What Is An Online Mystery Box? | HypeDrop

Everything you need to know to help figure out if it’s for you

You may have seen the concept of mystery boxes on YouTube before and decided to stay the hell away from it. We totally get that, since we’ve seen some of those videos and, well, they can be downright weird. Sometimes some creepy stuff comes out of the boxes... and sometimes it’s just pure rubbish. Sometimes it also seems really obvious that the YouTuber was sent a specific mystery box to make it look like all the boxes are amazing. Yeah, we get why not everyone’s into it. But it’s not like that anymore - HypeDrop’s online mystery boxes have changed the game up big time.

First of all, none of our boxes contain creepy or weird items. We’re all about exclusive and sought-after products like hype kicks, streetwear, high-end gaming equipment, tech items, and more. The benefit of being an online mystery box is that you’ll reveal your item online (of course), so you’ll actually get to see what it is before you choose to have it show up at your door. The algorithm we use that determines your item is also built around a provably fair system that randomly produces a result - so even if we wanted to give a YouTuber a better item, we couldn’t. In all honesty, the chances of revealing one of the higher end products are very slim - but we’re pretty upfront about all of that from the get go.

Read on to learn more about HypeDrop online mystery boxes, and how they’re not at all like you’ve seen before.

How does it work from your end?
The entire process is pretty simple actually, and we’ve broken it down into a few straightforward steps. The first is an obvious one - you need to create an account on HypeDrop. This can be done manually with your email address, or by logging in via another social account. Then you simply top up your account using your preferred method. If you feel more comfortable using PayPal, opt for the gift card option, as this is all done through PayPal - just know that the fees on this option are higher than Visa or Mastercard through G2APay.

Next is to choose a box. Which actually can be the hard part, since there are loads of them, with all sorts of different categories and prices. But the good news is that each box shows each single item it could possibly reveal if you scroll down, so you can take a proper look before you purchase anything. Make sure to click “toggle rates” to show the probability by percentage of unboxing the item first. Remember, the idea of these boxes is that there are way more lower priced items than anything else - so the chances of getting one of the more expensive items are very slim… but at the very least, you’ll unbox a single item to the same value as the box anyway. Once you’ve chosen a box, purchase it to open it up and reveal your item.

Now here’s the cool thing - you don’t actually have to stick with your revealed item. If you don’t like it, you can exchange it for something else. Note that exchange fees of 10% apply to most items, and some highlighted items can incur a fee of up to 80% - at the end of the day, with the price fluctuations between different items, we need to prevent abuse on this front. Ultimately you’ll get more bang for your buck by sticking with your original item which we highly recommend! But the option is always there.

Finally, once you’ve landed an item you’re happy with, you can redeem it physically and have it shipped to anywhere in North America or Europe. The vast majority of the time the shipping is free, but on the odd occasion there is a shipping fee, indicated by an ‘S’ icon. It’s usually as low as $1 or €1.

And that’s how it works from your end. Pretty simple really!

How does it work from our end?
On the other side of it all, we have the task of keeping things provably fair, which is where things get kind of interesting. When we created HypeDrop, we wanted to use an algorithm that ensured complete fairness and randomness - and that’s how we came up with our Fair Packing Policy.

This policy can be hard to get your head around, but the main thing to understand is that for every box you open, a combination of three variables determines your result. There’s basically: 1) your generated code, which you can change for another before the box is opened; 2) our code, which is revealed once you open a box; and 3) the play count, which is the number of boxes you’ve opened.

What this means is that each round you play, or rather each box you open, is completely random - so there’s no connection between the box you opened before and the box you open next. It’s one product per opening, and it’s not at all cumulative. We should also note, we have this cool animation that displays when you open a box, but this is purely for show. The result has already been determined as soon as you click to open the box, and really had nothing to do with the animation. It’s just not as exciting without the animation.

We know it’s all a bit tricky to understand unless you’re a tech wizard, so we’ve broken it down further on our Fair Packing Policy page.

What about the products?
We have some pretty big-name products up for grabs, from the likes of NMD, Adidas Yeezy, Off-White, Supreme, and more. There’s also plenty of tech gear from brands like Apple and Samsung, plus high-end gaming equipment from brands like Razer, Logitech, SteelSeries, DXRacer, the last generation of GPU and CPU, collectables, and everything in between. We’ve made a real effort recently to keep our prices competitive, which is why people want to play with us. We used to have a 30% markup on everything because of the exchange rate between US dollars and euro… but we’ve since realised that was dumb, so we now offer everything in both currencies, with no markup at all.

There is some seriously cool stuff to reveal - of course, that’s if you’re super lucky. But on the bright side, if you land one of the cheaper items, it’s still going to be something (debatably) useful like a sticker, earphones or shoelaces… unlike some of the dodgy stuff we’ve seen on YouTube.

The other thing to know is that we always source our products from suppliers that guarantee the authenticity of products. All our tech gear comes from official resellers, and all our deadstock products (streetwear and sneakers) come from places like StockX that offer insurance policies on the authenticity of the products, since that’s how the market works. The re-sale of limited edition items is super common, and if you actually get your hands on a rare product, then you can make some serious money if you chuck it back on the market! This mostly applies to streetwear and sneakers of course, as all of our electronics and miscellaneous items come straight from the supplier, having never been used.

The whole process is set up for convenience
We have made a real effort to make your HypeDrop experience one of convenience, and we’re always looking to improve the site or make it more transparent. We now have payment options of Visa or MasterCard which have much lower fees than the gift card option which not many people seem to like. We totally get that too, since you have to purchase them on a third-party website with high fees. The exchange feature we mentioned earlier is also cool, since it means if you reveal an item you don’t love, you’re not stuck with it. We do still have to add the exchange fee on there, since at the end of the day, we’re a business ourselves… but we still think it makes the whole process pretty flexible.

When it comes to shipping and returns, things are pretty straightforward too - once an item is shipped and we have the tracking link, we’ll send this directly on to you. And if for whatever reason there’s an issue, we offer hassle-free returns, where you’ll just need to contact us to organise returning your item for in-store credit.

Why not have a go yourself?
All in all, HypeDrop online mystery boxes are a bit of fun if used responsibly (that also firmly means no under 18s). If you’ve got your heart set on buying a specific item, it may not be for you - but otherwise, it’s genuinely a really fun way to shop for hard-to-find items and come out with a surprise. We’re pretty open about how things work and the likelihood of you winning one of the top-end products. It can happen of course, but the reality is that it probably won’t - but at least you’ll still come away with something to the value of what you paid. So why not have a crack and open up an online mystery box yourself?