These Odds Are Terrible!
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- čas přidán 14. 02. 2020
- Is this loot box website just as scummy and scammy as it once was?
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#LootBox #Scam
A few viewers brought up the resale factor as a way to bring down EV for a particular box, however, accounting for it mathematically would have opened up a can of worms far too complicated to navigate in a video of this stature. You'd need to make assumptions about _how many_ items are refunded and how many are kept. For these EV calculations, I assumed all items would be kept. I could have walked away with every single item I won and continued to play with my remaining balance. Of course HypeDrop's gonna give you a fraction of your earnings back if you decide to sell - and that's another way to "print money" as a commenter put it - but this factor is secondary to the EV of the box at the start of each roll (because, again, you can walk away at any time and keep every prize won). You could argue that it's a worst-case assumption (and I'll give ya that), but it beats accounting for the decision to "keep" or "sell" every item won.
Also, if I was HypeDrop, I'd skew the odds in such a way that I wouldn't need to assume all players resell won items. Eliminate all uncertainty. Hence why I focused on the deals they're likely making for ultra-cheap game keys.
Why no link to the first video in the description? We can't start the series on part 2 that's blasphemous.
It's in a card literally in the beginning of the video. But I can also include it in the description if that'll make it easier. Either way, you could watch this video without seeing the first and still be in the loop :-)
Greg Salazar a friend of mine was addicted to hypedrop, he once got a good gpu (i think it was a 1660 or something i forgot) then he wanted to get it obviously then they said that it was out of stock and they emailed him that he would get 400 store credit and no gpu. He was dumb and accepted it but obviously he started getting game keys and then he quit.
I wonder if selling back an item at a net gain to you results in worse outcomes on future purchases. This way they give you a seemingly good deal, but then you get flagged and put on a loser list. It happens on some casino games on mobile. Makes sense.
If they're affiliated with G2A, as one would conclude with G2A pay as a payment option, the easiest place to look into for your discrepancy is the keys (especially considering they are the highest probability items). G2A are selling many of these keys below the stated $5 cost as you already noted, but G2A either 1) paid less for those keys and thus the cost is still lower than their market value or 2) are using this as a way to rid themselves of as many of these game keys that aren't selling as possible. Like you said inventory sitting on shelves isn't ideal, a game key already owned but that isn't moving due to loss of popularity or whatever is pure loss if it is never sold, even if they're not directly affiliated this could make for a great bulk discount.
Any sell-backs for items at a lower cost than the original box are also pure profit, if you pay $5 for the loot box and sell back a key for 69 cents that's $4.31 profit, and what honestly are you gonna do with 7 keys of superhot? Plus we can look at other sell back items like the coolers some as noted are platform specific, and therefor will probably never be taken by someone who has the other platform, intel and AMD specific coolers thus would become a great fit for cheaper boxes and any platform specific box would have to increase in price, intel still holds more market share so one would think AMD coolers would be easier to make money on but perhaps there just aren't as many low cost options.
IDK
Random Person: Rolls for i9-9980XE
and lands on it.
HypeBox: Oops. 504 Gateway Timeout error
Random Person: Wait, what? WTF?
HypeBox: We're sorry, heres a game key for the inconvenience.
Your PCMD It wouldn't happen anyways these sites don't have odds, just rigged.
@@GanDtech this does happen. maybe this website is different, but i can tell you i was playing one of those pop a ball poker games. 1st pop hit something like A,K,Q,J and another jack. leaving me just the 10 off a royal flush. so i "lock" in the 4 and repop trying for the 10. and would you believe i got it! I jumped out of my chair being that i just won something like 10k tickets. then the machine said error unable to find the ball.... but it was not the 10 ball i had just poped, it was the Jack that had been locked in from the round before, yet the game knew where it was then. I called the manger over pissed off and all he said was i could not prove i got the royal flush and offered 100tickets for my time. and by the time the manger got there the machine had gone in to demo mode and had repoped all of the balls so there where not sitting in the now 4 out 5 royal flush.
The website determines what you win the split second you hit enter, meaning you have already lost before you even know it, if you were to land on a top prise the website server should already know what it is and should have saved the result, if not then this is very VERY bad design.
But as stated in this video, the odds of winning that price are nearly zero, and to me they ARE zero since the prise never existed, to me these sites are rigged so yeah.
i see RuneScape i upvote 👍
LOL
Thats why i cliked on this video
Greg probably doesn't even know what RS is.
