Every day, American skies witness about 45,000 flights. On those 45,000 flights, there are about 2.1 million passengers and their luggage. Every day. Crazy, right?
But not all of those bags will reunite with their owners. Current data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics shows a mishandled-bag rate of a bit under 0.6%. While that statistic includes bags that eventually make their way back to their owners [in one state or another] per NPR the airlines collectively lose about two million pieces of luggage every year.
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Unclaimed bags don’t just vanish from the face of the earth, however. And where they do go might surprise you.
Yes, when passengers and personal items part forever, much of it gets trucked down to a huge warehouse [!] in [drumroll please] Scottsboro, Alabama [!!] and sold on [!!!] to new owners. That’s right, folks—your poor, precious, mishandled belongings, that the airline has waived any and all responsibility for—are being auctioned off to the highest bidder like a prize hog by Unclaimed Baggage, a company devoted to consolidating and liquidating these wayward items.
It’s a symbiotic relationship, though. The airlines aren’t in the business of disposing of large amounts of personal goods, and so it pays to have somebody take it away for free. And the store, well, it gets free stuff to sell, stocking about 7,000 items on sale in its retail store each day. [While most of its stock comes from commercial airlines, it also sources goods from buses, trains, trucks, and “other travel, hospitality, and transportation sources.”]
As for you? Sweet, sweet justice can be tasted in the form of some killer deals on other people’s lost merchandise. The airlines definitely taketh away, there’s no mistaking that—but the airlines do also giveth.
island of misfit toys. And clothes, and airpods…
Only about a third of the goods it receives go on sale, according to Unclaimed Baggage. One third more is donated to charities, and presumably the remaining third is disposed of— recycled, when possible—because it’s in no shape to be resold.
Every time I see someone on an airplane tuck an iPad into a seat back pocket or a passenger whip out a pair of AirPods, I wonder which ones will not be leaving the aircraft with their owners. It’s like Russian roulette. So it’s no surprise that there are six pages of Apple products listed on Unclaimed Baggage right now.
Electronics are all tested and cleared of personal data before they’re listed. Want an iPhone? An iPad Pro? AirPods? There are tons of them constantly being replenished. There are even more than a few smartwatches [although I’m wondering exactly how you lose something that’s strapped to your wrist].
Clothes, both men’s and women’s, are cleaned before they’re sold, which is more than I can say for most of the thrift stores and vintage shops I’ve frequented. Chanel, Wrangler, Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Levi’s—unlike Amazon’s search results, you can actually pronounce and recognize most of these brands.
countering the counterfeiters
However, paying good money for what turns out to be a worthless counterfeit is a valid concern, so the store vets the jewelry and luxury items that come into its possession. “We have a team of experts with years of experience authenticating jewelry and luxury brands… In certain cases, we also leverage third-party experts to appraise jewelry or confirm authentication, so you can rest assured your purchase is reliable,” they say. If one does slip through, you can return it for a refund, and they’ll destroy it [seems excessive, but okay].
luggage space oddity
Unclaimed Baggage’s stock ain’t all roses and lightly used Converses, though. Some of it’s 1/3 horsepower garbage disposals, beer tap handles, and bobbleheads. Absolute randos like this give frequent window shoppers an incentive to come back regularly and see what’ll turn up beyond the usual, steady drip of brand-name electronics and clothes.
Take this Orvis fly fishing rod. I know nothing about fly fishing, but I’m well acquainted with Orvis. Their fly fishing rods are considered top notch, as Orvis occupies a prime space in the fly fishing world. Half off for one of their pricey rods, in rated excellent condition, is a plump find waiting to be picked by the right person.
Boxing, I do know. Somebody lost out on a decent pair of Ringside boxing gloves. Here’s your chance to pick up a great cardio hobby. Just don’t forget the hand wraps, if you don’t want to break the tiny bones in your hands.
How about these Smith I/O MAG ChromaPop ski goggles? These are the exact goggles I use for mountain climbing at higher altitudes, and they’re top-shelf quality. Rated excellent condition by Unclaimed Baggage, they’re 45% off. If I didn’t already have a pair, I’d buy ’em myself. Scouring the website for these sorts of things feels a bit like pulling the handle on a slot machine.
check your expectations, not your bags
Years ago, before Unclaimed Baggage opened an e-commerce site in 2020, I watched a TV show that featured the brick-and-mortar store down in Alabama, and people were parading deals that would make a veteran thrifter green with envy. These days, with the proliferation of the internet, it’s apparent that the folks who run Unclaimed Baggage look up the values and going rates of the items they sell. The deals I saw were more or less in line with what you’d find people charging for the items on eBay.
It doesn’t mean these aren’t mostly good deals on vetted merchandise from a reputable retailer—they are. It just means to check your expectations. You aren’t going to find a rare baseball card worth a million bucks. If you’re feeling somewhat lucky, though, you could always snag one of their enigmatic Mystery Boxes.
As for you, the next time you take a bag on a flight, make sure you slip an AirTag or a Tile into each one of your bags, even your carry-ons. Otherwise, who knows. You may end up one day seeing your own lost goodies on the pages of Unclaimed Baggage.
