Just been reading about different kinds of mystery boxes or subscription things, typically you seem to pay through the nose for a bunch of random stuff that is then a suprise to you.

Is this something people really do? Are there any biking ones people have tried?

Never heard of it but there are always people looking for new ways to relieve people of their money.

typically you seem to pay through the nose for a bunch of random stuff that is then a suprise to you

I bet it’s a shock more than a surprise.

It’s something some US YouTubers do at least, not sure how popular they are outside of YouTubers buying them. A few I’ve watched generally seem like you get less value in items than you paid for and still have the hassle of needing to sell on many of the items as they won’t be any use to you. I think Amazon US do them, presumably they occasionally hoover up all the crap left behind on shelves gathering dust (or if it’s packaging gets destroyed etc.) and box it up and someone there guesses at the value and it gets sold on.

Is this different from the organic veg boxes and subscription things that lump you with an four & a half potatoes and three turnips?

I seem to recall blokes selling mystery boxes/bags from the back of lorries years ago at markets. I assume its the same scam.

If you’re bored of your money, have run out of ideas but like opening boxes it sounds perfect.

but if you really are bored – have no ideas what to spend your hard earned cash on why not just work less?

There are 2 types :

One is the mini storage Wars type where you know the next £100 box will be full of grade a returned consoles. That’s for the delboys of the world.

The other are the subscription services that give you a thing each month (jewellery, box of merch etc.). For the person who can never have enough tat. Usually “worth it” financially but practically there is always going to be something you don’t want.

Yes I could see that sort of thing working with cyclists. Fancy top caps, bar bungs and such are always popular with some folk. You just need the right tat.

Could be fun for food. ie chocolate. Or beer.

But I don’t see much point in just getting more random tat, that you don’t need and won’t use.

Vital MTB do one I think just for the USA.

https://gearclub.vitalmtb.com/?utm_source=vitalmtb.com&utm_medium=Nav%20Bar

They also seem to be a thing in the fitness/supplement/crossfit/gym type circles.

My missis subscribed to a skincare and beauty one for a few months, called Birch Box. Every few weeks a post cardboard drawer turned up with what looked like a bunch of free samples, about 50% of which when was interested in.

Not scared of spending money on shit like that my missis, but she sacked it off after a few months.

I got a gift subscription to Cairn Outdoors, a US service. It seems a good deal if you’re in the US as postage is free, but once I’d paid customs and RM charge, it didn’t seem massively worth it. However, the items you got in the boxes were pretty good. Some nice energy bars plus some decent bits of outdoor equipment. I use my Croakies belt everyday for work.

So you pay money up front and have only a vague idea as to what you’ll receive for said money? Sounds a bit shit to me, but each to their own and all that.

my lad wanted to subscribe to the arty ones – you get some pens, crayons, and nice rubbers.
I guess they are an ‘idea point’ as you can draw based on the contents…but they aere £15 for clearly £8 worth of stuff.

DrP