buy lost packages in a pop-up store for Christmas

As the Christmas festivities approach, pop-up shops selling lost packages are popping up in shopping malls or hypermarket exits. A concept tested in Reims (Marne), this Thursday, December 19, 2024.

It's like a scratch ticket, but in a package. In Reims (Marne), this is the fifth time that the Erlon shopping mall has hosted “Perdu ou pas”, a pop-up shop offering the sale of never-delivered packages.

This Thursday, December 19, 2024, many people flocked there in search of an object more expensive than the purchase price of the package. This is three euros per hundred grams (i.e. 30 euros per kilo), the purchase of one kilo of parcels entitling you to a raffle ticket.

To explain the concept, France 3 Champagne-Ardenne television tried it (in the Ardennes). This time, it's the turn of our website.

I go around a small, very sparkling Christmas tree and find Clément Lepinay at the counter. He is no longer a beginner and knows his subject. The idea came to him when he saw “a stand” of the same ilk elsewhere. He comes from Île-de-France, but “moves everywhere” : it is not in unknown territory in Reims, where the business is doing well. “I thought it wouldn't be bad to do the same thing. We found out, we set up the company, we bought merchandise, and we started small stands in galleries. It continued. ..”

Around us, several people advise customers, trying to encourage them to try the concept. One of them carefully weighs the packages on an electronic scale during purchase. The individual who buys sees the mass displayed, and the corresponding price directly. There is a large transparent urn next to it, which contains many raffle tickets.

“We will do a draw at the end of the month. For one kilo of purchase, we give a raffle ticket. There is the possibility of being drawn to win more than 50 prizes: two small cars child, television, connected speaker, Switch, Disney stuffed animals, cameras and a phone, a tablet…”

The expensive prizes to be won have been purchased: they do not come from lost packages. “It’s to make you want to buy… and simply create winners.” To do this, you will need to register on Saturday, December 28, at 2:00 p.m. sharp.

To make its existence known, it was necessary to demonstrate communication. Social networks have been very useful. As well as the Facebook page of the commercial gallery (see below).

“Lost or not” was proposed to the gallery management. Renting the commercial unit costs between 1,500 and 2,000 euros per month.

“We are in a better position this time”adds Clément Lepinay. The gallery is not the busiest in the city center and many commercial cells remain empty (but not the one that hosted the Lego exhibitions).

But it is true that certain brands attract people who walk past the mountains of packages. This is evidenced by the 200 raffle tickets in the box (one ticket for one kilo purchased). “There were a lot more people: not everyone bought a kilo.”(see store location on map below)

This is a godsend: “it is authorized because it is not illegal, there is no ban. A law will be passed in 2022 to prohibit the destruction of lost packages”takes care to specify the manager. “From there, there was the idea of ​​buying them by weight, in large quantities, then reselling them in small quantities.”

“Parcel delivery costs are so expensive that logistics companies keep the parcels. And since they don't care…”Here they are resold, since they can no longer be destroyed.

Although the question is often asked, the answer always remains the same: it's impossible to know in advance what's in there. “There could be anything inside. We've had people who have [trouvé] connected watches, smartphones, branded clothing.”

“Even without having had that, people come back to see us to tell us that what they found is cool. There have also been some original things: toys for adultsthings like that… You shouldn't give it to grandma.”

There were also toys for adults… Don't give it to grandma.

Clément Lepinay, manager of Lost or Not

Of course, “addresses are hidden. The people who were supposed to receive them have been reimbursed.”Accuracy is important.

We often see the labels torn off, when they are not covered with black marker. Some packages even include writing in foreign languages, making it appear that the original recipients lived in Central or Eastern Europe, not France. “Here, the articles come from platforms of marketplace foreign, for example Temu or AliExpress. They are also sometimes branded sites: we have already had branded products.”

It's time for me to try my hand at exercising. I am advised not to hesitate to touch the goods, feel them, or even shake them. On the other hand, no opening…

Boxes can be promising. “That’s often the best.” Those of shoes can promise the brand as well as the all-comer, even if I hardly expect Louboutins.

My neighbor and I rummage through the large central pile, where some of the presents are wrapped in shimmering wrapping paper. Her name is Kemmel and it's her first time. “I'm afraid of coming across something useless…” She hesitates. And shake a box. “Hey, some shoes?” She doesn't look convinced, but still seems to be having fun.

Finally, she goes to have her purchase weighed and paid for it (21.60 euros). And unpacks before our (amazed) eyes… a long jacket, with a slightly leathery appearance. She seems very satisfied and leaves.

Behind her, a certain Mathieu calls out to me: he asks me lots of questions about how this lost parcel shop works. It finally turns out that he thought I was one of the employees. “Say, there are people there. It’s still a strange principle.” He ends up leaving without having bought anything.

This is also the case for a small family. The teenager in the group tries to convince his parents, but the mother, inflexible, responds harshly. “he needs to stop his bullshit”to quote it aptly. The magic of Christmas does not trickle down to everyone, one must believe.

Meanwhile, Clément Lepinay, still at the counter, explains himself animatedly to a customer. “No, I can't tell you what's inside. You shouldn't buy it hoping to find something in particular. It's exactly like a scratch ticket: you don't know in advance How much you’re going to make, right?” An argument that hits the mark: other customers enter the small store.

For my part, I hesitate. I approach another table, covered with rectangular white packages. Finding shoes there is guaranteed, so the special rate is 20 euros per kilo instead of 30… But I don't care about shoes, and I finally set my sights on two boxes which make a particularly satisfying noise when we shake them: could it be Lego or Playmobil, a great passion?

I pay for my two acquisitions for 50 euros, and I am entitled to my raffle ticket. Then I return to the editorial office by bike, trying not to lose the packages on the way: it would be stupid to misplace a package that has already been lost. Once there, I have a little difficulty opening: it's really well packaged. My colleague, a journalist and image reporter (JRI), and eminent photographer, insisted on immortalizing the moment, and gave me a helping hand.

After some Homeric unpacking, I found myself with a small radio-controlled excavator (it's definitely a toy, but not the one I expected). A note in German is attached: it seems that the device was returned for an order error, and that this had cost 65 euros: it would therefore have largely paid for itself.

And then, here is not one, but two garden brush cutters. Now all that remains is to find the garden. Their discovery caused a sensation (to be seen in the video below, note that the second package does not weigh four kilos, it is an error).

Despite competition from the Reims Christmas market, a few dozen meters away, the pop-up store has expected around a hundred kilos of lost packages for its four weeks of activity (from Monday 2 to Saturday 28 December). If the crowds continue, there may not be enough for everyone.

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