Not a btw btw
Only reason I tapped on this video
The house always wins. Even when they lose, they win.
Still better chance than getting a knife in csgo. Lol
Doubt, Valve can generate 10000 knifes for literally free and they have to actually pay for this stuff ;) Doesn't matter, both are scam.
How to get knife in csgo with minimum investment/mostly free atcost of playtime:
1)Buy the prime status for drops (if you haven't bought it already).
2) Check the csgo update/csgo discussion forum for any new update with csgo cases.
3) Play csgo regularly until you get your 2-3 weekly cases drop and hope you get the new case.
4) Sell any new case and keep the old cases worth 0,03 $.
5) Sell any old cases when they go up in price and you're confident they won't go up anymore.
6) After a year or so if you have played regularly you should be able to put an order on the market (or maybe straight up buy) for the cheapest and crappiest knife ,probably a navaja.
Not really, I unboxed a $1300 knife the other day
I've spent around $2,000 in cs keys (i've checked on steam)
I've unboxed
ST Flip Fade FN
Karambit marble fade FN max fire/ice with a perfect corner - still by far my most insane pull
Karambit ultra violet FT
Flip marble fade FN
Karambit damascus steel FT
Classic knife crimson web FT
Handwrap overprints MW
and now a skeleton knife crimson web FT ($1200-1300 i was talking about) recorded that one too.
I believe unboxing a knife is around 1/400ish) so .25
Not really that insane if you think about it.
@@iZaners good for you then. Not everyone has that luck. 🤣
@@vnkt_yt #realstories
So they go from an F to a D- ?? An attempt was made to be more forthcoming, but they can't escape the scammy nature of their business model.
Renting pc parts and now tech loot boxes. The ridiculous stuff I keep finding out thanks to this channel. lol
I love how, without fail, the item to the very left or right of your item was always worth several hundred or even thousands of dollars.
Thats exactly how they get you, the spins are rigged so that happens and you think you almost won big so you play again.
Don't forget, that everytime someone sells back an item, say a game key for $0.69 from the $4.99 box, the company makes an instant profit of $4.30.
Well.. close enough since these keys are most likely bought in bulk for cheap
I'd say they make more, $50 Roll wins you a $4.99 Key that you sell for $0.69, this means the company made close to $50 and you made nothing at all.
Just spend the money on a McDonalds or something, buy a broken PC, Go to s str*p club or whatever, even setting the money on FIRE is better than using these websites since you may actually get enjoyment from it where as this is just scamming you.
Cant wait on 3080ti!
Wait..
Like the lottery, it's another tax on those who failed math...
It's no less stupid than alcohol, or smoking, or fast food, or countless things we all waste money on. What Kind of empty sanitised life do you live where you don't "waste" money on silly things occasionally.
@@wyterabitt2149 I am sorry you failed math...
@@BornYooper The cry of the uneducated. It's like hearing the flat Earthers shouting "scientific method" like a brain damaged tourettes sufferer. You're in good company.
So it is rational to spend money on something where your expected return is less than your cost?
EuclideanPrime Numbers
The EXPECTED return is NOT more than the cost. The expected return value accounts for probability, the Fair EV as presented in this video. This lack of accounting for statistics goes back to what the OP is saying.
With that said, the POSSIBLE return is higher than the cost. And, some people get a rush from that and “playing the odds.” They know the odds and play for being one of the lucky players.
RuneScape is mentioned in perfect context
Swath of RS comments ensues
I feel like another way for them to have a higher outcome is by having the knowledge that people will often return items. Especially with those games, I feel like people are likelely to simply 'sell them back' to hypedrop for 65 cents. This means that this specific reward only costs them 65 cents instead of the 5 dollar listed price, assuming almost everyone sell the keys back to them.
Not even just that, I'd bet they got the game keys for under 50 cent a pop as well, meaning they really made $4.31, plus get to sell that same game key to another sap for $4.31...
I didn't realize this website existed, but this was a fantastic breakdown and was really interesting, thanks man
You don't go near ANY lootboxes as a gamer.
"The more they play, the more they lose. In the end, we get it all" - Robert De Niro - Casino
Greg now says "Lisa, honey I just gambled away $100"
3:29 he air quoted so hard his fingers disappeared from reality.
