Influencers and Resellers Are Turning Empty Boxes Into Big Cash
Influencers and Resellers Are Turning Empty Boxes Into Big Cash
网红与转售商正将空包装盒变成“摇钱树”
Doctor Who, One Piece, Pokémon, Star Wars. Empty product boxes from these popular properties have been listed on eBay for $2,500 and up. It’s not too surprising to anyone familiar with modern nerd-dom that even the empty boxes for these perennial collectibles would command high prices. 《神秘博士》、《海贼王》、《宝可梦》、《星球大战》。这些热门IP的空产品包装盒在eBay上的挂牌价已高达2500美元甚至更多。对于熟悉现代“极客文化”的人来说，这些常青收藏品的空盒子能卖出高价并不令人意外。
But look what they’re joined by in that elite bracket: a Bottega Stardust Sparkling Rosé bottle and box (listed for $8,105), the box for a 1980s Rolex Explorer 1016 ($3,850), a “rare” Hermes Bolide box from Japan ($3,450), and a Suntory Hibiki bottle and box ($3,000). 但看看还有哪些商品跻身这一高端行列：一瓶Bottega Stardust起泡酒及其包装盒（挂牌价8105美元）、一个1980年代劳力士探险家型1016手表的包装盒（3850美元）、一个来自日本的“稀有”爱马仕Bolide包装盒（3450美元），以及一瓶三得利响牌威士忌及其包装盒（3000美元）。
One big reason for this is that buyers are paying big bucks to acquire the original packaging for an item they want to auction off; selling the collectable with an original box almost always boosts the resale price. For high-priced items—a secondhand Rolex Explorer 1016 sells for between $19,000 and $52,000—spending a couple grand on an original box is a worthwhile investment. It’s not just collectibles either; even for items like a Dyson Airwrap or Nintendo Switch, it can make sound financial sense for a seller to track down the original packaging. 造成这一现象的主要原因是，买家愿意花大价钱购买原装包装，以便将手中的商品拍卖出去；带原装盒的收藏品几乎总能卖出更高的转售价。对于高价商品而言——二手劳力士探险家型1016的售价在1.9万至5.2万美元之间——花几千美元买个原装盒是一项值得的投资。这不仅限于收藏品；即使是戴森卷发棒或任天堂Switch这类商品，卖家寻找原装包装在经济上也往往是合理的。
There are currently over 160,000 “empty box” listings on eBay (many under $25), and over 140,000 on eBay UK. WIRED requested sales statistics on empty box sales from eBay, Vinted, and Poshmark; eBay declined to provide data, and Vinted and Poshmark did not respond. 目前eBay上有超过16万个“空盒子”商品列表（许多售价低于25美元），eBay英国站则有超过14万个。《连线》杂志曾向eBay、Vinted和Poshmark索取空盒销售数据；eBay拒绝提供，而Vinted和Poshmark未予回应。
There is also an illicit side to this business: Counterfeiters will acquire and use authentic boxes to ship fake products to buyers, hoping to bolster the illusion that the shipped item is real. Sometimes, sellers will ship an authentic box filled with nothing at all in what’s known as an empty box scam. 这门生意也有非法的一面：造假者会购买并使用正品包装盒来寄送假货，试图以此增加假货的真实感。有时，卖家会寄出一个空的正品盒子，这就是所谓的“空盒诈骗”。
Buying Clout / 购买影响力
A seller on Vinted with the username wildswhim, whose listings include jewelry packaging (Vivienne Westwood, Michael Kors) deliberately avoids including “actual empty tubes or containers” in sales to deter counterfeiters. The seller also frequently describes listings as being “for props, staging, or storage.” Vinted上的一位卖家（用户名：wildswhim）在销售珠宝包装（如Vivienne Westwood、Michael Kors）时，特意避免包含“实际的空管或容器”，以防范造假者。该卖家还经常在商品描述中注明这些物品是“用于道具、布景或收纳”。
Yes, props and staging: Often, these empty boxes are going to influencers and video producers who use them to decorate their film set. Independent creators and aspiring influencers will use empty boxes, bottles, and packaging to stage their Instagram posts and TikTok videos to give their clips a whiff of the luxury lifestyle. 没错，就是道具和布景：这些空盒子通常流向了网红和视频制作人，他们用这些盒子来装饰拍摄现场。独立创作者和有志成为网红的人会利用这些空盒子、瓶子和包装来布置Instagram帖子和TikTok视频，为他们的短片增添一丝奢华生活的氛围。
There are currently over 1,500 listings on eBay specifically for the search term “empty box decor.” Listings include a “rare” empty Abercrombie & Fitch “PR box” listed for $50 and a “rare” empty Fenty Beauty “multi-tier influencer PR launch box” selling for $245. Both of these were originally sent out to select influencers by the companies’ respective public relations teams, indicating that the OG influencers are reselling the items to the next generation of creators coming up behind them. 目前eBay上有超过1500个专门针对“空盒装饰”搜索词的商品列表。其中包括一个挂牌价50美元的“稀有”Abercrombie & Fitch“公关礼盒”，以及一个售价245美元的“稀有”Fenty Beauty“多层网红公关发布礼盒”。这两者最初都是由公司公关团队寄给特定网红的，这表明老一代网红正在将这些物品转售给后起之秀。
