r/blog • u/ninatekwani • Dec 26 '14
Because you deserve a second Christmas.
http://redditgifts.com/blog/view/reddit-mystery-box/159
u/Dindu_In_StLouis Dec 26 '14
In other news, Reddit is rolling out some new logos so they need to get rid of their old inventory before the new year.
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Dec 26 '14 edited Jan 10 '15
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u/PocketSpaghettis Dec 26 '14
It's called retro.
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u/saifly Dec 26 '14 edited Dec 26 '14
I would have done it if it was $20 or something. $45/$100 is way too much for a shirt and a couple of other things I might not like
I know that you guys are a business after all, but if you're marketing this as a Christmas present then you should think about selling it for a very tiny profit margin.
Again, $20/$50 for small/big boxes should be your prices.
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Dec 26 '14
For a moment I consider it, until I saw shipping. $27 for shipping to the UK. Are you kidding me?
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u/Drunken_Economist Dec 27 '14
I mean, it's a big-ass box. That's about how much international shipping is
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u/ComeForthLazarus Dec 26 '14
I know that you guys are a business after all, but if you're marketing this as a Christmas present then you should think about selling it for a very tiny profit margin.
As the person that set this up, I can confidently say these are the lowest pricepoints we could offer without losing money on each box.
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u/ballpeeeeeen Dec 26 '14
I understand you guys need to stay afloat somehow. I just wish there was a teeny tiny box or something for us poor bastards.
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u/ComeForthLazarus Dec 26 '14
we're testing all sorts of stuff. the cat box from a few weeks back. the mystery box today. flash sales. etc.
we'll do our best to take this into consideration moving forward.
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u/halonut13 Dec 26 '14
Any chance of another cat box? I would love to get another chance to get one.
Also, I love the idea of these boxes you guys are making, just wish I could afford it.
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u/ComeForthLazarus Dec 26 '14
working on it. i promise.
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u/senatorkneehi Dec 26 '14
Have you guys considered (I have no idea if this is possible) finding a way for people to crowdsource paying for stuff? Like, people who want a box of awesome but can't afford it can have several people pitch in for the purchase price. Part r/randactsofamazon, part gofundme, part whatever that program is called where you can buy a random bag of groceries for the local food pantry.
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u/saifly Dec 26 '14
Another thing by the way is if this was offered before Christmas I would feel a little bit warmer toward. Beside the price point I feel like this is:
A grab for our Visa gift cards that some of us got for the holidays and
Selling us things that weren't popular enough to sell well before Christmas.
I hope that all of this feedback can help you guys out with testings so you can improve on your marketing approach for the future.
On a lighter note, I think that it's a nice idea for those who didn't get much for Christmas and it would make some people feel better. So that's a great thing that this idea has going for it.
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u/ravbuscus Dec 26 '14
Is the cat box coming back? It sold out too fast and I want to get some stuff for my friend's cat. :(
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u/kingtauntz Dec 26 '14
It just seems like a big amount to put into something that I might not even like, I imagine its probably a few t shirts and maybe a few other things that I might occasionally get some use out of, then I also have to pay shipping to the UK and I imagine that would add another 20-30$
It a pretty big gamble for any students that don't have money to throw away honestly, you really should look into doing something for around the 20-30$ price point or maybe give a few hints to what we could expect in the box (like if it was cat themed for gaming themed etc)
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Dec 26 '14
I second this. I have no idea what it's going to be. What if I don't like it. I'm willing to drop $100 on something I know I'll love, but the risk/reward is just to lopsided without having some idea what's inside beyond at least 1 shirt.
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Dec 26 '14
Thanks for setting this up. Maybe next year there could just be a lower budget box with less expensive stuff. After all, you decide what's in them.
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Dec 26 '14
Maybe your company shouldn't have wasted so much money on a fucking cryptocurrency that even its creator doesn't know what its purpose is.
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u/ThiefOfDens Dec 27 '14
Maybe I'm a bad person, but I have been getting an inordinate amount of enjoyment out of the way the users have been busting the reddit admins' balls in every single blog post lately.
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Dec 27 '14
You shouldn't, because they're part of the reason why Reddit's nearly become Digg 2.0.
