We sell awesome stuff so you can give the best gifts. When it comes to presents, there's only so many coffee shop gift cards a person can get. That's where we come in. At Vat19, we only have one rule: if we sell a product, it's got to be curiously awesome. Since that's our only criteria, we have something unique for everybody.
Vat19 (vat19.com) has 229 customer reviews on Five Star Index, with an average rating of 4.3 out of 5.
Also known as
vat19.com
Website
vat19.com
Category
Wedding & Party
Location
Saint Louis, Missouri
Listed on Five Star Index
2026
About these reviews
Replies
The company replied to 37% of reviews.
Latest
Most recent review: January 2026.
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Reviews are shown as their authors wrote them. The company can reply, but cannot edit them.
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Terrible company. I have sent numerous emails asking for a refund on dvoom backpack which does not work. They promised 2 months ago they would issue a refund if I closed my dispute with my credit card company which I did. I keep getting apologies with promises that they will issue refund soon as case is closed. This is ridiculous and I would never recommend this company to anyone.
Response from Vat19Oct 10, 2022
We are so sorry that your refund is still processing due to the dispute that you opened with your bank. While you may have asked the bank to drop the dispute, once opened, that process can be lengthy, even with your request. Per our credit card processor the full lifecycle of a dispute, from initiation to the final decision from the issuer, can take as long as 2-3 months to complete. There are no actions a business can take to reliably accelerate this timeline. Our customer service team has been in contact with you several times a week throughout this process and is monitoring this transaction daily. As soon as the case is closed and we are able to do so, we will be happy to issue a refund. The case is not yet closed, but again, we are checking for this closure daily. We are sorry for any inconvenience.
TH
Tiffany H.
Avoid this company
Avoid this company. I ordered two separate mystery boxes for my boys for Christmas, based on their repackaging dates. The boxes were the exact SAME, no mystery here, and the boys were incredibly disappointed, especially the second one to open his box.
Company apologized for their mistake and said I could ship back at my expense less a 15% restocking for store credit. Truly deplorable to advertise overpriced cheap junk food and toys to kids and not stand behind your mistake. Avoid this company!
Response from Vat19Dec 28, 2021
Dear Tiffany,
I am truly sorry that your children are disappointed. But you are twisting the truth.
You made an assumption that because you ordered boxes a few days apart that they would contain different items despite the messages on our site that clearly claim otherwise.
You wanted something (two mystery boxes that contain different items) that we do not ever claim to offer.
We have offered a full refund if you returned the box (despite the fact that we clearly state on our site that this item cannot be returned because most boxes contain edible items). We also sent you a $15 gift card as a measure of goodwill in addition to the full refund upon return.
We will readily admit when we have made a mistake and we will do everything in our power to make it right with a customer. This is not one of those situations.
I have included relevant excerpts from our web page (https://www.vat19.com/item/mysterious-box-of-mystery) below so that others can see exactly how we advertise this product:
*** From the "Features & Specs" section: ***
Note: Each equally-priced box contains the same items
*** From the "Frequently Asked Questions" section: ***
Question: I want to purchase multiple Mysterious Boxes of Mystery. Will they each have the same stuff inside?
Answer: Yes, boxes of the same style will contain the same items. While we do swap out the contents occasionally (see below), it's best to assume that boxes of the same style are identical.
Question: How often do you change the contents of the Mysterious Box of Mystery?
Answer: We pre-pack each style in batches, which we call "builds". We attempt to vary the contents with each new batch we create, but it's possible that you could receive identical builds on multiple purchases, even if you make separate orders (especially if little time has passed between orders).
*** From the "History" section: ***
Because we're always finding new awesome stuff and we're so excited to share it all with you, we frequently update the contents of our Mystery Boxes (see the build dates below). However, just because we made a curated collection of awesome on a certain day, that doesn't mean we instantly sold out of those builds. Ordering separate Mystery Boxes doesn't guarantee that you'll get something different from box to box, but it does guarantee that you'll be getting something awesome.
Best,
Jamie Salvatori, Proud Owner
Vat19.com
AG
Adam G.
Every item is overpriced!
Every item is overpriced!! If things were cheaper I'd buy lots items off here ,, but sadly I'm not stupid if even I make decent money to give money to someone who clearly over charging it's really sad.
Response from Vat19Sep 19, 2021
Dear Adam,
Thank you for your feedback. We currently sell 394 items that are priced under $10. We also offer free shipping on every order shipped within the United States. We do our best to ensure that our items are priced as competitively as possible.
Best,
Jamie Salvatori, Owner
Vat19.com
JB
Jaime Byington B.
Waste of money-do not order
My daughter loves Vat 19. She asked for a mystery box for Christmas. It arrived and there was about $10 worth of junk for $50 cost inside. It was in a basic box shoved in there and mailed in the same box. We didn’t even know when we would open that box that the contents would be right inside. She is going to be bummed on Christmas when she opens this and expects it to be exciting. I could have gotten her a much more special gift for $50. I will not order agin.
The owner should be ashamed of themselves for using kids to get their parents to spend money on complete junk.
Response from Vat19Dec 9, 2020
I'm sorry to hear that you did not enjoy your Mystery Box. I can assure you that the box contains exceptional value since the cost of the collection always exceeds the retail price of the individual items (sometimes it’s almost 80% cheaper!)
Obviously, the trade-off is that you don't get to choose which items of exceptional value you will receive. We strive to make sure that you'll have a variety of items so that you'll have a good chance of really liking something in the box. Again, I am sincerely apologetic that you're dissatisfied with the contents of this box, but I hope you don't hold it against us in the future.
