Fancy mooncake boxes listed for resale online cost up to $1.8k

Some resellers count on mooncake boxes from luxury brands being collectibles

- Chin Hui Shan

A briefcase containing accessories to open a wine bottle, a jewellery box, a tingkat and a tote bag - the packaging for mooncakes these days goes well beyond simple square boxes.

In line with the burgeoning variety of flavours available, it appears how the mooncakes are presented has also gone up several levels, so much so that some of the packaging is being resold online.

In the past week, there were more than 330 listings for mooncake display boxes - mostly without the sweet treats - put up on marketplace Carousell. This year's Mid-Autumn Festival was on Sept 17.

Among the most expensive receptacles being listed are those from luxury watch brand Audemars Piguet, with at least one sans mooncakes - being priced at $1,800 and another, which comes with mooncakes, at $2,088.

One design can be used as a jewellery box, while the other is an exquisite lantern that comes with a telescope and light.

Mooncake packaging from other luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and Gucci is priced in the hundreds. One of the listings even describes the item as being "for collectors".

However, there are also more affordable listings, such as those from leading hotels, including The Fullerton Hotel, Shangri-La Singapore and The Ritz-Carlton, and restaurants such as Peach Garden.

Most of these range between $5 and $20 and some are being offered for free.

Over at Facebook Marketplace, at least 20 listings of mooncake boxes for sale were put up in the last 30 days.

"Reselling collectibles is a natural extension of consumerism and the emphasis has shifted from the core products which are the mooncakes in this instance - to the It is not known if there were any packaging," he said.