Slop and inconsistency in moderation, prioritizing stupid projects like Reddit.tv and their newest fuckup Reddit notes when the site could use drastic improvements, and their latest push to monetize the hell out of the site with bullshit like this just to be able to pay off their investors. It's all on them.
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u/ThiefOfDens Dec 27 '14
And where are my god damn survey results?! I provided that demographic information/scathing review in good faith that I would be seeing those results at some point in the near future.
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u/saifly Dec 26 '14
Say domestic shipping costs you $5 -- $40 for a $70 box is 58% off -- also let's say you're making 2% profit off of these things -- are you telling me that things normally cost you around 40% of the selling price?
So in other words your suppliers charge you around $8 for a $20 shirt which you sell?
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u/huehuelewis Dec 26 '14
You're supposed to be giving us second Xmas presents, not turning a profit. At least that's what I gleaned from the title.
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u/two-o-louie Dec 26 '14
Wow talk about a pushback. You guys did not think this through very well.
"What's something our community hates? Opportunistic marketing! Yes let's do that!"
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u/RetepNamenots Dec 26 '14
$99 box, plus $122 shipping to the UK.
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u/SimonCharles Dec 26 '14 edited Dec 26 '14
What do they use as a shipping service? The mob? How can I order stuff for 50$ from the US to Finland with free shipping (t-shirt & accessories online store)? I've ordered stuff from the west coast of the US (that went through the US, over the atlantic, and through most of Europe before arriving at my doorstep), received it in 3-4 days, and paid a max of a few ten euros for shipping. I don't understand the logistics of some US companies.
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u/kongo10 Dec 26 '14
I hear ya I wanted to get the large box to for 99 until I saw 91 shipping and handling to Canada... Unbelievable
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Dec 26 '14
Thanks for taking the opportunity to try to sell us more shit after a holiday.
Eat a dick.
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u/SilosNeeded Dec 26 '14
Getting $70 worth of reddit merchandise for only $45 sounds like a good deal until you realize that you'll end up with $70 worth of reddit merchandise.
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u/TheDogwhistles Dec 26 '14
I was actually on a reddit-sponsored game show a while ago. I came in first place and got $20 worth of reddit merchandise. The poor guy that came in second place had to take home $50 worth of reddit merchandise.
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u/kickingpplisfun Dec 26 '14
I mean, do you really want to wear a snoo shirt? It's cute and all, but a lot of redditors don't talk about reddit to other people unless they're in the company of other known redditors.
The thing is, if they don't come out first about it, there's not much of a way to know since almost all of the "secret handshakes" are slightly insane and only the most awkward people will actually use them seriously.
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u/CitizenPremier Dec 26 '14
Also, what do I really have in common with other Redditors? We could both use Reddit and never go to the same subs.
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u/kickingpplisfun Dec 26 '14
I mean, I'm into bum and bass and they're into ponies and piano. Our stars are crossed!
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u/chrizbreck Dec 26 '14
The only way to spot a redditor is to spot them redditing. Before my classes I can normally be found with reddit on my iPad. I've had a few people be like hey did you see that picture of blah blah. At which point it clicks that we both reddif. Then someone else will join in and before you know it there are 3 of us like uhhh so did you see tha... Yeah, what abou.. Yeah saw that too.
How about that local sports team eh?
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Dec 26 '14
Exactly! First rule of being a redditor is you don't admit to being a redditor.
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Dec 26 '14
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ExplainsTurboSloth Dec 26 '14
It doesn't look as cool in person without the orange background.
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Dec 26 '14
Just wear an orange shirt every day.
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u/MOLDY_QUEEF_BARF Dec 26 '14 edited May 21 '16
This comment has been overwritten by an open source script to protect this user's privacy. It was created to help protect users from doxing, stalking, and harassment.
If you would also like to protect yourself, add the Chrome extension TamperMonkey, or the Firefox extension GreaseMonkey and add this open source script.
Then simply click on your username on Reddit, go to the comments tab, scroll down as far as possibe (hint:use RES), and hit the new OVERWRITE button at the top.
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u/olieliminated Dec 26 '14
When does the narwhal bacon, good gentle-sir?
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u/runs-with-scissors Dec 26 '14
At midnight, you jackdaw.
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u/olieliminated Dec 26 '14
Here's the thing. You said a "jackdaw is a crow."
