Does Ebay require mystery auction listers to provide Ebay with a list of the contents prior to posting? If not, why? What then is stopping a mystery box seller from basing the contents on the box solely on the amount of the winning bid? If I intend to put an new XBOX360 and 10 new games in a mystery auction that I hope will top $1000.00, but it only nets 250.00, would anyone but the most honest person the world take a loss on this, or would they substitute a regular used Xbox so as to make money?
Ebay just provides the platform for a buyer and seller to conduct business. If a seller wants to play Monty Hall and sell you “whatever is in the mystery box” and you buy the box, it’s not Ebay’s problem if you don’t like what you got - Buyer beware. The transaction would have gone through as agreed. Buyer sold “box”. You bought “box”. You sent money. You received “box”. There is no reason for Ebay to get involved.
However, I have only sold a couple of things on Ebay, I am almost exclusively a buyer. I’m sure we have a few sellers here that could explain things better.
Aren’t mystery boxes a long time staple of flea markets? “Buy closed trunk for 2 bucks!”
Why would you want to buy a box this way? If you read carefully, most of those mystery box auctions are for the box.
Here’s a few disclaimers I snagged off of current items:
( NOTICE THAT YOU ARE ONLY BIDDING ON THE 13" BY 8 3/4" BY 9" BOX )—(THE ITEMS INSIDE THE BOX ARE MY GIFT TO YOU)
lets start with eBays rules:you are bidding on a container only everything that comes in this container is our gift to you. you are not bidding on a lottery, raffle, or anything else considered,illegal or against eBays policies, rules,and regulations.
YOU WILL ACTUALLY BE BIDDING ON A SHIPPING BOX, BUT WHAT MAKES THIS AUCTION A MYSTERY IS WHATS INSIDE THIS SHIPPING BOX:)
Sorry, I only answered half your question.
There is nothing stopping a seller from basing what is in the box to what is bid for it. I always figured that was the way it was done, anyway. Since you didn’t know what the auction was for in the first place how would you ever know there was a switch?
Besides, you wouldn’t put a big ticket item like an XBOX in a “mystery auction” anyway. “Mystery auction” is shorthand for “a whole lotta crap that I don’t feel like detailing”. I got a LOT of my knitting, crocheting, and needlepoint supplies that way.
I’ve been to a lot of flea markets, garage sales, yard sales, estates sales, etc. The only mystery boxes I can recall were chests, trunks etc that could not be opened. The key had been lost. The lock was warped shut. The sellers generally had a vague idea of what the contents might be, and believed that they were not valuable.
Some flea markets, often those held at schools, sell sealed grab bags. But, the seller has filled these with toys roughly equal in value to the price.
Yeah, those were the kinds of things I was thinking of. I guess the idea is to break the lock?