From Tiffany’s little blue box tied up in a white ribbon to the bold red on Nike’s shoeboxes, there is an element of excitement surrounding iconic branded packaging; but have you ever thought how much the boxes are worth when they’re empty?
Money.co.uk has analysed listing prices on eBay of empty luxury items such as shoe boxes and carrier bags of some of the most popular designer brands in the world to find out.
The new research has revealed that Rolex watch boxes are the most valuable old and empty packaging from luxury brands, closely followed by other watch manufacturers including Tag Heuer (2nd), Breitling (3rd), Omega (4th), and Seiko (5th).
The Most Valuable Luxury Brand Packaging
| Brand | Packaging Type | Average Resell Value | |
| 1 | Rolex | Watch box | £160 |
| 2 | Tag Heur | Watch box | £149 |
| 3 | Breitling | Watch box | £131 |
| 4 | Omega | Watch box | £126 |
| 5 | Seiko | Watch box | £75 |
| 6 | Louis Vuitton | Shoe box | £74 |
| 7 | Gucci | Shopping bag | £69 |
| 8 | Louis Vuitton | Shopping bag | £69 |
| 9 | Nike | Shoe box | £55 |
| 10 | Louboutin | Shopping bag | £54 |
| 11 | Tiffany | Jewellery box | £51 |
| 12 | Dior | Perfume bottle | £50 |
| 13 | Diptyque | Candle | £50 |
| 14 | Chanel | Jewellery box | £48 |
| 15 | Chanel | Perfume bottle | £43 |
| 16 | Yves Saint Laurent | Shoe box | £40 |
| 17 | Gucci | Shoe box | £39 |
| 18 | Chanel | Shoe box | £37 |
| 19 | Fendi | Shoe box | £37 |
| 20 | Cartier | Jewellery box | £35 |
Empty Rolex boxes come in as the most expensive packaging that’s being resold, with an average resale price of up to £160. Rolex is renowned for creating collections of prestigious watches, the cheapest watch in the Rolex collection is their Oyster Perpetual which costs £4,100, while the Rolex GMT Master II Ice is the most expensive model range in the current collection with prices starting from £353,000. Interestingly, the most expensive Rolex ever sold was Paul Newman’s Daytona which sold for a record-breaking £12.9 million in 2017. So, a £160 box that’s branded by one of the finest watchmakers in the world seems like quite the bargain.
Eight of the top 20 most valuable branded packaging are watch and jewellery accessories; the top five are dominated by luxury watch brands, while Tiffany & Co’s jewellery boxes were found to be the 11th most valuable with an average resale price of £51. The iconic duck-egg blue box tied up with white satin ribbon was inspired by Empress Eugenie de Montijo, the biggest fashion icon of the 19th century, who was once painted wearing a blue gown which acted as the influence for the official colour for Tiffany’s brand. The eighth jewellery brand featured in the top 20 list is Cartier, whose red leather boxes could be worth up to £35.
The comparison website also took a deeper look at specific sectors, including beauty, and found that six of the top 10 most valuable beauty packaging were empty perfume bottles, which have a resale value of up to £50. Dior’s perfume bottles hold the most value and place the iconic beauty and fashion house at the top of this list; as Dior famously sells one of the most popular perfumes of all time, J’Adore Dior, there’s no surprise it takes the hot spot.
The Most Valuable Beauty Brand Packaging
| Brand | Packaging Type | Average Resell Value | |
| 1 | Dior | Perfume Bottle | £50 |
| 2 | Diptyque | Candle | £50 |
| 3 | Chanel | Perfume Bottle | £43 |
| 4 | Dyson | Styler Box | £35 |
| 5 | Hermes | Perfume Bottle | £31 |
| 6 | Vivienne Westwood | Perfume Bottle | £29 |
| 7 | Cire Trudon | Candle | £24 |
| 8 | Jo Malone | Candle | £23 |
| 9 | Givenchy | Perfume Bottle | £22 |
| 10 | Yves Saint Laurent | Perfume Bottle | £22 |
| 11 | Ralph Lauren | Perfume Bottle | £22 |
| 12 | D&G | Perfume Bottle | £17 |
| 13 | La Mer | Bottle | £17 |
| 14 | Jo Malone | Diffuser | £17 |
| 15 | Balmain | Perfume Bottle | £16 |
| 16 | Le Labo | Candle | £16 |
| 17 | Neom | Diffuser | £16 |
| 18 | Gucci | Perfume Bottle | £16 |
| 19 | Neom | Candle | £16 |
| 20 | Prada | Perfume Bottle | £16 |
It’s interesting that empty candle jars also appear on the top 10 beauty packaging list. Empty Diptyque candle jars take second place with an average resale value of £50; Cire Trudon is in seventh place with packaging worth up to £24, and closely followed by the luxury scent creator Jo Malone whose candle packaging is worth up to £23. Though you may question what anyone could do with an empty candle jar, many savvy influencers and beauty editors have taken to Instagram to show that you can repurpose them as makeup brush holders, a place to store cotton wool pads, or even as an alternative pot for your houseplants.
So, if you’re a self-proclaimed shopaholic and have hoarded your favourite branded packaging, it might be worth seeing how much money you could make off the empty boxes and cosmetic bottles you have laying around your house! Find out how much your old luxury packaging could fetch on the Money.co.uk website: www.money.co.uk/credit-cards/valuable-packaging