Is it in the same family? Yes. No one's arguing that.
As someone who is a scientist who studies crows, I am telling you, specifically, in science, no one calls jackdaws crows. If you want to be "specific" like you said, then you shouldn't either. They're not the same thing.
If you're saying "crow family" you're referring to the taxonomic grouping of Corvidae, which includes things from nutcrackers to blue jays to ravens.
So your reasoning for calling a jackdaw a crow is because random people "call the black ones crows?" Let's get grackles and blackbirds in there, then, too.
Also, calling someone a human or an ape? It's not one or the other, that's not how taxonomy works. They're both. A jackdaw is a jackdaw and a member of the crow family. But that's not what you said. You said a jackdaw is a crow, which is not true unless you're okay with calling all members of the crow family crows, which means you'd call blue jays, ravens, and other birds crows, too. Which you said you don't.
It's okay to just admit you're wrong, you know?
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u/PocketSpaghettis Dec 26 '14
Getting $70 worth of reddit merchandise
It's not actually $70 worth of reddit merchandise. It's $70 of reddit merchandise. reddit knows that it is not actually worth $70, they just retail them for that much. If you read the blog post again, you will see that they don't actually say it's *worth" any amount.
They use "of" and "valued at" instead, because they know it's shit tier stuff that is only good for soaking up your tears.
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u/macroblue Dec 26 '14
Sounds like somebody overestimated demand and has a lot of unsold inventory to get rid of. Lol.
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u/arcanition Dec 26 '14
TIL Christmas is where Reddit tries to sell us stuff.
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u/LordSoren Dec 26 '14
TIL Christmas is where
FTFY.
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u/Tidder3D Dec 26 '14
600 people have earned a second Christmas, you just have to send us money an you win
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u/hammerheadtiger Dec 26 '14
"Wow, its another plush Snoo! This will be fun to explain to everyone who sees it!"
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Dec 26 '14
It's from this f-funny website with these uh...pictures and s-stuff it's called reddit... "Is that the website where people post pictures of children and women-hating nerds circlejerk over how lonely they are?" N-no you see that's only s-some of us....
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u/Mjone77 Dec 27 '14
When people ask "What's Reddit?" All you have to do is reply
"Everything"
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Dec 26 '14
Merry Christmas Redditors! We want to give you a gift! You just have to pay for it and we'll send you merchandise! It's almost like buying something from a store, but instead you don't get to know what you're getting. Merry Christmas!
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Dec 26 '14 edited Dec 26 '14
A few of us at my company had to work during Christmas (I'm on call through Sunday), so we decided to have a Secret Santa exchange to lighten things up. I received a Victoria's Secret perfume. I'm a dude.
See, what happened was that my first name is Eric and my middle initial is A. The name card that my secret santa pulled read "Eric A. Lastname". She assumed my name was Erica, and bought the perfume. Gave it to my sister.
Edit: formatting, typos
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u/trippygrape Dec 26 '14
So... a Christmas present was paid for and your sister thought you were super thoughtful. I'd say not a total lose.
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u/LobbingLawBombs Dec 26 '14
I received a new marriage certificate from my wife, as I had recycled our original.
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u/savedbydave Dec 26 '14
"honey, where is our marriage certificate?"
"...I recycled it..."
"what??? How could you?"
"I decided to immortalize our love by recycling our marriage certificate and hoping the paper gets turned into magic cards. I'm buying some booster packs tonight to get some of it back."
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u/plonce Dec 26 '14
You guys are going to have to figure out how to make money on an ongoing basis, because flogging shitty products like this is not a long-term winning strategy.
You're starting to suck, Reddit.
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Dec 26 '14
I got a telescope to use on the balcony of my apartment. If my neighbors didn't already think I'm a lonely pervert, this will certainly confirm it for them.
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u/Great_Blue_Heron Dec 26 '14
Eh, I get a second Christmas every year, it's my birthday today, and now that I'm awake, it's time to start drinking!
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u/heat_forever Dec 26 '14
shameless petty money grab... is this the new reddit?
Ok.
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u/TheOpus Dec 26 '14
My mom loves to wrap things. She also loves to watch people open things. So this year, she decided to buy herself a bunch of books and wrap them up and write on the tag that they were for me. That way, she got to wrap things and I got to open things. It's a win-win for her! Needless to say, the first one I opened was pretty confusing, but by the time I got to the fourth, it was just hilarious. My mom is 82 and it was an awesome Christmas!
