Love the thrill of ordering a box without knowing exactly what’s going to show up at your door? Mystery boxes have exploded in popularity thanks to TikTok, Whatnot, YouTube unboxing videos, liquidation resellers, and bargain hunters looking for the ultimate surprise.
Unlike subscription boxes where you generally know the theme and types of products you’ll receive, liquidation mystery boxes can contain almost anything. You might uncover clothing, electronics, toys, home goods, beauty products, accessories, customer returns, overstock merchandise, or something completely unexpected.
Some people buy them purely for the fun of opening them. Others buy mystery boxes to resell the contents on eBay, Whatnot, Facebook Marketplace, Poshmark, or at flea markets and vendor events.
If you’re wondering where to buy mystery boxes online, here are several websites that actually sell them.
Bend The Trend
Bend The Trend is a liquidation boutique that sells merchandise sourced from major retailers and boutique closeouts. In addition to its brick-and-mortar store in Nebraska, you can order its $50 Liquidation Mystery Box online.
Each box contains an assortment of new or like-new merchandise and may include clothing, accessories, home goods, health and beauty products, small electronics, and other retail surprises.
The boxes are packed with more original retail value than the $50 purchase price, making them an inexpensive option for bargain hunters or people who want to try a liquidation mystery box without spending hundreds of dollars.
They’re also an option for beginning resellers who aren’t ready to invest in a pallet of liquidation merchandise.
Best for: Affordable liquidation mystery boxes and first-time mystery box buyers.
USA Mystery Box
USA Mystery Box specializes specifically in mystery merchandise, making it one of the more interesting places to browse if you want choices beyond a basic general-merchandise box.
The company says it sources e-commerce returns and overstock merchandise and currently offers several different mystery options.
Depending on current inventory, you may find Retail Returns Boxes, Sealed Mystery Boxes, Random Overstock Boxes, Beauty Mystery Boxes, branded clothing boxes, and even larger mystery pallets.
The Random Overstock Box, for example, is intended more for the treasure-hunt experience, while some of its other boxes are geared more toward resellers.
USA Mystery Box also sells bulk merchandise and pallets for shoppers who eventually want to graduate from a box to larger quantities.
Best for: E-commerce returns, overstock, themed boxes, and shoppers who want several mystery box sizes and categories to choose from.
Fun Delivered
If you’ve watched mystery box unboxings on TikTok, there’s a decent chance you’ve encountered Fun Delivered.
Fun Delivered has been selling mystery boxes since 2021 and specializes in what it calls Mail Mix Mystery Boxes.
Rather than simply filling a box with standard retail overstock, its boxes can contain a combination of unclaimed mail, customer returns, and overstock items. Most merchandise is described as new, although some products may have missing parts or other quirks because of their origin.
Fun Delivered leans heavily into the entertainment side of mystery boxes. These can be fun for date nights, family nights, parties, gifts, or filming your own unboxing video.
Its larger Party Box is designed for exactly that type of group unboxing experience.
Best for: Unclaimed-mail-style surprises, parties, TikTok-worthy unboxings, and people buying primarily for fun.
GRP Liquidations
GRP Liquidations is particularly interesting because it offers a huge selection of mystery boxes instead of just one or two choices.
At the time of writing, shoppers can find options such as Amazon Mystery Boxes, Mixed Merchandise Mystery Boxes, Returned Mail Mystery Boxes, TikTok Mystery Boxes, jewelry and accessory boxes, clothing boxes, and unclaimed-mail-style products.
And then there are the Coffin Boxes.
Despite the slightly alarming name, nobody is mailing you a vampire. These are simply enormous boxes packed with considerably more merchandise than a typical mystery box.
GRP’s general Coffin Mystery Box weighs approximately 50 pounds and can include merchandise such as home goods, electronics, clothing, shoes, toys, tools, health and beauty products, outdoor merchandise, and kitchen gadgets.
Because this is liquidation merchandise, condition can vary. Products may be new, open-box, shelf pulls, returns, or items with cosmetic issues.
GRP also sells pallets and truckloads, so it’s another place where a reseller can start with a smaller mystery box and potentially move into larger liquidation purchases.
Best for: Lots of mystery box choices, reseller inventory, retailer-specific boxes, and giant “coffin” boxes.
Loot Crate
Loot Crate is quite different from the liquidation mystery box companies on this list, but it deserves a spot because it offers one of the classic mystery-box experiences.
Instead of customer returns and random retail merchandise, Loot Crate specializes in pop culture collectibles and gear.
Its standard Loot Crate is a recurring subscription containing surprise merchandise related to movies, television shows, video games, comics, and other pop culture franchises. Boxes can include collectibles, figures, apparel, home goods, and exclusive merchandise.
Loot Crate also offers specialty crates, with availability changing over time.
