good chance of causing the types of collectors who would put the item under an electron microscope and then complain about Planck length flaws found in the subatomic quantum surface (or some other technobabble) to hit the back button.

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Oh, DOG yes!

[dcintennessee]

Oops. Posted a response, then realized this darn thread started a month ago.

[anthonyd46]

One thing people always ask me is what sells the most? One of my answer is always empty apple comptuer boxes. The macbook ones sell for a bit as you have seen, but the iMac ones are more valauble. Do you know how hard it is to package a 27" iMac properly? You need massive bubblewrap, peanuts newspaper whatever and it can still break. Even transporting it during moving can be bulky and akward. I had someone buy a 27" iMac box from a friend of mine for almost $200 last year. His reason was he was moving and he wanted it to be stored in the truck properly. For something that fragile and that akward people just want it to be correct. Other than that collectors, OCD people etc etc. On another topic some boxes for toys go crazy. The King Zor box goes for over $400 if you can find one. So if you see empty Apple iMac boxes even the old ones you can get $50 MINIMUM for them.

[div_style]

Bidders are hoping Gramma's secret cache of $100 bills is hidden between the plastic line and the cardboard.