Do you know that empty Tiffany jewelry boxes are actually prohibited from being sold on many online auction sites? Due to intellectual property laws, it can be very difficult to find an empty blue box available for purchase.

The Value of an Empty Box

While the iconic blue boxes will never be worth as much as their contents, they actually hold some value on their own. Some experts estimate that an authentic blue Tiffany box is worth between $10 and $30, depending on its age and condition.

For many people, buying or receiving a Tiffany gift means keeping the special box as a memento. However, for others, the jewelry itself is the only thing that represents any personal value, and the box is simply something that can be sold in an online auction. There are plenty of potential buyers out there, and it would seems supply and demand would translate into a steady stream of Tiffany boxes available for sale on auction sites.

However, buying and selling Tiffany boxes online presents something of a challenge. In 2004, Tiffany & Co. brought a court case against online auction site eBay. They claimed that the trade in fake Tiffany items and empty packaging materials represented an intellectual property infringement. This case and similar suits dragged on for many years, finally resulting in an eBay policy that prohibits sales of empty Tiffany packaging.