CH
Christopher
Vat19 is a Terrible Company. BUY from Amazon - it's CHEAPER. Arrives in 2 days. FREE returns.
I learned about this site from my kids, who love their videos. Vat19 products give my kids a 5 minute excitement rush. Usually I wouldn't waste my money on these types of useless products, but given covid 19, decided it's worth it to see them excited.
WHAT HAPPENED
I was a repeat customer of Vat19 (BUT now will never purchase from them again). I bought a $100 Mystery Box, the most expensive and largest box of assorted stuff. A month later, I wrote to Vat19 customer service to make sure that if I ordered a SECOND Mystery Box, it would have different contents. They assured me they change out box contents frequently and each build is "unique". When the box FINALLY arrives 2 Weeks later, it arrives with EXACTLY the same contents as the first box I ordered. You can imagine how my kids' faces went from super excited to. Is this some kind of joke? They were obviously deflated and upset.
I contacted customer service to tell them they sent me the Identical box and would like a refund. They first had the audacity to state I could only return non food items (this means I would essentially lose $50+ of the $100). After a lot of back and forth with the customer service manager Rick Bouxsein and the fact that I had written proof customer service said the box contents would be different, he finally said he would make an "exception" and allow me a refund BUT I had to pay the Return Shipping... WOW, what a great result I said sarcastically to myself. This was OBVIOUSLY not my fault but I had no more energy to keep going. I had lost so much energy when the customer service manager would not reply to my emails and I had constantly chase him up by remembering to email him again to follow up.
Once I mailed back the box, at my own expense, the owner, Alison Salvatori, admitted to the mistake and said "We are simply not able to offer free return shipping due to constantly increasing shipping costs." Basically saying that they want to find ways to gouge the customer for their mistakes to protect their profits.
Anyways, I'm out of pocket time and money. My kids were unhappy. And then I came up with an idea.
WHY AMAZON IS WAYYYY BETTER AND HOW I COULD EASILY CREATE MY OWN MYSTERY BOX. WHY DO THIS THROUGH AMAZON?
1) If you search "Vat19" in Amazon, you will see they carry identical products. But also show you reviews of real customers and what their experience was with the item
2) Lower prices. For some of the items, Vat19 can cost DOUBLE what Amazon charges. See photo attached.
3) 2 Day Delivery. Yes! You don't have to wait 2 weeks.
4) Free Returns. You just print a shipping label and drop it in the mailbox. Don't even have to provide a reason.
5) Save time. You don't have to deal with suboptimal "customer service".
So I made my own Mystery Box and named it "Kids19". It's a mystery box of incredible stuff I got from amazon and then threw it into it's own box so it has the same experience for the kids. I even could tailor items so they are directly relevant to their ages.
Do yourself a favor. Pay less, get it faster, save time, and return it if it's not what you expected by going to Amazon. Hands down best online ecommerce company!
Response from Vat19Oct 16, 2020
Dear Christopher,
Thank you for the detailed message and I apologize for your experience.
It was incorrect for our customer service rep to state that a second mystery box would have different contents. While we typically build our Mystery Boxes in small batches, we cannot make the guarantee that each one will be different because it can take time to sell through each batch. I realize now that our website creates confusion by listing the build dates of each box. I will be updating our web page for the Mysterious Box of Mystery to make this more clear.
It is my understanding that you have been issued a full refund for your order, but I apologize for the effort that it took you to get our attention. I have also issued you a $100 gift card in the hopes that you give us another chance.
We're a small, family-owned company that works very hard to provide quality products at a great price along with free shipping. While Amazon charges over $100 per year for Prime, we offer free shipping on every order without having to sign up for a yearly subscription. And while you may occasionally find an item that is temporarily cheaper on Amazon, I can assure you that we are extremely price competitive.
Best,
Jamie Salvatori, Owner
JM
Jamie M.
Zero stars- item not delivered
Zero stars! Waiting 6 weeks for my delivery now told its in its way back to us. No one knows why but it was undeliverable. Then was told I’d get a refund minus postage costs! Unbelievable! I would avoid as the customer service advisors don’t care.
Response from Vat19Sep 3, 2020
Dear Jamie,
I'm sorry that your package hasn't arrived. Unfortunately, we do not know why your package was marked as undeliverable.
I know it isn't a great answer, but post offices around the world are overwhelmed with the increased volume of mail recently and it's possible that they made a mistake.
As previously communicated, as soon as the package is returned to us, we will issue a refund. The only instance in which postage costs would be deducted is if it is determined that the address you provided was incorrect.
Best,
Jamie Salvatori, Owner
MC
Maurice C.
Junk and no way worth the $50 I spent
Junk and no way worth the $50 I spent! My son was so disappointed. Flee market junk.
Response from Vat19Oct 29, 2019
Thank you for your feedback, Maurice. I'm very sorry to hear that you did not enjoy the contents in your Mystery Box! We strive to include a variety of popular items and we ALWAYS ensure that the retail value of the items included are more than the retail price of the box itself. Again, I sincerely apologize that your son did not find the surprises to his liking.
LU
Luisa
I ordered this as a birthday gift...WASTE OF MONEY. Extremely disappointed.
I ordered this, against my better judgement, for my son as a birthday gift. I paid $50 for garbage...it even included Christmas candy canes that have an early May expiration date. It was ordered late April. I would highly recommend that you DO NOT WASTE your money. Go to the store & pay the $10 for what was in that box.
Response from Vat19May 5, 2019
Hi! I'm sorry to hear that you did not enjoy your Mystery Box. We strive to include a variety of popular items and we ALWAYS ensure that the retail value of the items included are more than the retail price of the box itself. Again, I apologize that you did not find the surprises to your liking. Best, Jamie