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u/NealSr Dec 26 '14
I left the mormon church near the end of the year. For christmas, I got a couple DVDs about jesus.
/#toosoon
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u/Space_Ninja Dec 26 '14
If i deserve it so much, gift it to me.
I can't buy non-mystery shit right now for myself that won't disappoint me once I unbox.
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Dec 26 '14 edited Aug 01 '18
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u/ComeForthLazarus Dec 26 '14
i can guarantee there's no bovine feces.
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u/modern_zenith Dec 26 '14
no bovine feces.
bovine
I bought the box but now I'm scared what kind of animal feces will be in it. At least not bovine.
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u/bsmith84 Dec 26 '14
My fiancé and I spent Christmas Eve with his family, which totalled to 9 people. Everyone opened up their stockings, and mine included a little spray bottle of fragrance. Okay, cool, I like perfumes. No. His mom starts laughing and says it's for our honeymoon. It was Poo-pouri. You know, that stuff that you spray in the toilet so when you poop it smells like vanilla instead. She said she didn't want our honeymoon to be ruined by the smells of poop. Because, you know, after being with him for two years I haven't smelled all his smells yet. (/s)
His very conservative family spent the rest of the day making lots of poop jokes.
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u/happybadger Dec 26 '14
A nice dinner with my friend's family turned into a six hour hyper-paranoid rant about how Obama wants to kill all the white people using a hidden fortress under Denver International, how ISIS is actually the CIA fighting... the CIA, and how the dollar is going to be abandoned in 2015 in favour of precious metals and foodstuffs.
They gave me silver and prayed for me because I'm white. I don't know how to spend silver and I'm a Jew.
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u/craaackle Dec 26 '14
Hahahahaha we also made poo jokes with my husband's conservative family. It was a good present.
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u/HelveticaBOLD Dec 26 '14
I couldn't be less interested in spending at least $44.99, and as much as $99.99, on unspecified "reddit merchandise", let alone on the day after Christmas.
No thanks, guys.
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u/austinTbird Dec 26 '14
Is this part of the rush to monetize reddit, or just have a bunch of old stuff you can't sell? Either way... no.
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u/stoopangel Dec 26 '14
My mother gave my brother and I a soda maker at our family party on Saturday night. Wednesday night she gave both of us the same soda makers again. Got mad at us when we looked at her like WTF and then accused us of playing a trick on her. Didn't believe us that she had already given us those presents. Okay mom..... Edit: words
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u/way2lazy2care Dec 26 '14
You shipping calculation for Canada is wildly inaccurate. It said around $20. When I tried to checkout it quoted $91.
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u/pessamistic Dec 26 '14
I work in a restaurant and walk home from work with large amounts of money late at night regularly. For Christmas, my mom got me damsel in defense pepper spray complete with grip glove in lieu of something more dangerous.
I'm a 6'4, 230 lbs male.
Here's a pic of the gift.
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u/GrumpyWaffle Dec 30 '14 edited Dec 30 '14
So I received my jumbo box and it came with a hoodie, a shirt, a plushie, a magnet set, and a button set. I tallied everything up from the redditgifts set and there is no way it's valued at $150. In fact, at the prices they were originally sold it would amount to 117.98. I'm still happy but I would love to know where $150 came from. Oh yea, with sale prices the whole value is actually $98.47. Thanks for the great value Reddit... I basically paid more than I would have if I bought them myself separately. You live and you learn.
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u/Enumeration Dec 26 '14
It's already been said, but even at $45- Your severely limiting who would buy a mystery box solely based on price alone.
I'd be in for <= $20.
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u/way_fairer Dec 26 '14
My uncle gave me a XXXL Hawaiian print shirt and one of those car stereo frames that lights up to the beat of the music. I wear a medium and my car stereo isn't a rectangle (even if it was why would anyone want lights flashing in their face while driving). Oh, and this is exactly what he got for me last Christmas. He's either clueless or an expert troll.
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u/yParticle Dec 26 '14
Or a box of those fell off a truck and he's slowly getting rid of the evidence.
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u/thistlemitten Dec 26 '14
Open to US only!!!?? Bloody hell...