My son worked at BestBuy years ago, his employee discount was 10% over cost. That said, the $50 gold plated monster USB cables cost him like $3 after the discount. Getting quotes on comparable items, like a 32" TV showed vastly different discounts per model and per manufacturer. My buddy owns a 12v online store and he drop ships almost everything. He pretty easily gets at least a 25% discount from the organizations and manufacturers, and doesn't do any of the work (they drop ship). He does buy inventory, but usually lost cost high margin stuff, or repair parts that he needs to ship immediately. Also, manufacturers often want to dump previous generation items, they spend money warehousing them, etc and often just want to get rid of them and places like overstock often buy them dirt cheap. I own a business myself, and there is a often a huge difference between wholesale and retail, but sometimes its only a couple percent. Would you want 2% of a $1000 laptop? Or 20% of $5 cable?
is that third age Armour from runescape?
Yes. Will make sense if you watch the video.
@@GregSalazar watching rn : )
@@GregSalazar loved it!
Legit only clicked cuz of the third age
@@speedydraw quit runescape youre addicted
I think your very first roll of the day probably has a higher chance of winning something of higher value to make you think you'll win good stuff often
Then it would be possible to game them by using different IPs and accounts, to let them think you are a new user every time.
The Ryzen box has a good not sucking rating, as long as you expect a cooler, and are not unlucky with hitting that 25% 212 evo the rest of the coolers are valued (on amazon) over $40 with IMO makes it far less risky. you also have a 20% chance on getting something that have a higher then $50 amazon value.
That was a very serious spreadsheet, wow!
So I found this new site called CSGO LOTTO
Legitimately LOL'd at the Third Age armor reference.
"Anybody in his or her basement can set up one of these sites up, and make a ton of money." Yes, Serbian CZcamsr Nixa Zizu and his MagicUnbox site.
C-3PO: Sir, the odds of successfully winning a Core I7 on HypeDrop are approximately 3,247 to one!
Han: Never tell me the odds!
Loved the RS reference. This is why I love this channel!
You can't forget the trade ins. They make a lot of money back when people don't want the item and trade it back in.
We have a similar thing in The Netherlands too...
You have, for example, the "Apple Box", which lists a lot of expensive ass Apple products but also just junk that doesn't have anything to do with Apple (let alone tech) like hair conditioners, lip balms etc.
I removed the heat spreaders from my ram but the tape left residue and/or ripped in half , any suggestions on what I can safely use to remove it ?
just looking at that $5 gaming on a budget loot box at 1:48 you know its a scam lol. has a picture of a fully build PC in the box.........no way they would let that happen lol
BRO THE FREAKIN 3rd AGE FROM A CLUE SCROLL HAD ME ROLLINGGGGG. xD
I probably would have accepted the cooler to review it as well as to see how the delivery process went. At least if you hadn't already reviewed the cooler.
cracklingice Probably wouldn't even ship and get in-store credit for the inconvenience 😂
Would that not have added to the impact of the video? (though it'd definitely increase production time substantially)
Qualty video - loved every minute of it Greg!!! Thanks
But I only published it 8 minutes ago...
@@GregSalazar True! I am stuck on 3rd minute! Had stuff to do! Now getting back on watching :D
@@OutOfPaceRacing "loved every minute of it" :-(
@@lurick It's Gregs vid - you don't have to be fortune teller to know - first minutes was enough to know :D
@@GregSalazar And I'll stick with it! Great vid - once I sumbled upon hypedrop through facebook ad and I got to tell you I was really tempted to try open boxes but the "too good to be true" look of the web page and advertising put me off and seeing in depth view from your perspective gives me piece that I skipped out on this website :D
The odds of getting a great Greg Salazar video are great!
I got third age vambraces once years ago, but they were worthless due to the EoC update, despite their rarity :/.
THAT 3RD AGE ARMOR JOKE OMG YES
Hey Greg, love the content, but I'm curious what lens are you filming with?
Don't forget that they make extra money from people selling stuff back to them when they get something they don't want. This could even happen on higher value items.
Sitting on expensive inventory, jacking up the price and letting it rot on the shelve for years after it is obsolete; is why i have little sympathy for many brick and mortar computer shops struggling. Those idiots clearly do not even have a BA [or a cursory knowledge of business].