This isn’t where I’d shop if the goal is buying inventory to flip for profit. It’s much better suited to collectors and people who want to receive a fun surprise package.
Best for: Gamers, geeks, collectors, and pop culture fans.
What Kind of Mystery Box Should You Buy?
Before ordering, think about what you actually want from the experience.
If you’re looking for pure entertainment, an unclaimed-mail-style or general merchandise box from Fun Delivered, USA Mystery Box, GRP Liquidations, or Bend The Trend may provide the biggest treasure-hunt factor.
If you’re hoping to resell mystery box items for profit, look for liquidation boxes that provide at least some information about the merchandise source, category, condition, or approximate quantity. Bend The Trend, GRP Liquidations, and USA Mystery Box all have options that may appeal to resellers.
For collectors, a themed company such as Loot Crate makes more sense because you’re narrowing the surprise to products you’re actually interested in.
Can You Make Money Reselling Mystery Boxes?
Potentially, but never assume a mystery box guarantees a profit.
That’s especially important with liquidation merchandise.
A box might contain merchandise with an original retail value significantly higher than what you paid, but retail value isn’t the same as resale value.
Suppose you spend $100 and receive products that originally retailed for $400. That sounds fantastic.
But if some items are returns, a few aren’t desirable, and the rest sell for 30% to 50% of retail, your actual revenue could be considerably lower. Then you still have marketplace fees, shipping supplies, postage, and your time to consider.
If you’re buying mystery boxes as a side hustle, calculate your average cost per sellable item instead of getting hypnotized by the claimed retail value.
Are Amazon Mystery Boxes Really From Amazon?
This is an important distinction.
You’ll see plenty of websites advertising “Amazon Mystery Boxes,” but that doesn’t necessarily mean Amazon itself packed a mystery box and shipped it to the seller.
Liquidation companies can acquire Amazon returns, overstock, undeliverable merchandise, and other inventory through secondary-market supply chains. That merchandise may then be divided into pallets, cases, and individual mystery boxes.
In other words, “Amazon Mystery Box” often means a mystery box containing merchandise reportedly sourced from Amazon-related liquidation inventory, not a mystery box sold directly by Amazon.
The same concept applies to merchandise associated with Target, Walmart, and other major retailers.
Always read the individual seller’s description to understand exactly what it is claiming.
What About Unclaimed Mail Mystery Boxes?
Unclaimed and undeliverable packages have become another huge category of mystery boxes.
Companies such as Fun Delivered and GRP Liquidations sell mystery products involving unclaimed, undeliverable, returned, or mixed mail merchandise.
Again, read descriptions carefully. “Unclaimed mail,” “returned mail,” “undeliverable packages,” “customer returns,” and “liquidation merchandise” aren’t necessarily interchangeable terms.
If the idea of opening packages that were never delivered intrigues you, look for a seller that clearly explains how its inventory is sourced and what you should expect.
What to Know Before Ordering a Mystery Box
The biggest rule is simple: don’t spend money you aren’t willing to gamble.
The uncertainty is the entire point of a mystery box.
One person might open a box and find an item worth more than the purchase price. Another person ordering the exact same box might get 17 phone cases, Christmas decorations in July, and an object nobody in the family can identify.
Before ordering, check the seller’s description for information about product condition, approximate quantity, box weight or dimensions, merchandise source, shipping costs, return policies, and whether the items have been inspected or tested.
You should also search for recent independent customer reviews and unboxing videos. They can give you a much more realistic picture of the merchandise people are currently receiving.
Mystery Boxes vs. Liquidation Pallets
If you enjoy mystery boxes because you’re interested in reselling, they can be a relatively inexpensive introduction to liquidation.
But eventually, you may discover that buying larger liquidation lots makes more financial sense.
Mystery boxes typically have another company doing the work of purchasing a large load, sorting or dividing it, packing the boxes, and shipping them individually. Naturally, that company needs to make money too.
Buying cases or pallets can lower your average cost per item, but it also increases your investment and risk.
Think of mystery boxes as dipping a toe into the liquidation pool before cannonballing into a truckload.
Final Thoughts
Mystery boxes are part bargain shopping, part treasure hunt, and part gambling on what’s hiding underneath the packing tape.
For general liquidation merchandise, check out Bend The Trend, USA Mystery Box, and GRP Liquidations. For unclaimed-mail-style boxes and an entertaining unboxing experience, Fun Delivered is worth exploring. And if you’d rather receive collectibles from your favorite pop culture franchises than somebody’s returned kitchen gadget, Loot Crate offers a completely different take on the mystery box.
Just remember that no mystery box is guaranteed to contain a jackpot. Buy one because you enjoy the surprise, or because you’ve calculated that the potential inventory makes sense for your reselling business.
Sometimes you’ll uncover a gem. Sometimes you’ll become the proud owner of enough random phone cases to open a kiosk at the mall.
That’s the mystery.