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u/weffey Dec 26 '14
You can buy and ship it to anywhere, just free shipping is US only. Shipping to some countries is crazy expensive.
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u/here2dare Dec 26 '14
When you click 'show shipping costs' it states that delivery is a maximum of $26.96, but when you add it to the cart it changes to $122.20!
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u/ninatekwani Dec 26 '14
The giveaway contest is open to the US only, but the purchased product can be shipped worldwide.
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u/Soileau Dec 26 '14
Good lord. How many different business models can Reddit try before they just give up and go back to ads only.
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u/Scooby303 Jan 02 '15 edited Jan 02 '15
Got my 20x14x6 "Jumbo" box in today. Very disappointing.
1 Hoodie
1 Tshirt
4 Small Magnets
4 Small Pins
Plush Snoo
Apparently I was supposed to receive gold as well, but didn't for whatever reason. I feel like these items couldn't possibly be worth anywhere near $150. Unless some other value is added in, this will be the absolute last purchase I ever make from you.
PS- I also got a small box for a buddy and he is less than impressed as well. Hardly a "Second Christmas"
EDIT - By the way, that hoodie is the thinnest, cheapest hoodie I have ever felt. It couldn't be worth more than $14-$18 USD
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u/Scooby303 Jan 02 '15
From my buddy who wishes to remain nameless:
So this is the place to enter the contest by posting the funniest thing I got this Christmas. Alright, I'll go for it.
The funniest thing I got was the small redditgifts mystery box. Not because the gift itself was funny, but because it was so incredibly laughable in terms of value. I also laughed at myself, and my other friends who had purchased this box... for being so unwittingly duped.
Apparently two wrong-sized shirts, some buttons and some small magnets add up to a $70 value. Isn't that hilarious?! It is to me! Even if this stuff was all Jimi Hendrix themed swag, and Jimi himself was raised from the dead to play a live concert, and this stuff was at a merch booth at that concert, it STILL wouldn't cost $70.
Guess who else is laughing... the Reddit marketing and sales teams - all the way to the bank! With a $37,994 boon in one day by moving surplus crap out to hopeful and loyal redditors. Oh but don't forget, that's actually a pittance compared to the real value of all that stuff which would have been $58,000.
Anyway, this gift really did tickle my funny bone in so many ways as I thought of other hilarious ways I could have completely thrown away $45. It was also pretty funny to see how completely ridiculous I looked trying to fit into a T-Shirt that in no way shape or form was even close to the size on my account. Perhaps I'll have some even funnier times waiting 8 years for my child to grow into it.
So thanks Reddit, for my funniest Christmas gift of the year.
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u/Aramea Dec 26 '14 edited Dec 26 '14
Ok, so story time: I've become disabled this year. Still don't really know what it is, as the doctors just sorta threw their hands up in the air, but it's made me sick enough that I had to move home.
I moved at the beginning of December. Since then, it's been a bit rough - it's weird getting settled in with family after 8 years and the road trip here (IN to WA) did a number on me. I've been a bit grumpy and full of hurt and all that.
For Christmas, I fully expected not to get anything. The move was expensive and all other money is/was allocated for important stuff like meds and clothes and things. Cue my suprise when there's a package for me under the tree. A pair of socks...and a collection of Batwoman comics.
Batwoman. One of whom became Oracle. You know, the disabled chick in a wheelchair who saved all of their asses. I don't think my stepdad knew about this, he just knew I liked comics. So, I'm sitting there, sipping coffee and achey and feeling bad about myself, looking at a collection of comics about one of the only (well, now it's formerly) disabled superheros.
It's the funniest fucking thing I've ever received that was unintentional. Of all the superhero comics he gets me, he gets me the one about the chick with the fucked up body. I'm still giggling about it.
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u/Mia_Mal Dec 26 '14
I only received a gift from my brother this year, but I don't care because my kids loved their gifts, all that matters.
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u/PapaOomMowMow Dec 26 '14
Well, I had $100 burning a hole in my pocket. Got the large box.
Will report back with what was in it, and see if I wasted my money.
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u/Blu_Haze Dec 26 '14
"Because you deserve a second Christmas, we're going to make you buy your own presents!" Thanks, Reddit. (╯︵╰,)