The thing is: No one can prove the odds, therefor they are in no obligation to make those expensive items ever drop, unless you draw from THOUSANDS of draws, at which point they would take notice and simply make a seed to drop it to avoid suspicion, or easier still, make it drop after a certain profit was reached so they can have the ease of mind of "hey look we did give it out that one time!", the ""business"" model is made in such a way that is impossible to prove them wrong, even if you had acess to their "HQ", unless it was a 24/7 surveillence of their actions they will ALWAYS ALWAAAYS win, literally impossible for them to lose unless shut down by a goverment agency.
Lol, you must like getting random lawsuits. Keep it up, love your channel!!!!
As there is an account being charged with a virtual wallet the possibility is very high that even if you ""make a profit"" (like Greg's first box and sell that stuff) that it isn't possible to cash out ""your winnings"". Also ""winning"" something slightly over the value of the box will trigger a reaction that you're on a winning streak which in turn will result in you spending your ""winnings"" to hope to win more valuable stuff.
If you notice, on a cheap item, it either hits it bang middle, or right at the start or end.
I got a gilded 2h, is that good enough?
0:32 when you have 60hz monitor
Well actually I got a 3rd age bow on OSRS on my 40th master clue. So are you recommending this site for me?
It would be interesting to see if they actually send you an actual item (not a digital key) and if it is the mentioned brand in the case of the heatsink/fan.
The values don't need to be lies for them to be profitable. They make their money from people "selling back" their items at huge discounts to try to get something they want. That is also where the addiction comes in.
You put a lot of effort into this video! Good job Greg!
My problem with anything like this is that you ultimately have to take their word for it that their system works the way it's presented. With a roulette wheel you can SEE the wheel in front of you. You can see the ball. And absent some kind of purposefully rigged table you can be reasonably certain the game is fairly presenting itself. With this? It's code. Code can be anything. And you have only their word that the code behaves the way they say it behaves. There's no gaming commission coming in and verifying the odds.
Honestly, you're better off playing the shell game with some guy with fingerless gloves in a subway station. At least then you know what you're walking in to.
I'd rather go to a real Casino.
I went to a Casino once knowing fully well I was gonna walk out of the building without the 100€ that I had when I walked in. But I *knew* this not because I am a pessimist (or a realist in this case) but because that was my *intention*.
I knew the business is theirs and not mine, and I never expected to win anything. But in my eyes, I spend 100€ on what I saw as a "ticket" to a really cool and expensive looking building, with excellent food and service, drinks, a fun ambient, and lots of cool games that were fun to lose at.
I didn't *bet* 100€ because I was never going to walk out until I was completely out of money. In fact I actually started out winning small amounts here and there, but simply kept playing until all my money was spent. It was fun.
But these virtual loot boxes are just scams. At least in a casino you can go with family or friends, have dinner and drinks and have a fun night. With these "loot boxes" you're just clicking a button on a website and losing money. You're not getting anything, not even a fun experience. These companies are basically preying on your optimism and desire to win (which fair enough, casinos also do that) but then they're not even offering you any sort of reward or fun experience. You just click a button and send them some of your money every time.
Where in Europe did you went?
Reselling stuff for practically free to them will help their margins too.
Also its possibly rigged .
And they might not send the idem at all.
You can still see the same odds when you do the "free spin". You can see for yourself that 98% of the time you will get the "cheap" item... They don't seem to rig the free spin.
They’re run like casinos. They have a limit in which they wait until a certain amount of spins and money are put in until they finally give you a chance at a decent pay out
Oh no....now I am tempted to spend a few hundred bucks on those lootboxes....help! 😅
If anyone bought the keys from grey market vendors (like urscdkey or scdkeys), have you ever experienced windows deactivate after some period of time due to the keys going on the MS's blacklist?
Ah I've figured something out. The spinner isnt at all representative of the odds. You might think at first that the spinner part is sort of real, just with fewer of the most expensive things on it and more of the less expensive. The spinner doesnt do anything but show you what you got. It's made so that you see the expensive stuff go by and you think you actually had a decent chance of getting it if the spinner wasnt moving quite the same.
Greg the re-roll feature likely offsets it. chances are people are winning stuff they dont want and "selling it back"
Also assuming that most people would rather cash their prizes instead of claiming them. A 4.99 value down to $0.69. The profit is there.
Most of the expected value lies in the game keys. There's no way they're paying 6.47 for superhot keys. If you change those prices you will see a huge difference
I have a better chance of getting laid than winning an i9 processor.
