Unclaimed Baggage lists Birkin 25 bag for sale at $17,000
Unclaimed Baggage found a needle in a haystack — and a very expensive needle, at that.
The Scottsboro institution that buys orphaned luggage from airlines sight unseen and puts the contents up for sale hit the proverbial jackpot: a Hermès Birkin 25 bag.
And it can be yours for the price of $17,000. With free shipping.
The “gently used” purse in Rose Azalee, or pink, is made of Hermès’ own Veau Swift leather.
The handbag is lined in goat skin and comes with keys, lock clochette and dustbag, according to Unclaimed Baggage.
Birkin 25s, released in 2014, are Hermès’ most highly sought after Birkin, according to Sotheby’s.
New Birkin 25s go for between $25,000 and $30,000 depending on color and style, according to the auction house, making Unclaimed Baggage’s bag a veritable steal.
The Unclaimed Baggage Center got its start in 1970 when insurance salesman Doyle Owens used a borrowed pickup truck and a $300 loan to buy 100 orphaned suitcases from the Trailway Bus Line in Washington D.C. He brought the baggage back to Scottsboro, where they were all sold within a single day.
The center is now a 50,000-square-foot facility that works with major airlines to purchase orphaned suitcases from all over the country that are left unclaimed after the industry-standard allotment of 90 days. With a goal of maximizing the bag’s potential, its contents are either sold, recycled or donated to charity.
Some of the center’s most unusual finds over the years, according to Unclaimed Baggage’s Vice President of Retail & Company Culture, Jennifer Kritner, include a life-size, paper Mache Tinkerbell, a bag full of Egyptian artifacts including shrunken heads, a live rattlesnake, vacuum-sealed frogs and a 40-carat, raw emerald — valued at $32,000 — tucked away in the toe of a sock.