Your Lost Bags and Unclaimed Baggage Are Making Money -- for Someone Else
Black Friday Shopping Could Include Some "Gently Used" Items This Year; Why Not?
Minyanville reports that each year about 400,000 items of luggage checked by airline passengers fail to be reunited with their owners upon commencement of the flight. That may not sound like a whole lot, considering how many millions of people fly each year, but nonetheless these items add up and must be stored somewhere, right?
Wrong! The Unclaimed Baggage Center, a company that has found a way of capitalizing on the misfortune of frustrated airline travelers, sells the content of unclaimed baggage that remains without owner for three months. The company has carved out a niche for itself on the thrift market by contracting exclusively with a large number of commercial airlines.
Thus, your lost suitcase filled with undies, personal hygiene products, your teen daughter's secret diary, clothes, recent tourist purchases, and sappy love letters is likely to be rifled through by an employee of Unclaimed Baggage in the search for something that might fetch a few bucks.
Yet all is not lost! You can also visit the Unclaimed Baggage Center in person at the Scottsboro, Alabama store or online and see if you find your stuff; unfortunately, you cannot buy anything online. However, the store maintains that some savvy bargain hunters have waited for special airfare deals just to visit Scottsboro and shop at the Unclaimed Baggage Center store, and the deals they found on designer frames, electronics and also clothing more than made up for the cost of the plane ticket.
If holiday shopping this year has to take place on a shoestring budget, and if you do not live in Scottsboro nor envision traveling there for the lost luggage and unclaimed baggage sales, then perhaps Woot is more to your liking. As previously mentioned, even though the selection is small - one item - the screaming deals you get are well worth the daily visit.
In the true spirit of recycling, do not forget that Property Room, an online police auction site I wrote about back in August, also offers some superb deals on pre-owned items. If spending money is completely out of the question, visit Swap Tree. Associated Content's own J.Corn has detailed how to trade for the books, CDs, DVDs, and video games you want -- rather than using cold, hard cash.
Black Friday just got a whole lot easier, didn't it?
Sources:
http://www.minyanville.com/articles/airlines-AMR-UAL-DAL-CAL-alk/index/a/19541; http://www.unclaimedbaggage.com/; http://www.woot.com/; http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/915241/what_is_woot_how_can_a_woot_off_save.html?cat=3; http://www.propertyroom.com/; http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/949825/at_propertyroomcom_hot_police_auctions.html?cat=3; http://www.swaptree.com/; http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1107160/short_of_cash_swaptree_lets_you_trade.html?cat=3
Published by Sylvia Cochran - Featured Contributor in Automotive, Politics, Travel and Lifestyle
Sylvia Cochran works out of sunny Southern California and has been freelance writing -- full-time -- since 2005. SEO-optimized Internet copy includes news analysis, political Op/Ed and parenting as well as a... View profile
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15 Comments
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Sylvia-This is a GREAT story and something I've never heard about before! Awesome reporting!
Congrats on being featured on AC's home page. Thanks for the great bargain hunting tips.
Congratulations on your article making AC's front page!
This article is really interesting! I had no idea that they sold people's luggage after three months. I guess it's the obvious solution, though. Nice piece!
Very interesting. I had no idea that such an arrangement existed. Also, thanks for including the additional resources for bargain hunters.
hmm, that is very interesting! I had no idea there was a whole place for the lost luggage.. congrats on being featured.
I've actually been to the baggage center in Scottsboro, AL. There are some great deals to be had...for example I bought a lacoste shirt there that still had the tags on it for $12 (It was the real thing too, not a fake).
Congrats on being featured :)
I bet you can find some interesting items in those suitcases :).