World3 min(s) read
Published 08:14 10 Jul 2026 GMT
A man who ordered a $1,000 boat from Alibaba and had it shipped from China to Miami got more than he expected when the package finally arrived.
We’ve all heard of the horror stories: where a buyer waits months to receive a brand new car, only for it to turn up in an envelope in toy form.
However, a man who runs the YouTube channel Ebikeschool and is used to reviewing unusual Chinese imports revealed quite the opposite.
Over time, Micah Toll has covered everything from electric trucks and mini excavators to budget EVs. But this time, he was unboxing something a little different: a custom electric boat, and this was no scaled-down kids' replica.
For $1,000, the Alibaba deal might sound like a bargain, but as many people say, “You get what you pay for.”
With that in mind, Toll and his dad opened the large box - which he'd had shipped to his parents' home as they had more space to store it as well as a lake to test it out on - to see whether he had landed a bargain or a disappointment, with his expectations limited by the meager amount he paid.
Upon delivery, they found a stack of life jackets inside the boat. While that might seem normal for a boat, the quantity was surprising: there were 10 life jackets packed inside.
Toll estimated that the packaging and the jackets alone may have accounted for about half of what he paid.
The boat had been carefully packed inside a custom-made galvanized steel cage, covered in sheets of plywood, which Toll planned to salvage and reuse, meaning it would not end up going to waste.
He and his father had to remove the plywood sheets before cutting through the metal cage to free the boat, which weighed around 400 pounds.
The boat itself, however, came with a drawback. It had very little power and seemed better suited to calm ponds and lakes than rivers with stronger currents.
Nevertheless, the bargain proved to be just that, especially considering that basic motorized vessels tend to retail between $2,000 and $15,000 each.
Even so, Toll already had plans to modify it. He said he wanted to add solar panels to the canopy so the boat could stay charged without needing to be plugged in, and he also planned to upgrade the motor.
People flooded the comments to say: "The fact that the company can make the boat, make the cage give you a million life jackets and make a profit is mind blowing."
Others added: "In the US, it would have been impressive to get the 300 screws, metal frame and plywood that made up the packaging for $1000," and: "I actually find it pretty neat. May need a better motor or some upgrades but for 1k not too shabby."
2 min(s) read
relationships3 min(s) read
Published 14:00 13 Nov 2024 GMT
A YouTuber thought he got the bargain of a lifetime after buying a $39,000 house from Amazon... but things didn't go as planned.
Getting on the property ladder is a huge step in life, although it seems to be getting harder these days.
Prices are going up and salaries don't seem to be keeping up with them, so people are getting inventive with where they live.
You've probably heard of people living in vans, caravans, or tiny apartments... but how does a house off Amazon sound?
You can buy pretty much everything from Amazon, and if you have a spare $39,000 lying around, you can even get somewhere to live.
But it comes with a catch, as one YouTuber found out.
Nathan Graham, the popular YouTuber behind the “Unspeakable” channel, recently purchased a prefabricated house from Amazon for $38,999.
At 26, Graham set out to test whether Amazon could deliver a fully livable home, complete with furnishings, directly to his doorstep.
When the house arrived, it was neatly packaged in a box, ready for setup. With the help of friends, he unfolded the compact structure to reveal four walls, windows, and even a bathroom.
However, there was an issue.
Despite the well-organized delivery, Graham quickly discovered that there were no electrical outlets.
“I’m trying to find somewhere to plug in the fridge but there’s no electrical outlets,” Graham said in his video, as he struggled to set up a small refrigerator.
One of his friends asked: “Did you not order the electrical package?”
This prompted Graham to review the Amazon listing, where he realized a crucial detail he’d missed in the fine print: “Reminder: Mobile Prefab House is not wired. Please hire an electrician for American standard wiring. Stay safe!”
Fortunately, Graham came prepared with a generator, allowing him to power essential items, including his refrigerator and a 200cm television.
He had also stocked up on home essentials, purchasing a bunk bed, couch, tables, vacuum, kitchen appliances, and games.
The Cherry Industrial prefabricated expandable house, measuring 7 by 6 meters, also came with certain limitations beyond electrical wiring.
Amazon notes that the structure does not include appliances, furniture, running water, or sewer connections, leaving homeowners responsible for these amenities.
The house comes with a built-in bathroom, shower, and kitchen cabinets... just make sure to read the small print first!
Bizarrely, this isn't the first story about someone buying a house from Amazon.
