Man who buys abandoned luggage reveals most surprising items left behind

A Hampshire-based content creator who buys abandoned luggage at airports has revealed what travelers leave behind, from the mundane to the shocking. Scott Fensome, 26, runs a business reselling lost-property items, returns and liquidation stock, turning a personal hobby into a full-time venture. When bags go unclaimed for about three months, airports commonly send them to third parties or auctions, where buyers may not know the contents until they open them.

In a recent clip that drew wide attention, Fensome unboxed a discarded Nike Air backpack bought for about £10. He pulls out a cigarette butt and filters, then a pen, a fob, shrapnel, two SIM cards and several empty plastic bags. At the back of the bag, he uncovers a pair of runaway trainers, DeWalt headphones, reading glasses, safety gloves and an empty can of Red Bull. The haul also includes a jacket, a bricklayer’s tool, a newspaper, a hi-vis vest, deodorant, an invoice from a hotel and electrical cables. “I was expecting a little bit more – it started off really promising,” he says in the clip.

Viewers responded in the comments with a mix of humor and caution. One observer suggested the owner might have simply taken their rubbish home, another joked, “This is what my 8th grade backpack looked like,” and another warned, “I would invest in some needle-proof gloves.” The video is part of a broader trend in which bargain hunters and content creators turn lost luggage into online entertainment, sometimes turning small discoveries into viral moments. The clips also underscore how such bags are resold without the original owner’s information being recoverable.

Fensome has said that the most valuable finds in his experience have been designer clothing and accessories, typically new with tags, though many bags yield little of obvious value. He notes that the strangest item he has encountered to date was a glass jar of bone broth, a finding he described as completely unexpected. In another video, he unpacks a different suitcase with more ordinary contents, including broken Beats headphones, a battery pack, clothing and shoes, and a pair of stained white pants. He comments with a dry humor about the pants and the other odds and ends, including a jacket, a bricklayer’s tool, a newspaper, a hi-vis vest, deodorant, a hotel invoice, and electrical cables.

“Legally, we cannot return items. All personal information belonging to the original traveler is removed before the luggage is sold. And we never have access to their details,” a representative said, noting that suppliers filter out anything that cannot be legally resold before it reaches buyers. This framework helps explain why the contents are sold with limited visibility into the traveler’s identity, while still allowing buyers to bid on potentially valuable items.

The broader market surrounding lost luggage sits at the crossroads of culture and commerce. Airports typically keep unclaimed bags for a period before shipping them to auctions or third-party handlers, where buyers—often unaware of the contents—can purchase boxes with the hope of uncovering designer pieces or hidden gems. For Fensome, the appeal lies in the uncertainty and the potential profitability of finding items that can be resold at a profit, a niche that has grown as online audiences latch onto unboxing and thrift-focused content.

Fensome continues to document unboxings and post updates to his channels, a strategy that has helped him grow a following while refining his eye for items with resale potential. The intersection of entertainment and commerce in these videos reflects a broader trend in Culture & Entertainment, where quirky, real-world finds capture viewer interest and support niche businesses built around the unpredictability of what airports discard.