What retailers offer random surprise boxes of merchandise?
December 4, 2009 2:13 PM Subscribe
What other retailers offer surprise boxes of random merchandise, such as Archie McPhee's Surprise Bag and Jumbo Mystery Box?
The only other one I know of is Strapya World's Lucky Bag.
Also, not interested in Woot's Bag of Crap... I'm looking for boxes/bags that are available all the time or else at a certain time of year (like how Strapya's is only available in December.)
The only other one I know of is Strapya World's Lucky Bag.
Also, not interested in Woot's Bag of Crap... I'm looking for boxes/bags that are available all the time or else at a certain time of year (like how Strapya's is only available in December.)
Woot offers their famous "Bags of Crap." Those are actually really extraordinary, often containing several hundred dollars of surplus merchandise for only $3. Of course, there's also dollar store gag prizes, too.
In Japan, it's common for retailers to sell Lucky Bags (Actual phrase is Fukubukuro) on New Year's Day. It clears out inventory and attracts customers. Here's an Apple fan in Japan showing off his swag from an Apple Store Lucky Bag.
posted by mccarty.tim at 2:23 PM on December 4, 2009
In Japan, it's common for retailers to sell Lucky Bags (Actual phrase is Fukubukuro) on New Year's Day. It clears out inventory and attracts customers. Here's an Apple fan in Japan showing off his swag from an Apple Store Lucky Bag.
posted by mccarty.tim at 2:23 PM on December 4, 2009
Err, sorry, didn't see that you mentioned Woot's BOC, and I'm guessing you actually meant stuff that you can actually purchase from America.
I missed that part of your post, and I thought you were just curious in the phenomena.
posted by mccarty.tim at 2:27 PM on December 4, 2009
I missed that part of your post, and I thought you were just curious in the phenomena.
posted by mccarty.tim at 2:27 PM on December 4, 2009
My god, a random BOX OF SCIENCE! Why did nobody tell me about this?!
posted by rokusan at 2:37 PM on December 4, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by rokusan at 2:37 PM on December 4, 2009 [2 favorites]
Sparkfun has a 'Ding and Dent' category that has bags of scrap circuit boards
posted by Confess, Fletch at 2:48 PM on December 4, 2009
posted by Confess, Fletch at 2:48 PM on December 4, 2009
Electronics Goldmine's surprise boxes are pretty fantastic-- I thought it was well worth the price for the high-voltage polypropylene capacitors studded throughout, but most tinkery type people would find something neat in there.
posted by monocyte at 4:28 PM on December 4, 2009
posted by monocyte at 4:28 PM on December 4, 2009
Weird that this is the second time on metafilter that I'm mentioning the dollartree today, but they always have "girls" and "boys" surprise toy bags in their toy section.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 4:57 PM on December 4, 2009
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 4:57 PM on December 4, 2009
I've seen both Fingerhut and Carol Wright occasionally offer "surprise boxes" of clearance merchandise. And Dollar Tree stores (in their brick-and-mortar stores, but maybe online too, I haven't searched the site) offer brown paper bags, filled with toys and trinkets, marked "surprises for boys" and "surprises for girls" -- sexist yeah, but quaintly fun.
posted by amyms at 5:36 PM on December 4, 2009
posted by amyms at 5:36 PM on December 4, 2009
I've seen Think Geek do this way back when, but am not sure they have recently or will again.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 5:58 PM on December 4, 2009
posted by Lesser Shrew at 5:58 PM on December 4, 2009
Best answer: Delight occasionally offers a Mystery Box at various price points.
posted by LolaGeek at 6:37 PM on December 4, 2009
posted by LolaGeek at 6:37 PM on December 4, 2009
Best answer: The Sampler offers a crafty version. From their site, "The Sampler is a super fun marketing & promotional tool for indie businesses. Each month, independent crafters, artists, shops, zines and record labels who run web-based businesses send samples and promotional materials to a contribution pool. All the samples are photographed, posted to the site and then are portioned out, put in little packages and sent off to Sampler Subscribers, other Sampler Contributors and members of the Media all over the world!"
posted by cucumberfresh at 9:50 PM on December 4, 2009
posted by cucumberfresh at 9:50 PM on December 4, 2009
SparkFun electronics sells Dings & Dents: boxes of defective circuit boards that they say are `a great way to encourage hot-air rework, scoring usable parts, and not having to fret if the rework goes poorly'.
The QI club's bookshop in Oxford used to offer Christmas Hampers of books - you'd tell them a price and the recipient's interests, and they'd pick a surprise selection for you. Sadly, the bookshop no longer exists.
posted by James Scott-Brown at 6:40 AM on December 5, 2009
The QI club's bookshop in Oxford used to offer Christmas Hampers of books - you'd tell them a price and the recipient's interests, and they'd pick a surprise selection for you. Sadly, the bookshop no longer exists.
posted by James Scott-Brown at 6:40 AM on December 5, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Miko at 2:13 PM on December 4, 2009