第1943期:Mystery boxes

Most of us know what it's like to get presents from friends. Whether it's for a birthday or other celebration, it's hard to beat the excitement of opening a carefully wrapped box to find something that's both unexpected and suits you perfectly. Now, imagine if you could get the same feeling when you go shopping for yourself. That's the feeling that mystery boxes hope to replicate.

我们大多数人都知道从朋友那里收到礼物是什么感觉。 无论是生日还是其他庆祝活动，打开精心包装的盒子，发现一些既出乎意料又完美适合您的东西，都是一种无比兴奋的感觉。 现在，想象一下当您自己去购物时是否也能有同样的感觉。 这就是神秘盒子希望复制的感觉。

Mystery boxes are not a new idea – they were a feature of department stores in Japan in the early 20th Century. They contain a range of different products, which are sold at a lower price than their combined value. The key thing is that customers don't know what's in the box before they buy. All kinds of mystery boxes are available: fashion boxes, food boxes, beauty boxes, even loot boxes, which are virtual items for video games.

神秘盒子并不是一个新想法——它们是 20 世纪初日本百货公司的一个特色。 它们包含一系列不同的产品，这些产品的售价低于其总价值。 关键是顾客在购买之前并不知道盒子里有什么。 各种神秘盒子可供选择：时装盒、食物盒、美容盒，甚至战利品盒，这些都是视频游戏的虚拟物品。

The pleasant surprise is not the only attraction of mystery boxes. They also allow people to try things that they otherwise wouldn't. Seasonal vegetable subscription boxes might lead people to learn to cook new meals. They can also potentially offer great savings – as the recommended retail price of the contents is often far higher than the purchase price. For retailers and suppliers the benefits are clear – it allows them to sell unwanted stock for a profit. British fashion mystery box entrepreneur Mario Maher highlights how mystery boxes can help reduce the amount of waste in the fashion industry. People might discover product ranges that would otherwise be thrown away. 

惊喜并不是神秘盒子的唯一吸引力。 它们还允许人们尝试原本不会尝试的事情。 时令蔬菜订阅盒可能会引导人们学习烹饪新饭菜。 它们还可以节省大量费用——因为内容的建议零售价通常远远高于购买价。 对于零售商和供应商来说，好处是显而易见的——它允许他们出售不需要的库存以获取利润。 英国时尚神秘盒企业家 Mario Maher 强调了神秘盒如何帮助减少时尚行业的浪费。 人们可能会发现原本会被丢弃的产品系列。

There is an obvious downside to mystery boxes – when you buy them, you don't know what you'll get! It may be that the goods inside are not to your taste, but there is also the potential for fraudsters to exploit the unpredictability of mystery boxes to send items that have a much lower value than the price of the box.

神秘盒子有一个明显的缺点——当你购买它们时，你不知道你会得到什么！ 可能里面的货物不合你的口味，但欺诈者也有可能利用神秘盒子的不可预测性来发送价值远低于盒子价格的物品。

So, are mystery boxes a fun way of reducing waste and making shopping more exciting, or more an opportunity for disappointment, or worse – deception?

那么，神秘盒子到底是一种减少浪费、让购物更令人兴奋的有趣方式，还是更多地带来失望，或更糟糕的是——欺骗？

词汇表

wrapped 有包装的，包裹好的
suit 适合
department store 百货商店
product 产品
price 价格
combined value 总价值
customer 顾客
fashion 时装，时尚
beauty 美容
loot box （电子游戏中的）虚拟战利品盒
subscription box 订阅盒
savings 省下的钱
recommended retail price 建议零售价
purchase price 购买价格
retailer 零售商
supplier 供应商，供货商
unwanted stock 多余的库存
product range 产品系列
goods 商品，货物
item 商品，物品
waste 浪费