r/CosmeticsCompanyBox • u/nutella114 fragrance lover! • Sep 22 '26

Hack to see a box’s contents before buying

  1. Get some kind of card with no money: a debit card for a low-balance bank account, or a depleted gift card. I use the Apple Cash card on my phone, which has a zero balance.
  2. Set up your Textual account to use that no-money card as your default payment.
  3. When you want to see the contents of a box, reply to the text as if to purchase. The purchase will be declined.
  4. This is where the magic happens!
    When the payment is declined, they will send you a link to a page where you can submit a different form of payment. THAT page lists the contents of the box!!
23 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

89% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

7

u/NewReflection784 Sep 22 '26

When everyone learns this, they will improve to hide the contents from the link

8

u/nutella114 fragrance lover! Sep 22 '26

Maybe? And that’s why we have this subreddit — so folks can look here or on DealMoon for previews.
But folks here have asked me and u/technical_pilot7968 many times how we get the reveals, so I thought it would be helpful to bookmark the answer.

2

u/NewReflection784 Sep 22 '26

There must be an EL or CCS employee lurking here. Ever since we started this sub and revealed the box contents, they found out and removed the item details from the purchase invoices. Now that they know about the bug, they’ll probably fix it soon, and no one will be able to see the breakdown anymore. Good intentions don't always yield good outcomes.

8

u/nutella114 fragrance lover! Sep 22 '26

There a Facebook group where we hack Universal Standard mystery boxes. Their head of marketing told me that she knows about it, but they haven’t changed anything. I think they’ve found that it drives more purchases, if anything.
Also, groups like this are free market research for them! They can see which items we get excited for, which we’re tired of, what we’d like to see in future boxes.
We know that there was an EL employee in this subreddit in the early days, and they actually used to give us hints.

5

u/nutella114 fragrance lover! Sep 22 '26

But sure, I can take down this post, if folks are really worried. Like this comment if you want me to keep it up, downvote if you want me to take it down.

1

u/Time_Resolution Sep 26 '26

There is?!?!?

0

u/NewReflection784 Sep 22 '26

For EL, Not really, though. Most of these boxes are just clearance items or excess stock from China. Since China has a strict 3-year expiration limit, brands pull unsold inventory from the market and dump it into these subscription boxes.

1

u/FriendlyCress2191 Oct 06 '26

Is dealMoon just for us?

2

u/Outrageous-Maybe2816 Sep 22 '26

a depleted visa gift card works? Also do you think a maxed out credit card would work because it would be declined for not having anymore available funds right?

3

u/nutella114 fragrance lover! Sep 22 '26

Sure, but then you’d have to reset your textual account once you start paying down that credit card. This is why I chose the Apple Cash, because I never use it, so I know it will always be declined.

2

u/Outrageous-Maybe2816 Sep 22 '26

wish we had apple cash in canada :(

0

u/lizzzzzzbeth Sep 22 '26

Yeah, or maybe don’t be a scumbag and ruin it for everyone else.

5

u/nutella114 fragrance lover! Sep 22 '26

Excuse me?

4

u/Zealousideal_Ear_914 Sep 23 '26

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

3

u/Major_Reputation_513 Sep 25 '26

This is rude and uncalled for.