{"id":19881,"date":"2025-08-26T04:37:30","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T02:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/26\/the-secrets-of-lost-luggage-auctions-i-bought-four-bags-for-100-what-would-i-find-inside\/"},"modified":"2025-08-26T04:37:30","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T02:37:30","slug":"the-secrets-of-lost-luggage-auctions-i-bought-four-bags-for-100-what-would-i-find-inside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/26\/the-secrets-of-lost-luggage-auctions-i-bought-four-bags-for-100-what-would-i-find-inside\/","title":{"rendered":"The secrets of lost luggage auctions: I bought four bags for \u00a3100. What would I find inside?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unclaimed suitcases were once destined for landfill. Now people are \u2018suitcase gambling\u2019 \u2013 bidding for bags and their unknown contents, and diving deep into strangers\u2019 lives<\/p>\n

A yellow suitcase draws me in like a beacon. It is stacked on a dark shelf at the back of Greasby\u2019s auction house in Tooting, south London, and looks brand new, with a hard exterior and wheels that Richard Stacey, a Greasby\u2019s regular who is dressed in shorts, a plaid shirt and a cream bucket hat, tells me to test. So I test them \u2013 and they work. If I was just buying a bag, that is all I would need to know. But this isn\u2019t just a bag: the zip is locked and when I lift it, it is heavy. This yellow suitcase is filled with a stranger\u2019s lost belongings. And I won\u2019t find out what is inside unless I submit a winning bid.<\/p>\n

I write down the lot number, 281, and my bid of \u00a370 on a form, along with four other bids \u2013 for a larger black bag that is filled to the brim; a sensible blue suitcase with a compass in the handle that I expect belongs to someone older; a small wheelie in Louis Vuitton-like check; and a smart piece of hand luggage that I assume must be a businessperson\u2019s. In all, I bid \u00a3250 for five suitcases \u2013 way too much \u2013 but Stacey has been to the auction house 10 times before, and tells me I probably won\u2019t win if I bid less than \u00a340 on each.<\/p>\n

Continue reading…<\/a>
\nUnclaimed suitcases were once destined for landfill. Now people are \u2018suitcase gambling\u2019 \u2013 bidding for bags and their unknown contents, and diving deep into strangers\u2019 lives
\nA yellow suitcase draws me in like a beacon. It is stacked on a dark shelf at the back of Greasby\u2019s auction house in Tooting, south London, and looks brand new, with a hard exterior and wheels that Richard Stacey, a Greasby\u2019s regular who is dressed in shorts, a plaid shirt and a cream bucket hat, tells me to test. So I test them \u2013 and they work. If I was just buying a bag, that is all I would need to know. But this isn\u2019t just a bag: the zip is locked and when I lift it, it is heavy. This yellow suitcase is filled with a stranger\u2019s lost belongings. And I won\u2019t find out what is inside unless I submit a winning bid.
\nI write down the lot number, 281, and my bid of \u00a370 on a form, along with four other bids \u2013 for a larger black bag that is filled to the brim; a sensible blue suitcase with a compass in the handle that I expect belongs to someone older; a small wheelie in Louis Vuitton-like check; and a smart piece of hand luggage that I assume must be a businessperson\u2019s. In all, I bid \u00a3250 for five suitcases \u2013 way too much \u2013 but Stacey has been to the auction house 10 times before, and tells me I probably won\u2019t win if I bid less than \u00a340 on each. Continue reading…Technology | The Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unclaimed suitcases were once destined for landfill. Now people are \u2018suitcase gambling\u2019 \u2013 bidding for bags and their unknown contents, and diving deep into strangers\u2019 lives A yellow suitcase draws me in like a beacon. It is stacked on a dark shelf at the back of Greasby\u2019s auction house in Tooting, south London, and looks …<\/p>\n

The secrets of lost luggage auctions: I bought four bags for \u00a3100. What would I find inside?<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":19882,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19881"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}