Original Image Source: BedexpStock- Pixibay- Modified by @saydie
Have you ever tried to buy a Mystery Box online? This are boxes that contains different sorts of items randomly sold to people without revealing what's inside for a fixed price and depending on its contents, you might have an item that was more than what you pay or be part of the unlucky ones which is probably the majority of it's buyers. I was one of those unlucky ones and this is how the story goes.
February last year when I saw on an online selling platform that the store where I bought my monitor celebrated their anniversary and in part of this, they have their items on a 25% discount if you buy $ 50 USD or more worth of items. But since I don't have anything to buy that would worth that would reach that amount, I thought I would just have to pass this offer until I saw that as a part of their anniversary, they would be also selling mystery boxes one of the boxes contain the latest smartphone model of Samsung. This have picked my interest since a Samsung smartphone was priced at around $ 1500 USD and it also have really good specs specially for mobile gaming which me as a gamer would really be attracted to. The mystery box was priced at $ 48 USD with the specified dimension of 20" X 20" x 20" and with that, I would only need $ 2 worth of product to buy and be eligible with their promo so I included an HDD caddy which is sold for $ 2.25 USD. With that, I proceed with the buy and would only need to wait for the day when the item was delivered.
Pulled out the HDD Caddy from my Laptop for reference.
Arrival of the Mystery Box
After 3 days of waiting since I have ordered the item, the mystery box have finally arrived. Upon looking the box seams to be true on what the specified dimensions and the box was heavy with around 3-4 Kilograms of weight so I thought that I might hit a jackpot. The parcel also has the label of Fragile so the first thing that comes into my head was a monitor might be included inside which can also worth more than I pay depending on its size and specs.
I then proceed with the unboxing of the items starting by removing the bubble wrap then the tape that sealed the box. When I opened it the first thing that I see were a bunch of newspapers which is understandable because it is used to support the item in the box to avoid it from sudden impact that could potentially brake the item. The newspaper does not weight much so I still hopeful that I would get a good item but later all my hopes have shattered because the content of the box was really awful. What I get was 1 mouse, 1 keyboard, 1 mousepad and for some reason, 2 1 litter alcohol and 2 500 ml sanitizer. My guess is that the online store have also sold sanitary items during the pandemic but the way that they try to include it on an electronic item could have cause the item to malfunction and it does not change the fact that I received crap items. I tried to search on the price of the items online and this was their breakdown.
| Item | Pcs | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Keyboard- | 1 | $5.45 |
| Mouse | 1 | $2.00 |
| Mousepad | 1 | $1.00 |
| Alcohol 1 L | 2 | 6.38 |
| Sanitizer 500 ml | 2 | $7.28 |
| Amount | $22.11 | |
| HDD Caddy | 1 | $2.25 |
| Total | $24.36 |
What's left of the items inside the Mystery box.
Because of the discount, I only payed $37.75 USD plus the shipment fee but with the total value of the items that I received, I have payed $14.39 USD more for the items that I do not really want. The keyboard, while having an LED light and cool design, the buttons were very stiff and hard to press and does not even last a year. The mouse still works but it's incredibly hard to press the left click so I stopped using it long ago. The mouse pad I never used because I already have a mouse mat where I can place both my keyboard and mouse. We used the alcohol and sanitizer and was already gone now but it is something that can be bought on a nearby pharmacy anytime.
Testing the keyboard: no power.
Testing the keyboard: power working
Despite that, I know that the value of the Mystery box does not mean I would get the exact value that I pay so I can't really complain about it or get a cash refund. Looking at the reviews, there were people that gets good stuff while some were the same like me, there was also someone that claims they get the Smartphone so if I make a complain with my bad pull, it would only make me a bitter customer though I still make a review criticizing how they include liquid items on electronic equipment.
Thank you for reading my post and see you at the next one!