That's what scares me about lootboxes, especially in CSGO. Gambling sites can all be rigged, but case opening websites are by far the worst, because house edge can be as big as the owner wants. Roulette websites are the least scummy imo because even if the roulette can be rigged for a certain user, as long as everyone is playing the same roulette "table" (it rolls the same thing for everyone in the game) there's no way to profit off everyone, but in case opening websites (loot boxes), the website could display fake odds, pretend they have high tier items they dont, detect someone is doing too good and make their odds worst so that they start losing if they keep playing, etc. I hate online gambling but loot boxes take the prize for worst ones BY FAR in my opinion. And what sucks is that people keep using them.
This is litterally the real life stuff version of the shady CSGO lootbox sites from a few years ago. looking from the stuff they claim and the 'game mechanics' its even by the same people
Suddenly I have an urge to go complete a Clue Scroll...
Keep dropping the honest content!!!
I have had 2 Third-Age items over the years.
Before the GE came to the game I got a Third-Age Kiteshield and on Juli 18 last year the Third-Age Mage Hat.
Mind you I have completed a ton of clues over the years.
Aaah maths on a Sunday morning. Life is good. Thanks Greg. Not that's not sarcasm, I really am happy for maths.
Fresh content. Yay :)
EDIT: Those who share this site I bet that their odds are turned up.
There was one CS:GO site that did it but I don't remember it.
-Thanks for watching-
Thanks for learning
👌
I almost shit myself when you brought up runescape 😂😂
The other side is the refund option that you took - you sold it back to them for more money to gamble more and in doing so increased your chances of losing more money.
"Never tell me the odds" Han Solo
The rs skit was 10/10. Thank you for that.
I got a 3rd age mage hat out of a hard clue scroll about two years ago. Only worth 8m so sadly it wasn't the best 3rd age to get
I love how every spin he was 1 slot away from either the 9980 or the prebuild.
Then you Greg!! Wonderful video!
I've actually gotten third age on runescape...
Time to buy some loot boxes
You've convinced me to make one.
if you are after content for a video look at ebay sales in australia 20% off but before the sales the prices seem to go up 30% or more
It’s like the hassle that they do on the streets with cards they let you win a couple of times then your hooked after that they take everything
I think that 69 cents you get back for the key is closer to the price they pay than $5.
Was that full Third-age melee set in the thumbnail?
Spore CD keys were cracked and the executable was patched a long long time ago. Unless those keys are going into game launchers like Steam, I wouldn't be surprised if the cost is literally zero.
They are also relying on people selling stuff back
Man put an rs3 guy in thirdage lol
The thing is people like me who are skeptical enough to steer well clear are fine but so many people out there just can't see this stuff for the scams they are, it's why marketing people get paid alot of money. I bet Greg has no doubt had countless people like this try to get him on board.
They'd probably make money even if they were 100% honest and bought the game keys for as much as they sell them. Not everyone will take the games, especially duplicates, or coolers they might not need, they might just turn them into the site's fake money at ridiculously bad rates and then lose it too.
But yeah, bulk buying keys is probably one of the big money-makers for them.
It is just gambling in a a casino. The house always wins.
The buy back is what isn't factored in. It is fiat currency until you have it physically in your hand.
What's the EV for the most expensive boxes? Isn't it possible that they're giving up a net loss for the cheap boxes, and make a killing on the expensive ones?
They could - but again, why do that to themselves? It'd take two seconds to rig it in your favor.
Wow , I don't care at all about the loot box thing, but this was a fascinating, intelligent, and really good video' thoroughly enjoyed this
incase anyone was wondering ive just done the maths for the box and it gives a 89% return on the money you put in if you sell everything for current cheapest market value in the uk
IMHO the overall price also takes into account that most people refund the prize (game keys), and there you have wast majority of your profit.
I've bought a ton of keys from G2A over the years and have never had any issues. You just have to buy to from top seller's. I tend to buy from the same top sellers.
You should compare the results of the "play for free" option with the play for money.
Yoo that runescape character tho 😂😂😂
a Runescape mention in the video? instantly gets a thumps up from me
One slight problem, the 9980XE didn't age well. Should have thrown a 3970X in there. Much better top prize.
These odds are worst than getting a SSR in FGO! Not worth.
The 10 dislikes are employees of this scam company 😂