Jeffrey Bryant, who was inspired by Graham's house purchase, decided to go down a similar route.
He bought a 6.5-by-20-foot prefabricated home that comes with a kitchenette, living room, bedroom, and bathroom with pre-installed amenities all for $26,000.
For Bryant, this purchase isn’t just a home; he envisions a greater purpose for it. He plans to convert the space into an Airbnb for those facing homelessness.
“I saw this YouTuber unboxing his Amazon home, and I ran to the website to get one, too,” he shared.
He added: “As a person of color and a Gen Z, I want to inspire others to make wise decisions with their money. People my age are told that we can't afford to purchase homes, but I'm proof that it is possible.”
us news3 min(s) read
Published 10:08 10 Jul 2025 GMT
A woman in San Jose, California, has been buried under an avalanche of Amazon deliveries she never ordered, all because a seller in China listed her home as the return address.
Identified only as Kay, the homeowner says the unwanted packages have been arriving steadily for over a year, filling her driveway and yard with boxes piled chest-high. The shipments have become so overwhelming, she can’t even park her car at home.
“It’s just been another form of hell,” Kay told ABC 7.
The source of the chaos is an Amazon seller based in China, going by the name “Liusandedian.” The company sells low-quality faux leather car seat covers that apparently don’t fit most vehicles.
As a result, hundreds of frustrated customers have returned the items, but instead of heading back overseas, the returns have been flooding Kay’s address in San Jose.
What began as a single mistaken package quickly snowballed into a constant stream. Kay tried refusing deliveries, but the parcels kept arriving by the dozens. Over time, her entryway became so blocked by boxes that she sometimes couldn't get her 88-year-old mother to the front door without clearing a path.
“What you see now is just a fraction,” she said. “I’ve refused delivery on even more packages than are here.”
Despite filing multiple complaints with Amazon (at least six, she says) little was done for months. Each time, she was promised a resolution, and each time, more packages showed up.
“I was always told, ‘This will stop. We’ll follow up in 24 to 48 hours,’” she recalled.
At one point, the company offered her a $100 gift card for the inconvenience. But she says they also told her it was her responsibility to dispose of the packages, suggesting she donate or return them herself.
“Why is this my problem?” Kay asked. “Your seller is breaking the rules, and I’m left to clean it up?”
Amazon policy requires international sellers to either provide a valid U.S. return address, offer pre-paid return labels, or issue refunds without requiring returns, per their website. If none of those conditions are met within two days, Amazon can step in, refund the buyer, and charge the seller.
In this case, Liusandedian appears to have sidestepped that policy entirely by listing Kay’s home as the return address, a move that has left her inundated with packages for over a year.
Although Amazon denies ever telling Kay to deal with the issue herself, the company finally sent a team to clear the packages from her home on Wednesday. They also reiterated that the issue would be permanently resolved.
“We’d like to thank [ABC 7] for bringing this to our attention,” Amazon said in a statement, per the New York Post. “We’ve apologized to the customer and are working directly with her to remove any remaining packages while taking steps to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
weird2 min(s) read
Published 22:27 22 May 2019 GMT
We've all saved up a massive amount of change at some point and used it to buy a treat, like a cup of coffee or maybe for some vacation spending money. But can you imagine saving up enough to buy a new car?
A customer hauled 66 bags of coins into a car dealership in China's Cangzhou City, stunning the store clerks. The woman placed an order for a 190,000 yuan ($26,000) Volkswagen Passat, then carried the heavy bags of coins to the shop in three trips.
Check out a video of the store clerks counting the 66 bags of coins:
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A dozen employees at the shop squatted on the floor to count the change, which was captured in a hilarious video. The footage shows their hands stained black from touching thousands of coins, plus one worker complaining he has a cramp from counting. The coins were sorted into paper wrappers, then placed into boxes to be taken to the bank.
According to store manager Mr Jiao, a team of 17 employees sorted the change, which consisted of 1 yuan, 5 jiao, and 1 jiao coins. After three days of meticulous counting, the coins amounted to about 130,000 yuan ($18,800). The customer paid the remainder of the Volkswagen's cost by e-transfer.
Cangzhou Daily reported that the woman owns a small eatery and received the change from her customers. Since depositing coins at the bank would be too much trouble, she chose to save them at home. After ten years, this grew to a massive amount - enough to buy a Volkswagen Passat.
Videos of the coin counting were shared on China's microblogging site, Weibo, to great amusement. Were there better methods to count the coins than by hand over three days? Who knows? It's presumably not a situation car dealerships prepare for!