The Vinted seller tonym528, who is based in London, sold an empty orange Louis Vuitton box for £23 (around $32) this month. He doesn’t ask his buyers questions but suspects that people are using “those kinds of boxes to show off fake wealth.” Seller MattyHornby, based in York, UK, has resold empty packaging from Supreme, Gucci, Balenciaga, Prada, retailer Selfridges, and skateboard and streetwear label Palace for similar prices per bag or box. 伦敦的Vinted卖家tonym528本月以23英镑（约32美元）的价格卖出了一个橙色的路易威登空盒。他不会过问买家用途，但怀疑人们使用“这类盒子来炫耀虚假的财富”。居住在英国约克的卖家MattyHornby也以类似的价格转售过Supreme、Gucci、巴黎世家、Prada、Selfridges百货以及滑板街头品牌Palace的空包装袋或包装盒。
Seller Rafal tells WIRED that the “absolutely crazy” prices are why he started selling empty packaging (Nike, Apple, Puma, Dior) on Vinted. Seller mariaharris1967 also jumped on the trend. “I couldn’t believe it,” she tells WIRED. “I was able to get rid of loads. LV, Burberry, and Hermès sell super quickly.” She is one of the sellers who labels empty boxes and bags with descriptions such as “great for room staging,” “good for social media staging,” “decor, staging, or room props” and “#instagram” to target aspiring creators. 卖家Rafal告诉《连线》，正是因为这些“极其疯狂”的价格，他才开始在Vinted上销售空包装（耐克、苹果、彪马、迪奥）。卖家mariaharris1967也加入了这一潮流。“我简直不敢相信，”她告诉《连线》，“我处理掉了好多。LV、博柏利和爱马仕卖得超级快。”她是那些会在空盒和包装袋上标注“非常适合房间布景”、“适合社交媒体布景”、“装饰、布景或房间道具”以及“#instagram”等标签的卖家之一，旨在吸引那些有志成为创作者的人。
Signaling Success / 彰显成功
Branded packaging arranged to appear in the shot—but in the background, not as the central focus—in social posts is often used to imply an association with an aspirational brand, says Tama Leaver, a social media researcher at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. Influencers are doing it, he says, “clearly with a view to making those intended relationships into real ones.” 澳大利亚珀斯科廷大学的社交媒体研究员Tama Leaver表示，在社交媒体帖子的拍摄中，将品牌包装摆放在背景中（而非作为焦点）通常是为了暗示自己与某个令人向往的品牌有关联。他说，网红们这样做，“显然是为了将这些预期的关系转化为现实。”
Platforms like Giggster and Home Studio List, which rent out prestaged sets to influencers, are very good customers too. The Vinted seller wildswhim says “the studios catering to influencers are bulk buyers now” for empty packaging listings. 像Giggster和Home Studio List这样为网红出租预设场景的平台也是非常好的客户。Vinted卖家wildswhim表示，“现在为网红提供服务的摄影棚是空包装列表的批量买家。”
Creators posting piles of packaging—even basic cardboard boxes—are doing so to indicate not just that they can afford the luxury consumption lifestyle, but also that they’re successful at the game. 创作者发布成堆的包装——甚至是基本的纸板箱——不仅是为了表明他们负担得起奢华的消费生活方式，也是为了证明他们在这一行中很成功。
Instagram influencers will post behind-the-scenes images of “PR hauls,” “PR mountains,” or “a month’s worth of PR” showing the piles of products gifted to them by the public relations reps from aspirational companies. They’ll show the boxes littering their homes, or products clogging their luggage after returning from a trip. Instagram网红会发布“公关礼品大丰收”、“公关礼品山”或“一个月的公关礼品”等幕后照片，展示他们从令人向往的公司公关代表那里收到的成堆产品。他们会展示散落在家里各处的盒子，或者旅行归来后塞满行李箱的产品。
Of course, not all of these PR hauls are authentic. Blessing Wuraola Akinsete, who runs the digital growth agency Wura Digital Concept in Lagos, Nigeria, has encountered emerging creators who buy empty high-end packaging just so they can post it for clout. “The pressure is to appear as though you are already receiving brand deals,” she says. “A new creator may see someone constantly posting PR packages and assume that person is far ahead of them, without knowing whether those products were gifted, purchased, or connected to a paid collaboration.” 当然，并非所有的公关礼品都是真实的。在尼日利亚拉各斯经营数字增长代理机构Wura Digital Concept的Blessing Wuraola Akinsete就遇到过一些新兴创作者，他们购买高端空包装仅仅是为了拍照发帖以博取关注。“压力在于要表现得好像你已经接到了品牌合作，”她说，“一个新创作者可能会看到有人不断发布公关礼品，并认为那个人遥遥领先于自己，却不知道这些产品到底是获赠的、购买的，还是付费合作的一部分。”
In Nigeria, companies like Rent Now NG offer Lagosian influencers, celebs, and “fake life baddies” options such as its ultimate “fake life” package. For 6.5 million naira ($4,800), they get a mansion, a car, a chauffeur, a makeup artist, and a private chef for a day, plus plenty of luxury bags for photo shoots. 在尼日利亚，像Rent Now NG这样的公司为拉各斯的网红、名人和“虚假生活达人”提供诸如终极“虚假生活”套餐之类的选择。只需650万奈拉（约4800美元），他们就能获得一天的豪宅、豪车、司机、化妆师和私人厨师，外加大量用于拍照的奢侈品包袋。