Madhappy operates in a similar way, sending out Optimist Box promos over email. Their boxes, which have been priced at up to $600 for $1,500 of product, tend to attract existing customers over newbies.
Annie and Emily Lustbader, 25-year-old sisters based in Chicago, have purchased the Madhappy Optimist Box twice. They were already big fans of the brand but used the mystery box as a way to score older, limited-edition items. “With a surprise box, you’re getting the archive items, and there’s an opportunity to get something that we had our eye on that we weren’t able to get when the drop happened,” Emily says.
Masha Saveliea, 27, has ordered the Madhappy box twice and plans to do so again. She loves the surprise of it: “It’s almost like getting a Christmas present,” she says. Plus, given the demand for certain styles, not liking a piece she ends up with isn’t necessarily a bad thing. “I was able to resell [a sweatshirt] for $400 which basically was more than the value of the box,” she says.
Le Creuset’s process works a bit differently. The company only sells mystery boxes at their Factory to Table sale events, which pop up a few times a year in different cities. You have to spring for a VIP ticket to the sale ($25) to score a $50 box, but the items can be worth over $350.
Cierra Williams, 28, saw TikTok videos about the mystery boxes and went to the Philadelphia sale to get one. She had never purchased Le Creuset cookware before (it was out of her price range) but after taking her box home she now considers herself a convert. “It’s my entire personality now.” she says. “I absolutely would buy it outright [for] full price, because it’s definitely worth it.”
A few mystery box unboxings have gone viral on TikTok, garnering hundreds of thousands of views. Some are scrolling to compare others’ boxes to their own. But some people just like the suspense; viewers don’t know what’s inside the boxes, but, unlike most unboxings, neither does the person opening it.
“We live in a time where we’re all looking for that hit of serotonin, and I feel like you just get a little bit of extra serotonin when it’s a surprise box,” says 23-year-old Brittany Polevikov, who’s purchased both Madhappy and Set Active mystery bags. “If you don’t know what you’re getting, you can get really excited about it.”