I Bought Two Different Mystery Boxes on Poshmark and Here's How it Went
Mystery Boxes. We've all seen them while we're scrolling through our feeds on Poshmark and Instagram. Some of us choose to keep scrolling right on past, some of us choose to hit that Buy Now button and take the risk. I happen to fall in the latter category, and I haven't decided whether that's a good things or not. There are pros and cons to mystery boxes, and during these strange times of closed thrifts and quarantining, many resellers are turning to other methods of sourcing inventory online. I took the risk with two mystery boxes I found through Instagram, and here's what happened.
The Flawed Luxury Box
from @thestripedfox
I stumbled across a review for a similar mystery box from this seller on Instagram. She was absolutely raving about her experiences with her box, and obviously hinted that the items were not as flawed as the listing made it seem. I decided to check out The Striped Fox's closet on Poshmark and could tell she puts a lot of time into her listings, and has really great high quality pieces. She had created four of these boxes, each with a variety of luxury pieces that were flawed in some way.
Each listing had one photo of a close-up shot of several of the labels of pieces included, and the description listed the included brands and some of the flaws that the pieces may have. After browsing comps for some of the brands I could see in the photos, I decided on the third box she had available. This choice may or may not have been heavily influenced by the St. John Evening tag I could see in the picture. I bought the box and let her know on Instagram that I had just made a purchase!
She shipped my box really quickly and it came in perfect condition. There were 8 items included, and after shipping they came to $5.64 a piece. To me, that is a price I am more than willing to pay for these pieces. I've found it to be a challenge to thrift luxury pieces that are in decent condition around where I live, so I am okay with having a higher COG if it means I can raise the value of my inventory more than I typically could.
Everything was packaged beautifully with recycled materials. After some browsing of her Instagram page, I found out that all her orders are wrapped with strips of fabric that she gets from thrifted sheets, curtains, and other fabrics! Any time we see eco-friendly packaging it's a plus in our book. On top of the adorable, recycled packaging, she also took the time to write a thank you note. She also threw in two laptop stickers, one of which I put on my laptop immediately! It's my first and only #PoshBoss gear, and I am in love with it!
Every piece that was included was in great condition for being in a "flawed" mystery box. The brands were exactly what she said would be included, and I can tell that the items in the listing photo are the ones that I received. There were even some that were new with tags!
Most of the fixes that did need to be made were simple ones such as removing stains on white clothing items and giving certain pieces a couple passes with the steamer and iron.
Overall, I cannot recommend not just these mystery boxes, but this seller as a whole, enough. From start to finish my experience with her was great and my box was exactly as described. I am almost disappointed that my first mystery box experience was this great though, because I think it gave me a bit of a false sense of security going forward.
The 5 Star Rated Mystery Box
from @chelsea_resells
I wish that I had all the same amazing things to say about my experience with this box. It wasn't a bad box, but it definitely wasn't great. I also found this box on Instagram, however it was through the seller's own post, not a post made by someone that purchased the box. She had titled the listing "*5 Star Rated* Reseller Mystery Box" and I, probably naively,
thought there would be no way she would call it that unless it really that great. Unfortunately, I was left a bit disappointed.
The listing for this box had no photos of the items that would be included. The description said that the brands included would be ones such as, Free People, Loft, Express, J.Crew, American Eagle, and more. It did say that I would not receive all the brands listed, however it implies that I would at least get some of them. I was excited because I already source these brands very regularly as my bread and butter pieces for my closet, and I figured they'd be great additions to my closet. Unfortunately, I didn't get any of the brands included in the description.
The pieces that I did get were in great condition and are not terrible brands. The issue is that most of them are outdated styles or just simply do not fit our brand. Out of the 10 items that I received; 1 will be added to my personal closet, 4 will be re-donated, 4 will be listed, and 1 will be used to make scrunchies that are included with all purchases of $25 or more. The pieces that I am choosing to list will probably sell for around $15-$25 and they cost $3.22 a piece. Overall, I'll be able to make my money back and hopefully a small profit,
but it definitely wasn't what I expected based on the description.
The package was shipped relatively quickly and it was packaged without too much extra waste. She used two large priority envelopes to package the pieces, and then put them in a medium priority box. The clothes stayed folded nicely and all the materials can be re-used for our own future sales! She also very kindly included a hand-written thank you note and an adorable pair of earrings for free!
While the brands may not have been what I hoped for or expected, that is part of the risk you take when you buy a mystery box. All the pieces she sent me were in great condition, and even if I don't want to resell all of them on The Hippy Edit, they are all 100% wearable and can be loved by someone else. Overall, I think this box would be great for someone looking to build up a large base of inventory. She sent 10 items, which is on the high-end for mystery boxes, and they are all decent brands. If you are in need of some solid pieces that you can resell for $15-25, I would definitely recommend checking her boxes out!