Anyone who has ever shipped or received a package before probably finds themselves wondering what happens to the packages that are lost and unclaimed. You may not have known this, but these packages primarily end up in auctions.
At auctions, this mail is rewarded to the highest bidder.
Some of the buyers at these auctions are small business people who flip the items for an even higher profit.
One TikTok user @caloriequeen14, also known as Stephanie, decided to do just that. She came across a local vendor at a Las Vegas swap meet who was selling these unclaimed and lost packages for $1 each.
Stephanie purchased $100 of the packages and shared the boxing videos on her TikTok channel.
After seeing her open a few of the packages, it’s safe to say she definitely made her money back. She got gift cards for Starbucks, Sephora, and Applebee’s, among tons of other stuff.
For $1 a package, it would be hard not to come up with something that justifies the investment.
Stephanie came across a bunch of odds and ends that didn’t really suit her needs, but she can re-sell those items for a profit.
Check out her unboxing videos below:
@stephaniegrime Does anyone know how this is even a thing? Mystery box unopening. Opening lost mail packages. Part 1.
@stephaniegrime Link in Bio. Part 13 of 30 in series of me buying/opening unclaimed mail from my local swap meet for $1 each! Giveaway coming soon!!
@stephaniegrime Link in bio. Part 15 of 30 in series of me buying/opening unclaimed mail from my local swap meet for $1 each! Enter the giveaway!!
According to USPS, you can buy the auctioned items directly from GovDeals. USPS claims that they only auction lost items off “occasionally,” but Local12 reports that in 2014, they auctioned off 97% of all items determined to be lost.