Neatorama Mystery Sale Update - 3/16/09

Hello, everyone! A few weeks ago, we had our third Mystery Sale, and the response had been overwhelming (thank you to everybody who participated!)

I know many of you are wondering where your Mystery box shipment is at. For those of you who haven't received the shipment, don't worry! We're not done shipping 'em out yet!

In fact, we've been burning the midnight oil trying to get this done (it's Friday 11:30 PM @ the warehouse when I wrote this post and scheduled it for Monday). There are only two of us here in Neato HQ, working on the store side of Neatorama, and we've been shipping packages like mad! I do, however, acknowledge that we have to improve the turnaround time for the next Mystery Sale.

Even though this sale is over, you can still get Funny Science T-shirts, fun kitchen stuff and more on Neatorama's Online Store.


i had mine shipped to my parents house as i don't trust my reception to actually tell me when i have parcels, so hopefully it'll be there when i get back next weekend, and hopefully it's something good
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I'm still patiently waiting for mine :( Even though this waiting has been a long experience, I think I will still participate in the next mystery sales. I just hope I get a tshirt and not a crazy straw kit...
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I got the crazy straw kit AND a bacon wallet (I ordered two packages). Bacon's icky, so I'll be passing that along to someone who hates health (and pigs), but the straw kit is pretty nifty! As a girl with all guy friends and a husband who is allergic to shopping it is awfully fun to get a real, bona fide surprise, even if I have to pay for it. Thanks, Neatorama!
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Yep, got the strawz kit.

Lame, lame, lame.

That's the risk you take...(which I won't take again). I have a hard time believing that this is worth $10...Plus it sounds like almost everyone got the same thing.
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I got the straw kit, too... I'll save it for the next time I need to donate a white elephant gift. Or I'll make a sculpture out of it, not sure! Still, I had fun with the mystery sale, even if I didn't get something I could use. Heck, I've spent more than that in 30 minutes at a slot machine at a Casino, how can I complain when with this I actually leave with something?
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i'm extremely disappointed with the lame straw kit. this totally can't be worth $10. i will never ever do this again. this really affected my overall impression of neatorama. they're not so neato afterall.
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I also got the gift of straw. If you visit the web site of the company that made the things, www.nuopinc.com, you will learn that the "retail" value of this made in China package is $13.00. Have to agree with Kate, however, we all knew up front that there was a risk of some sort involved. Of course, I don't think I'll participate in the next sale.
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re: Just a guy

Alex was only showing us the bigger items that shipped, not trying to cover up the Strawz or any of the small items. Do you really think he is pretending he shipped out hundreds of playstations and tokyo flash watches for $10 a piece?

Congrats to whoever got the watch and the PS3!

Last sale I got a nifty LED flashlight, which I still use. I saw the same one at a dollar village for $4 but it didnt bother me.
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I received the straw kit. Although I did give it to my 9 year old, I probably would participate in the Mystery Sale again. Living in a VERY rural area, it is cool to get an item that would be hard to find in stores here.

SenorMysterioso has it right - can we really be disappointed in not getting one of the big items? Sending everyone a game system or the racing grannies would probably bankrupt Neatorama.

Thanks Alex for a neat gismo for my kids to experiment with.
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The most disappointing thing about the straw kit is that I used to think this is the coolest website. This has really tainted my impression of you.
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I got the straw kit too. I actually thought it was pretty cool until I found out everyone else got one too. I was going to give it to my friend for his birthday, but maybe i'll keep it around and have a fun time with my boyfriend or something. Oh well.
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haven't gotten my two items yet...but i'm gonna be kinda sad if one of them isn't a straw kit now...it looks so fun...granted i have the mentality of a 5 year old sometimes, but come on...can't you imagine nesquick going through 15 or more pieces of straw!
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i'm interested to know how many mystery packages were actually ordered, how many were straws, and how many were the special items.
oh yeah, how do you decide who gets what? is it random?
:)
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Maybe I'm as lame as the straws but I'm looking forward to fooling with mine. When I order from the mystery sales I think of it as a bet. If I lost with the straws it wasn't that bad of a loss to be bitter. I will say however that next go around there should probably be a better mix of stuff so that it's more of a fair bet.
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I got the straws as well. While my girls are having fun with them. The "amazing response" just shows that Neatorama had little mystery in mind when they made this sale. Humbug. Won't be doing that again.
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My first mystery sale, and I too got the Straws.
Not that great, but not that bad. They'll go in the Xmas Stocking Stuffers pile.

I paid with my earnings from Predictify, so it was like getting them for free.
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ordered two mystery packages got two straws... was a bit disappointed two get two sets of straws thought it would be more random. next year i think i will be better served just buying one mystery pack and spending my other 15 bucks on a t-shirt from the store.
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Haven't got mine yet, but I checked out those Crazy Straws, they def seem like something for young kids. Maybe next time you should have an age option because i certainly have no use for em.
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Still waiting for my package... I ordered it as a gift for my husband's birthday (we like to keep it cheap and fun). Too bad his birthday is tomorrow so I guess I'll be shopping for something else tonight. Thanks but I won't buy from the mystery sale again...
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I think I was first to mention that I got the strawz.

