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People who come to Unclaimed Baggage are always amazed at the treasures they find.  Throughout the years we’ve received some pretty unusual items from around the world like an 8 ½ foot snakeskin from a boa constrictor found in Central America or tribal breastplates from Africa. And of course there are the amazing deals to be discovered on the 7000 new items that hit the sales floor each day.

For many people the road trip to UBC is as much about the experience as it is about seeing the strange and wonderful items and snagging a great deal. Recently one of our long time friends and fans, Thomas Barnes, shared with us why he and his entire family have loved UBC for years. Here are some excerpts from the message that Thomas sent to us.

We traveled the world as United States Diplomats and enjoyed it from the odd foods to the amazing weekend markets and the grocery stores where we had to shop by the pictures on the packages. We always returned to Unclaimed Baggage for many reasons. The location of Unclaimed Baggage even played into our retirement plans. I like electronic toys and buy them profusely. I will buy something at Unclaimed Baggage just because I don't know what it is. Now, in retirement, we travel vicariously in our trips to Unclaimed Baggage. Every trip is something new, whether it is a very exotic tea from some far away place or a high tech toy that I couldn't afford with any other shopping experience. We have purchased everything from Pashmina scarves and jewelry for the ladies in our lives to military stuff for the guys

There are two ways to get the really good bargains at Unclaimed Baggage. Both depend upon extensive knowledge of worldwide products. Sometimes, the staff misses their research (rare) on an item and then at other times, the staff is right in their pricing and the item is a bit higher than we would like. Often an item will enter the store through their sorting process that is very expensive, but not a common product. Then, the staff will generally get the price right, but most of the customers will not recognize it. Then we wait the item out because all of us know that the prices get discounted with time. I waited once for 18 months for a really expensive cinema projector to drop to a price that I saw as affordable. It hangs from the ceiling in the Den now and performs perfectly at each movie night.

Unclaimed Baggage is the perfect place to unwind and relax. It doesn’t matter if you are from Scottsboro or Tuscaloosa, from Nashville or Atlanta, with just one tank of gas you can pamper yourself with a great day of treasure hunting at UBC. And because new treasures arrive every day the experience is new every time you visit.

What’s been one of your most memorable experiences at Unclaimed Baggage?