27 bids later: The first painting by a humanoid robot just sold for $1.08 million. Auctioned by Sotheby’s in New York, it was expected to go for $180,000, tops. The piece, titled “AI God,” is a portrait of Alan Turing, a renowned mathematician and computer scientist. The buyer got ripped off.
You can buy unclaimed USPS and Amazon packages - Here's how
Across the U.S., there are thousands of pieces of airline baggage that go unclaimed each year. Tap or click here for the one thing you should never put in checked luggage. Whether it was mishandled by the airline or a passenger forgot to pick it up, they can be found in almost every major city.
As a rule, unclaimed baggage must be kept at the airport for at least 90 days. This is to give the person who lost it a chance to claim it. But what happens when the 90 days expire? Well, some of the bags get destroyed. On other occasions, they go up for sale at unclaimed baggage auctions.
That might seem a bit bizarre, but it is an industry practice. It also spans other movable goods like packages and deliveries. If you are lucky enough, you could find something valuable or noteworthy, but you also need to be aware of associated scams. Read on for all the details.
Here’s the backstory
When it comes to unclaimed baggage from airlines, you won’t get much bigger than the aptly named Unclaimed Baggage site in Scottsboro, Alabama. It started over 50 years ago and has an agreement with several airlines to purchase lost luggage. It’s then sold to the public from a massive warehouse.
This is slightly different from luggage auctions, as the company opens the bags, checks the contents, and cleans them. It is then priced and available for purchase either online or in-store.
Some of the more exciting things that have been found in lost luggage included a Nikon F camera from the Space Shuttle, an Egyptian burial mask, and shrunken heads from the Amazon rainforest.
Speaking of Amazon, lost item sales aren’t limited to airlines. You can also buy packages that never made it to their destination from USPS and Amazon. Similar to airlines, the deliveries are put up for auction.
How to buy unclaimed packages
There are a few websites where you can bid for unclaimed packages, but you also need to know about the risks. One such website is GovDeals, which USPS contracts to auction undelivered goods.
Fortunately, you aren’t bidding on a mysterious box with unknown content. Instead, you’re bidding on individual items listed across many categories. You bid on the item you would like and hope you win the auction.
Another website that you can look at is Liquidation.com, which is affiliated with GovDeals. The great thing about this website is that you can filter by brand or retailer. This includes packages and undelivered goods from Amazon, Target, Walmart and Home Depot.
You won’t believe how BIG Amazon is
The pandemic has put a strain on everyone. We have had to adjust our lives to maintain social distancing while still working or going to school. People lost their jobs and are dealing with heavy financial burdens.
Many are finding alternate sources of income. One method to get some extra cash is to go through your house and find things to sell. There’s a wealth of apps and online marketplaces to utilize for this purpose such as eBay, Craigslist, Letgo, Amazon and more. There are also lesser-known auction sites, which you can read about here.
$20,100.10 Cheeto puff
Sold on eBay. The single puff duct-taped to a wall was Frito-Lay’s cheeky response to a similar “art” piece of a banana that sold for $6.2 million. At least the winner of this auction got a supply of Cheetos worth their bid’s price — about 450 8.5-ounce bags. Orange fingers for life.
Check the attic! 8 old tech items worth a lot of money
True collectors are fascinating people; they’re smart and persistent. As time goes on, everyday objects fall out of fashion and then, years later, clever collectors swoop in. Example: A one-cent postage stamp from British Guiana worth about $10 million.
$812,500
Current bid for the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz” (1939). The shoes were stolen in 2005 by a thief who thought they were decorated with real jewels. It took the FBI 13 years to track them down. Imagine Dorothy talking to her grandchildren: “When I was your age, I murdered a woman and stole her shoes.”