Well, I'm definitely going to keep saving my change. Maybe in 80 years, I can buy a Lambo!
lifestyle1 min(s) read
Published 17:45 13 Apr 2018 GMT
Even though most of us wouldn't admit it, we all have things that we collect that other people may not see the point in. You may not frame and display them for guests in your home to see or make big bucks off trading them, but there's bound to be some things around that you just can't get rid of.
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For instance, I still have boxes and boxes of comic books from when I was growing up. They're new enough to not actually be worth anything (and will likely still be worthless when I'm old) and I don't ever get them out for a read, so there's no point in them - right? Well, I still can't bear the idea of not owning them, for whatever reason.
But, at the end of the day, I didn't spend half a million dollars on my comics, like this man did with his Barbie collection.
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Jian Yang's home has been completely taken over by his collection, with more than 10,000 dolls in his possession, purportedly costing him over $500,000. The 38-year-old business director even designed his home in Singapore around the dolls he owns, which he has been buying for more than 30 years. And by this point, he's just stopped counting.
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"I’ve loved Barbie since 1984, when I accidentally opened my sister’s Christmas present," Yang explained. "Great Shape Barbie started it all." He continued:
"I’ve been buying Barbie ever since. So I never started 'collecting'. I just continued buying. I would estimate that I have more than 10,000 dolls. I stopped counting at 9,000. I think I have spent over £350,000 [$500,000]. But I don’t really want to know.
"My house is designed around the doll collection by Visual Text Architects, one of the best firms in Singapore, and even they knew that this collection very much defined my design sense.
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"I think there will always be a social stigma for guys who collect dolls, and I’m very proud to say I probably don’t fit into any of those stereotypes."
Yang explained that he buys the dolls from "everywhere", but has his regular visits to one particular doll shop in Singapore. His vocation requires him to travel across the world, which gives him the opportunity to find rare dolls from different corners of the globe.
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Eventually, a friend convinced him to create an Instagram account to showcase his hobby, and for the last few years it evolved from a "life photo album" into a doll-centric account. However, Yang doesn't think of himself as a collector, or feel any need to connect with others that have the same passion.
"I don’t really have any friends who collect. I must be one of the few collectors who has never been to a convention. I’ve never even seen myself as a collector. Just as a guy who likes dolls."
"Honestly I don’t even see the need to find like-minded people who want to “play” dolls. I’ve always seen it as a private thing. Anyone who’s known me for a while knows I’ve always had dolls. To the point it’s not even shocking anymore. It’s become intrinsic to my personality."
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The most he has paid for one doll is $3000, but he claims that "she's not the most valuable". For Yang, "rarity is also subjective" - and since he doesn't consider himself a collector, his favorites have nothing to do with the price tag or the idea that it is a one-of-a-kind doll.
Either way, it must be a little strange the first time someone visits his house. I'm all for his hobby, but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be the easiest house to relax in, with 10,000 dolls staring your way at all times.
lifestyle2 min(s) read
Published 11:06 13 Jun 2019 GMT
We've all gazed enviously at millionaires in their speedboats and wished we could be them. Well, there's no luck on that millionaire thing yet, but you can have the speedboat! In inflatable form, anyway...
Amazon is selling a life-size inflatable speedboat just in time for summer, and it's as close to the real thing as many of us are going to get!
The Inflatable Bay Breeze Boat Party Island is perfect for those who want to live a luxury lifestyle, but don't have the funds to pay for the real deal.
Available from SunPleasureInflatable, the mega-sized pool lounger is designed to fit six people, whether this be you, your partner and all the kids, or you and five friends, all with strawberry daiquiris in hand.
The float includes an inflated rear swim platform with five handles for easy mounting and dismounting, eight cup holders and a built-in cooler to chill your beer. It also boasts an inflatable bench seat that you can laze on while staring out into the great unknown (or, you know, the side of your pool).
The life-size inflatable speed boat measures about 20 feet long x 10 feet wide x 3 feet tall and weighs about 60 pounds.
According to customer questions and answers on Amazon, it takes roughly 20 minutes to fully inflate - much less time than it'll take you to earn the millions to pay for an actual speedboat.
So, speaking of money, how much do you and your five friends have to fork out to race away this summer? Prices on Amazon currently start from $216.79 (£171.09) and go up to $269.99 (£213.08).
But what price can you really put on fun like that?
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