Unclaimed Baggage Center Review – Albertsville, AL
Unclaimed Baggage Center
There isn’t much to do in northern Alabama aside from US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. If you venture about an hour away to Albertsville, you’ll find the Unclaimed Baggage Store.
Recently gaining notoriety from The Today Show, The New York Times, and other high profile publications, it has become well known to people across the US. Even my mom has heard about it.
I figured this is a good chance for my own Unclaimed Bagged Center review.
The basic premise of the store is that if you happen to lose luggage on a flight and you are compensated for the lost luggage, it will most likely end up here. Or, if there is a shipment to a store that is lost in transit, it will also wind up here. Nowadays, it is far less likely to lose your luggage – but, there is plenty to be sorted & bought from the Unclaimed Baggage Store.
Opening an Unclaimed Bag (I think the woman on the right is famous from the show)
While we were exploring the 40,000 square foot, multi-building facility, there was an event where you could volunteer to open and sort a lost piece of luggage. Going thru hangers, a handful of crumpled up clothes, and more, the hostess was able to deduce that this person was most likely traveling home. Usually when people are traveling to their destination, the luggage is packed neater and folded. Whereas if you are traveling home, your clothes are dirty and stuffed into your luggage with souvenirs. This spectacle seems to happen at least once per day, if not more on the weekends.
Unclaimed Baggage Center Floor Map
All in all, I felt that the prices paid were fair. Perhaps the TV Show, Baggage Battles, upped the prices on their inventory. The electronics were overpriced as compared to eBay or Craigslist. An iPhone 5s could be had for ~$225 or so, which is the average running price (link to price history graph).
The store is filled with primarily women’s clothing, followed by mens, housewares, and other miscellaneous items. Some of the more random items include handguns, sleeping bags, fishing poles, and a surfboard with carrying bag. I’m not familiar with how much these items usually run, but I recall The North Face down sleeping bags costing ~$70 or so. Which, if you do not have an REI or Sierra Trading Post Garage Sale near you, this is a steal.
T and W Unclaimed Baggage
Just across the street is another lost baggage store. Think of this one as a knockoff. Just riding the curtails of success. Where it smells musty and all the luggage is from before 1985. Some of the bags still had their ‘Lost Luggage – send to Dallas’ tags from Greyhound on them. Picture a retirement community in Florida opening a store – this is what the inside is like. You’d have various porcelain figurines, random GameBoy games, and clothing from the early 90’s. These are the type of goods available for purchase here.
Between the two stores, I walked away with a $10 Nike Featherweight Neon Yellow hat that I’ll use cycling or kayaking. Emily purchased an assortment of clothing and an awesome pair of Mizuno shoes for less than $75 total.
This sort of store isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Especially if you don’t like thrifting and trying to find bargains. But, I do think that the Unclaimed Baggage Store has something for everyone.
