Malaga’s crazy new lucky dip shop – Sells sealed Amazon returns for just €10

Playing Secret Santa is one way of making Christmas shopping easier for the family, but for those who truly can’t stand all the queues, indecision and traipsing around the shops at this time of year, it just got easier … but a little more of a gamble.

Imagine that you purchase a gift to give to a relative and feel the same excitement when you wait for them on December 25th. Imagine handing over a ten-euro note and walking away with a sealed cardboard box that could contain anything from a €300 drone to a single pair of socks. Welcome to Boom BoxThe latest addition to Costa del Sol retail options opened on Friday, 21 November, turning the province into Spain’s newest gambling playground for bargain-hunting gamblers.

Amazon, Shein, AliExpress, Temu, and Fnac – no idea what’s inside

Boom Box is a sort of real-life lottery, situated on the Carretera de la Azucarera Intelhorce, a road that’s not exactly glamorous, in Churriana near the airport. For exactly €10, customers receive a completely opaque package made up of customer returns from giants like Amazon, Shein, AliExpress, Temu, and Fnac. It’s a complete surprise when you open the package at home. The contents are in perfect working order, but are often packaged in battered packaging. Previous unboxings have revealed smartwatches, wireless earbuds, mini projectors as well as gaming chairs and gaming chairs. One famous Madrid case featured an iPhone which became TikTok lore.

The concept is absurd. Adults waiting in lines to play lottery with people’s unwanted parcels. The viral format is sweeping the nation, spurred on by endless unboxing videos online that alternate between triumphant shouts (“Playstation!”). and comedic despair (“Three phone cases and a broken blender…”). Boom Box is leaning hard into the chaos: the first 100 customers on opening day walked away with an extra mystery envelope each, turning the standard €10 gamble into a 2-for-1 adrenaline rush.

There is also a clearance section with items up to 80% cheaper. There are €40 gaming chairs that once cost €200, €15 robot vacuums, or €8 air fryers, perfect stocking fillers for anyone trying to keep Santa on a budget this Christmas.

Anonymous gamblers and shopaholics are a match made in heaven

Our online shopping habit has created a trend that is both fun and rewarding. The number of returns from e-commerce in Europe has soared to 30 percent for electronics and fashion, leaving warehouses overflowing with items that are still in perfect condition but can’t be resold legally as “new”.

Enter the mystery box entrepreneurs. They buy these returns on pallets, repackage excitement and sell it back to us as pocket money.

Boom Box will either become Malaga’s top weekend destination or a quirky footnote. One thing is certain: in a cost-of-living crisis, the promise of turning €10 into a small technological miracle (or at least a decent TikTok video) feels irresistibly Spanish.