I paid £130 for lost Heathrow luggage to flog on Vinted – I bagged designer gear, but something made me suspicious

The Sun

18 hours ago

A WOMAN has revealed what turned up after she spent £130 on a mystery suitcase from Heathrow Airport's lost luggage.
TikToker Lucia, who goes by @luciasisland, shared the moment the battered case landed at her front door and admitted that she was suspicious from the start.
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'There was no lock on the suitcase,' she told viewers, adding that the smell was "quite stale" and left her worried about what could be lurking inside.
Hopes of a case 'stuffed to the brim with cash and mini Kellys' were quickly dashed, though she joked it could've belonged to someone brave enough to check in an unlocked bag.
In fact, Lucia said she knew someone who did exactly that including putting her engagement ring inside an unlocked suitcase.
"Wild," she added.
Unwrapping the suitcase, Lucia found it was 'battered' with a broken handle.
The dodgy smell didn't help either and she admitted she feared the case might be packed with a man's 'dirty pants and socks'.
But when she cracked it open, the mystery started to unravel.
Lucia discovered the suitcase likely belonged to a Chinese girl, with the first items falling out being two Chinese books and a stash of period pads.
She searched the bag for ID or return tags but came up empty-handed.
'There was nothing,' she said – no purse, no name, no way to trace it back.
I've made £5.6k on Vinted and here are the 7 items you need to upload now to make cash quick - white maxi skirts will sell instantly for a start
There was, however, a single £2 Mexican coin inside, worth around 8p.
Lucia said: 'There's really no such thing as a bad investment if you're just as nosy as me."
But things soon turned around when the TikToker stumbled across brand new clothing items.
Lucia found a £37 skirt with its tags still attached.
She even landed a "cute Abercrombie and Fitch jacket".
As the content creator continued to rummage through, she began to find random items such as a pair of men's shoes, little boys' shorts and an XXL women's dress.
Lucia began to grow suspicious and even suggested the possibility of staff pre-opening suitcases and removing valuables before selling them.
She said: "Does the company that I bought the case from open up all the suitcases, take out all valuables, jewellery and cash, and then top up the suitcases with other people's bits?".
Fans were quick to agree, one user said: "of course they take out the valuables!".
The clip racked up thousands of views and comments, with some fans eager to see what else she unearthed.
However, others were curious as to why she'd want "other people's stuff".
One user commented: "Why would you even buy other people's stuff".
A third added: "I would be scared to open in my house."
How to buy lost luggage
THE famous US store which sells off unclaimed baggage has launched an online shop - so you can buy more travellers' lost items.
The Unclaimed Baggage Center, located in Alabama, has long been a destination for treasure hunters wanting to find a bargain from the abandoned suitcases.
Located in the tiny town of Scottsboro, which has a population of 14,000, it is an unlikely tourist hotspot.
Inside is a megastore of misplaced possessions taken from tens of thousands of suitcases, rucksacks and duffel bags, all lost on commercial flights across the US.
Now, you don't have to travel to the US and can do your shopping online with their new online store.
The centre has launched the online shopping experience as part of their 50th anniversary, having opened in 1970.
Everything from clothing to electronics are found on the website - current items for sale include high-street dresses from $8 up to 18K bracelets worth over $13,000.
They also have a weird and wonderful section which ranges from gold necklaces and diving equipment to designer gowns and signed memorabilia.
Legally, airlines have a duty to reunite luggage with their owners within 90 days, but if that fails, bags end up at the centre.
So frequent are these deliveries that the Unclaimed Baggage Center has around one million items on sale at any time, with 7,000 new items added to the shop floor every day.
Not everything that is found is sold - a third is binned, including all underwear, while another third of it is donated to charity.
Brenda Cantrell, the store's brand ambassador, says: 'Less than half a per cent of all lost luggage fails to make it back to its owners, but that's still thousands of bags every year.
'And the vast majority of those make their way here. We have exclusive contracts with all the major US carriers, making us the only store of this kind anywhere in the country.'
According to journalist Jonathon Thompson who went there himself, the 40,000sqft centre is "more like a swanky department store than a musty charity shop," adding that items are separated into sections, which includes electronics, jewellery and even wedding clothes.
Customers have also found bargains while shopping there - one person bought a £65 vase, only to find out later it was worth £15,000, while one piece of art valued at £45 was actually worth £20,000.