In recent years, the blind box economy has been booming. From trendy toys to stationery and cosmetics, blind boxes have become a popular consumption hotspot among young people with their marketing logic of "unknown surprises". However, behind the rapid expansion of the industry, problems such as excessive marketing, absurd price premiums for hidden models, and minors' irrational consumption have become increasingly prominent. Hidden blind box models originally priced at dozens of yuan are resold at ten times or even dozens of times their original price in the secondary market. Many minors are trapped in the quagmire of "addiction to opening blind boxes", and this seemingly fun consumption carnival is gradually becoming a "consumption trap" that exploits minors.
Excessive Marketing, Premium Bubbles, and Uncontrolled Consumption by Minors
The chaos in the blind box industry focuses on three aspects: excessive marketing, unreasonably high premiums for hidden models, and minors' irrational consumption. Through various channels such as short videos and advertisements around campuses, merchants deliberately exaggerate the sense of surprise and scarcity of "opening blind boxes", and promote "collecting the entire series" and "getting hidden models" as trendy labels to induce consumers to purchase repeatedly.
The premium chaos of hidden models is shocking. Data shows that the probability of drawing some hidden blind box models is as low as 0.3%, far lower than the winning rate of casinos. Their prices in the secondary market are generally more than ten times higher than the original price. A Pop Mart hidden model originally priced at 79 yuan was once resold for nearly 1,000 yuan, and some out-of-print models have a premium of more than 30 times, earning the nickname "plastic Moutai" [5]. This excessively high premium does not come from the inherent value of the product itself, but from the scarcity artificially created by merchants and speculation by scalpers.
What is most worrying is the irrational consumption of minors. According to data from the China Consumers Association, in 2025, disputes over minors' consumption became a new hot spot in national blind box consumption complaints. Many children placed multiple orders without their guardians' knowledge, with the highest single complaint amount reaching 300,000 yuan. Some minors saved their meal money to open blind boxes repeatedly, and even secretly recharged with their parents' mobile phones, resulting in seriously uncontrolled consumption behavior.
Multiple Intertwined Factors Spur Industry Chaos
The emergence of blind box chaos is the result of the combined effect of merchants' profit-seeking, minors' psychological characteristics, lagging supervision, and insufficient social guidance.
Merchants' profit-seeking is the core driving force. Some operators integrate "gambling thinking" into their marketing, obscure the probability of drawing hidden models, induce consumption through false propaganda, and even launch "three-no" (no manufacturer, no production date, no quality certificate) blind boxes . At the same time, merchants use the "emotional value" of blind boxes to capture consumers' curiosity and social needs, promoting repurchases to amplify consumption desires
Minors are not yet mentally mature, with weak judgment and self-control. They are full of curiosity about "unknown surprises" and eager to gain recognition from their peers by drawing hidden models, making them easily misled by merchants' marketing tactics and developing an addictive psychology of "wanting to open more and more" .
Previously, there was a lack of regulatory norms, so merchants' marketing and pricing behaviors were not effectively constrained, and the speculation on premiums of hidden models was in a regulatory blind spot [7]. At the same time, some parents paid insufficient attention to their children's consumption behaviors, and schools lacked relevant consumption education, making it difficult for minors to recognize the consumption trap.
Misleading Consumption Concepts and Affecting Growth and Development
Excessive marketing of blind boxes and minors' irrational consumption have negative impacts on minors' growth, families, and the industry.
For minors, long-term addiction will distort their consumption concepts, leading to bad habits such as conspicuous consumption and impulsive consumption, and making them ignore the actual value of goods. Some children experience psychological problems such as anxiety and inferiority because they cannot draw hidden models, which also affects their academic performance and physical and mental health.
For families, minors' irrational consumption increases the economic burden. Problems such as merchants' prevarication and lack of after-sales service put parents in a dilemma of "difficulty in safeguarding rights" .
For the industry, excessive marketing and premium speculation lead merchants to ignore innovation and quality improvement, which consumes the industry's credibility. The disorderly speculation in the secondary market may also breed illegal behaviors such as scalping and price fraud.
Multiple Measures to Resolve Chaos and Promote Positive Industry Development
To resolve the chaos of blind boxes, it is necessary for the government, merchants, families, and society to work together to protect the healthy growth of minors and standardize the development of the industry.
Strengthen government supervision, strictly implement the "Guidelines for the Regulation of Blind Box Operation Behaviors (Trial)", prohibit the sale of blind boxes to minors under 8 years old, implement guardian confirmation and quota control for consumption by minors aged 8 and above, increase the investigation and punishment of illegal and irregular behaviors, and standardize the order of the secondary market.
Strengthen merchants' self-discipline, adhere to honest operation, reasonably set prices and the probability of drawing hidden models, eliminate false propaganda, establish a floor guarantee mechanism to guide rational consumption, increase investment in innovation, and create products with both aesthetic and cultural value .
Strengthen family and school guidance. Parents should pay more attention to their children's consumption behaviors and cultivate their habits of rational consumption ; schools should incorporate consumption education into daily teaching to guide minors to establish correct views on money and consumption.
Strengthen social supervision, let the media expose industry chaos, smooth complaint and reporting channels, and form a good atmosphere of "multi-party supervision and joint governance" .
Under Regulation, the Blind Box Economy Returns to Its Rational Essence
With the strengthening of supervision, the improvement of merchants' self-discipline, and the enhancement of social guidance, the chaos in the blind box industry has been gradually curbed, showing a positive development trend.
Many blind box enterprises have taken the initiative to standardize their operations, disclose the probability of drawing hidden models, launch floor guarantee mechanisms, and turn their focus to product innovation and IP building. Some enterprises have explored excellent traditional Chinese culture, launched national trend blind boxes, and promoted the transformation of the industry from "speculative consumption" to "cultural consumption".
Many regions have carried out special rectification actions in the blind box industry, investigating and punishing illegal and irregular behaviors, which has effectively curbed the chaos; consumers' rational awareness has improved, and they no longer blindly pursue hidden models, leading to a significant decrease in cases of minors' irrational consumption.
Blind boxes themselves are neither right nor wrong; their core value lies in entertainment and collection. It is believed that with the joint efforts of all parties, the industry will get rid of chaos and return to rationality, not only meeting consumers' entertainment needs but also protecting the healthy growth of minors, making blind boxes a beneficial consumer product that delivers happiness and carries culture.
