No one is mad dude at least I’m not.
You could always write a program that adds it to the cart and alerts you via text message to check out.
That would be kinda cool
It would be, but it would require knowing the item # ahead of time and then hoping the SMS message gets through promptly.
I don’t know if each Mystery Box drop used the same item #. If so, then after the first drop, this could work.
Also Yoyoexpert wants you on their site as long as possible. There is a key formula here, the longer someone is on a site/ store the more likely they are to buy something. As I have not participated in the mystery box but have participated in other things like this, Hype is what drives sales. The longer the anticipation, the higher the hype will be which equals more sales. Its not a bad thing, but in a lottery you usually don’t think you will win, but in stuff like this, you do.
Actually, I’d have it refresh the page every minute (every second would probably crash YYE) and look for changes in the HTML code. When it spot’s one, bam.
Next year, I just will plan on buying one on the BST. There’s a bunch on there. It might be for a little more money than the initial price, but still a bargain. Although, I found this year’s method of selling the mystery box and excellent one because, as people got one I knew I wouldn’t have fight them for one on then next day’s release. I’m sure this was a good way to cut down on server traffic too and create less disappointment for potential buyers like last year. I thought it was fun. 
Marketing is a beautiful art.
I have no problem with the basic set up. My problem is that I only use email. Because of this I did not learn of the deal until the second day. Since I do not use these other platforms I did not have the special instructions until I complained.
So please, tell us early and tell us how.
Special note I was lucky enough to get a mystery box.
Well, I find that I miss out on a lot of special offers and deals because I don’t use facebook or twitter or have a smart phone. Too bad for me, because that’s the way the marketing machine is moving.
This happens to me also. I long for the days when we were smarter than our phones…
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Unfortunately for you and others like you, it isn’t just the marketing machine, it’s the way the whole world is moving. Mobile tech is getting huge, and will continue to do so. It’s already quickly becoming the #1 generator of online revenue. Last year there were over 1 billion apps downloaded according to a study by Gartner (a leading analytic and research firm), with an anticipated $77 billion per year by 2017.
Another survey by Metaforic shows 2 out of 3 banks surveyed predicting 100% of their customers will use some form of mobile services by 2017.
I get where folks like you and the OP are coming from, I really do. Without a smartphone, your only chances on a thing like this IS being glued to your computer for the window, and even then you have to be sure and refresh at the right time, etc. whereas with a smartphone, notifications pop up and alert you the instant the emails/messages go out. There’s still the mad dash on the website that makes everything super slow, and so it sort of becomes luck of the draw with the server accepting your request from all of the ones trying to go through, which is sort of like a lottery. I wasn’t able to get one on the first day even with my phone, and had to try again on the 2nd. All told, I think I spent 30 minutes of my time trying to get one overall before I was successful. Without a phone? I don’t know how I’d have been able to do it while still watching my 10 month old.
Unfortunately, it’s just not really reasonable to expect them to change their strategy, because it’s directly in alignment with where the market overall is, and the reality of where online commerce is right now, and where it’s headed. If anything, it’s only likely to become more dependent on mobile technology as time goes on. It’s just a sad fact of any new technology switch-over. You can’t ever wait for 100% adoption, because it will be too late then. Some folks who won’t or can’t upgrade will always be left out in the cold. We saw it when they stopped selling VHS tapes in favor of DVDs. CDs in favor of cassettes. We saw it in how sites were designed for Broadband vs. Dial-up internet. Now we’re seeing it again with mobile. For folks who have yet to move to the new paradigm, it becomes a question of “at what point do you decide you have to find a way to make the switch over, or are you ok with being “left behind” as it were?”
(Source for all of this: I travel all over the country giving seminars and talking at trade shows on topics like these for my work, and have worked in internet and mobile technology sectors for over a decade… sorry if it sounds like some sort of dry academic essay, it’s hard to “turn off” sometimes!)
the mystery box always is exiting. I always am so interested with the whole thing even though i know I will not be getting one.
Some people will wait and say that they want it. The mystery box always have something good. This year it was the new gentry stein sig.
If yye did something different like random raffle, some people who really wanted one would not get them, many people would loose their money when they didn’t win. If that happened, yye would loose many buyers.
When yye did this short countdown, the people who wanted one were waiting with their hands shaking on their computer. The short countdown made people follow yye on facebook and check their site. Many even subscribed to the newsletter to get one.
The only way yye could do it different is to collect $50 from everyone who wanted to enter. then if you didn’t win the raffle, you would get a refund.
I dont understand why people are so upset. A lot of the fun is waiting and anticipation. The people who really want it should spend the time to get it and the people who do not want wone should not wait. If someone gets one, they should not complain about it. many people out their waited and still didn’t get one.
these are just my thoughts,
Aidin
Amusing regen of this thread.
As a side note; I develop mobile software (iPhone - NOT stinkin android) for many online retailers like eBay. Your comments are the stock response these days. Lets see where we are; this time next year 
^^ I don’t know many mobile devs who are particularly “fans” of developing for Android (though iOS has its problems, too)… but I don’t know any who flat-out don’t do it. If you’re keeping your bread buttered with just one ecosystem, kudos to you! Most devs (mobile or otherwise) try to be platform-agnostic.
So many mobile apps don’t even need to be native anyhow. Not saying yours are among them (I do not know what you develop!), but if eBay can work on the web, it can work with an HTML/JS “app”. If you need access to UDP streams and so forth, not so much.