I am having a dilema though. Open them and use them at the bar or give them to my nephew.
I really wanna keep them for myself. But at the same time, I know how much fun they would be for my nephew.

I love the mystery sale. I knew what I might or might not be getting. And that was why I was willing to give up the ten smackaroos for funsies. :)
It's a gamble. And certainly a better gamble than the "Mystery Bag" offered at the dollar store.

I can't wait for the next mystery sale.
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I love my straws (and kind of expected them because everyone else had gotten them), however I didn't like how my package didn't have my last name on it for some reason and was thrown on my porch to allow for a neighbor to get it and open it. luckily she didn't want the straws

her loss :D
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Straw liquidation sale!

Must not have been very popular in the online store...

Did anyone get a T-shirt, because they made a pretty big deal about choosing your size, even though you couldn't differentiate your gender...

I bought one mystery for myself and one for a friend. I told him about the strawz, and asked him to text me when he got home to tell me what he got... I got a photo text of a watch! I asked if he was serious, he said no, he got strawz. Waka waka!
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You people are so ridiculous!
Mysteryyy salllleee. I'm sure you've read comments from people who've been disappointed in the past, and yet you chose to participate. Seriously, what you got could have been anything, and yet you still went for it, so what makes you feel as though you were entitled to something spectacular?

Anyway, somebody out there got a frigging PS3. I don't know of a lot of websites who would just toss one of those to somebody without strings attached.

Where's your loyalty? If receiving a mystery item from a fantastic website, an item that you well know could be incredibly lame, completely turns you off from it, you need to just get the heck over it. How often to you people blow at least ten dollars on brilliantly worthless stuff every day?

Ugggghhh. Spoiled!
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i totally agree! just because you're disappointed you didn't get the elusive "special items" doesn't mean you have to take it out on Neatorama!
I'm still anxiously awaiting mine! I can't wait, even if i get straws :)
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neighbor has the same first name as me. the return address gave no clue where it was from and we both frequently get packages. It was an honest mistake but one that could have been avoided if my last name had been on the package.

and as for being "gyped" ... I've gotten so many free things (something like 5 books) in the past from Neatorama, I couldn't complain even if they had sent me a box of tissues. I'm still WAY above the curve in cost of items they have sent me and money I have sent them.
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@ SenorMysterioso - No. I would imagine shipping Tons of Racing Grannies as plausable, however.

I was just commenting on a trend I noticed. Almost everyone was talking about straws, but there was no pic of them.

As for what 'Alex was trying to do', unless he told you that, you don't know his intention. Personally, I don't believe he was being deceptive. Again, I was just curious why there was no straws pic when that's all people were talking about.
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Sheesh!

People are complaining that people are complaining.

Thank God that this is America and we can all complain as much as we want!

Straws are lame!
It's lame that you think straws are lame!

Amen!

I feel like straws are my biggest inside joke right now, too bad the only people I share it with are in cyber space.

This is hilarious people! 90% of neat-o-rama readers own STRAWZ (and most of them hate it)!
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The really annoying thing is that the straws are one of the lamest items from the store they came from. Someone linked to the sites products earlier, and there were tons of cooler and cheaper products!
:(
Yeah, I got the straws too.
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I thought it was stuff sent to you guys as promo's and now spreading the wealth with us. Not buying a crate a of junk and sending it out to us. That is no fun.
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I just got my boxes in yesterday (3 of em, all in the same box though) AWESOME! I got Strawz, Bacon Wallet, and RACIN' GRANNIES!!!!! HAHAHAHA! They are silly...but my 14 yr. old had a blast snatching all my cool stuff from me. I settled on letting her have the bacon wallet, she said her friends were way jealous. My twin brother got a big kick out of the strawz too. THANKS NEATORAMA! This is my first Mystery Sale and I will be doing it again in the future...what a blast.
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the straws are cool.
i tried something too complex with them and coudln't get my juice through it all fast enough though. but still way cool. i'm impressed. i was looking foward to getting it even more after i found out about the straws.
best day ever.
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I got the straws the other day as well, and was definitely dissapointed by the straws. I think the majority of neatorama readers are a little old for this, it reminded me of something you'd get in a Happy Meal at McDonalds.

I know its a mystery sale and you get what you get, but for next time i'd hope a little more thought would go into the prizes.
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Love it or hate it, I want to point out that all your comments are welcome and published on Neatorama without any censorship.

I do listen to feedback to improve the next Mystery Sale - this was the third ever such sale, and there has been hiccups and a steep learning curve along the way.

To everyone who participated, I'd like to give you my thanks - you've helped support the blog (and I hope have a little fun along the way).

There's a thread on the Mystery Sale on the Forum (which I check quite regularly) that may explain some of the reasonings behind the sale and shipping process.
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