Where do the unclaimed airport luggage end up? Many of us have had the bad fortune to lose our luggage at an airport and this question certainly crossed out minds. Everyday day, the staff working at several airports discovers bags never collected by their owners. But where do these bags end up?
Daily Mail visited the Greasby’s auction house in Tooting, South London. This venue may not be as glamorous and prestigious as Sotheby’s and Christie’s, but it draws big crowds, eager to bid on the luggage never collected from the Heathrow Airport. The auction house sells almost 200 cases an month and , for as little as 15 euros, you can buy a bag, without knowing however what’s inside. It’s a lottery. Which makes it very exciting.
Many of the people who buy these bags keep their contents, while others sell them at ebay for a good profit. What draws the majority of the buyers to these auctions is the hope that they will discover the lost luggage of a celebrity or perhaps a lost treasure.
“Kim Kardashian, Naomi Campbell and Victoria Beckham have all lost luggage in the past. What if I get one of their designer bags, crammed full of Gucci, Prada and diamonds?” . This is the thought that is in the back of their heads.
According to figures, 21.8 million bags get ‘mishandled’ every year. It sounds an awful lot but apparently it’s half the number it was in 2007. The airports aren’t losing the number of bags they used to, because the system’s getting better thanks to tracking technology.
The contents of these bags is often very surprising. These are some of the items the Daily Mail reported discovered at the auction house: a Yamaha brass trumpet, a microphone stand, a full-sized keyboards, a Turkish rug, hockey sticks, My Little Pony Princess (boxed), hair pieces, crutches, empty violin case, plastic bags full of new T-shirts, assorted shoes and ladies’ underwear.
‘There’s no rhyme or reason to what people pack,’ says Christine Sachett, 62, who’s been running these auctions for 40 years. ‘I’ve opened cases containing used saucepans. Why would you bother taking those anywhere?’
