A post peddling “mystery parcels” at warehouses has raised questions and speculation from people online — particularly over whether these packages could be lost or unclaimed purchases by e-commerce customers.
Social media users shared screenshots of a post from LLANO ONLINE – BENTAHAN, a Facebook buy-and-sell group based in Caloocan City. The original post can no longer be found online.
“A hot business today. This is a business that will keep you entertained as you open parcels as they are literal mysteries. Based on feedback from my resellers, they get to unbox cell phones, speakers, power banks, vape, clothes, home fresheners and other items,” a certain Luisa Naval wrote in Filipino.
“As long as you have an appetite for this kind of business this could be perfect for you,” she added, before asking readers to message her for more details.
The post included photos showing sacks of unidentified parcels that have been kept in warehouses in bulk.
This raised suspicions among people online, who speculated that the parcels in question were lost orders from platforms such as Shopee or Lazada.
“Ah, this is where the Bluetooth headphones I ordered fucked off to,” Redditor u/ResolverOshawott sarcastically joked.
“Maybe even the lightning cable and alcohol I ordered landed here as well. It’s been stuck at ‘Upper QC Hub’ for seven days,” u/rxxxxxxxrxxxxxx quipped.
“This is why we can’t have nice things,” u/attHORNEY03 wrote.
On Facebook, a distributor page called Bga Beautique called attention to the post, which has been shared over 2,000 times.
“I just grabbed the pics. As a seller, this makes me cry about online platforms like Shopee, TikTok, and Lazada. If your parcel is missing, it may have already landed here and is being sold,” it wrote.
Yet others reasoned that the parcels could have been canceled orders by buyers who have been refunded.
“These packages have [likely] been refunded to buyers. It’s more costly for the company to return these especially if the items came from outside the country so they would choose to sell them instead,” u/tichondriusniyom explained.
“The sender likely doesn’t want the package returned to them,” u/heatxmetalw9 chimed in. “Courier offices usually liquidate rejects. These are canceled orders and the senders refused to claim them at the holding warehouse.”
Others also raised concerns about having their personal information leaked.
“How about those details posted in every waybill? Private info can be used for scams or other shenanigans,” one wrote.
“For me, I don’t mind those parcels being sold as long as buyers and sellers are refunded. But they should take out the waybill because that would be a violation of [the data privacy law] if the name, phone number, or address is on there,” another said.
While it is unclear whether these sellers are making money off lost parcels that rightfully belong to their buyers, the speculation is understandable. Earlier this month, digital advocacy group Digital Pinoys urged the Department of Trade to investigate the case of missing parcels after many Filipino shoppers complained they had not yet received their orders from Shopee, with some pending deliveries dating back to last year’s 12.12 sale.
