Redditor sent empty box instead of Ryzen 5 9600X from Amazon... twice

One exceedingly unlucky Redditor ordered a Ryzen 5 9600X on Amazon only to have an empty box show up instead. After getting a refund and purchasing a second AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, that too seemed to be an empty box. Third time's the charm?

Posting to the PC Build subreddit, user No-Yak9776 says they mistakenly ordered from a third-party seller named "The Tech Group", but the order was fulfilled on Amazon. The user says they work at a PC shop that orders a lot of its tech through Amazon, and just happens to record unboxing videos for this specific purpose. That's pretty lucky, as without that evidence, getting a refund could be tough.

Naturally, you take some risk buying from unknown third-party sellers, even if they are shipped via Amazon. It's even pretty easy to order from a third-party seller by accident, as you have to click into a listing, then check the 'Sold By' section on the right-hand side just to check if it's actually sold by Amazon. And, in this case, the Ryzen 5 9600X from The Tech Group is shipped from Amazon, which suggests someone in the Amazon warehouse checked the CPU before sending it out.

This isn't to say that The Tech Group has intentionally sent out empty boxes (though two in a row certainly isn't a good track record, and someone complained about being sent an empty box from this company back in 2024 too). All I can say is that, if I were buying a CPU, I'd look for Amazon as the seller.

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Still, that doesn't mean even Amazon will get it right all of the time. Some shippers handling CPUs might not know what to look for, and they're so light (with this specific one being 60 grams) that the rock-in-a-box strategy could be particularly potent. Still, this story offers a few good reminders for anyone looking to buy technology on Amazon.

First, if you can, make sure you are buying directly from Amazon or a seller you are familiar with. As well as this, make sure to record your unboxing process so you have evidence you can send back for the return if you need it. In this specific case, the redditor points out that The Tech Group has a good rating on Amazon, so you can never be too careful when shopping online.

It's a shame that, in this case, the redditor's time has been wasted, and they now have cardboard to recycle, but buying online can be much worse if you aren't too careful. If you plan on picking up some tech in the future, make sure to take all the precautions you can. Even if that means pointing a camera at the box as you open it up.