There's A Huge Online 'Black Market' For Beauty Sample Castoffs

A new black market for beauty products has emerged online.

Women who don't like their Glossybox or Birchbox samples are flocking to online forums and Facebook groups to swap with others, reports Kathleen Hou at Fashionista.

The top Facebook group, Beauty Box Swaps, has more than 2,000 fans. And users on the forum MakeUpTalk have whole inventory lists devoted to what they have and what they want.

"Trading has completely transformed how I’ve thought about these monthly boxes,” enthusiast Meagan Senesac told Hou. “I have hated certain items in boxes and had no idea what to do with them. Now, I really don’t care what I get in a box because I know I can probably trade it with someone.”

But while the experience is fun for consumers, it also highlights a problem in the beauty samples market.

"“The waste element in the discovery platform [beauty subscription boxes] is too big,” Hou writes, suggesting that beauty box companies should find a way to incorporate trading and personalization into their business models.

This isn't the first time consumers have taken grievances with a business into their own hands.

Shoppers responded to Lululemon's harsh return policy by creating a huge black market on eBay.