A savvy mother says she’s ‘hit the jackpot’ after spending £142.50 on three mystery return pallets in an online auction.
Laura Mell, 35, from Lancashire took a huge gamble when she won the pallets on ibidder.com but was thrilled when she ended up with a haul of stunning homeware finds.
Return pallets are packages of goods that shoppers have sent back, with some containing thousands of pounds worth of stock.
They are then sold on auction websites for discounted prices but the mystery means customers could either end up with a valuable surprise or worthless junk.
Laura, however, was thrilled with her items after unboxing and says she will ‘defo make a profit’ by selling them on.
Posting on TikTok under the username @lauramell17 in a video that now has nearly 50,000 views, Laura treated her followers to an unboxing of everything she won.
Laura Mell says she’s ‘hit the jackpot’ after purchasing three return pallets online for £142.50. Pictured with her boxes before opening them
‘I bought three return pallets from an online auction,’ she explained, filming the huge numbers of boxes, which took up most of her living room.
She joked: ‘This is when I really questioned what I was doing with my life!’
Firstly, she unwrapped a mirror in excellent condition and 12 Christmas trees, all ranging between 2ft and 4ft, which she has now put in the attic to sell during the festive season.
Next were 12 toddler guard bed rails and a wooden towel rail, which she has put together and is selling on Facebook marketplace.
After opening all the smaller boxes, Laura grew even more excited as she moved on to the larger and likely more valuable boxes.
She said: ‘This is where we thought we won the jackpot with what we got.’
Despite throwing away a dining table without any legs, Laura was ‘made up with’ a stunning wood panelled chest of drawers with marble surfaces.
The mother-of-two from Lancashire took a huge gamble when she won the pallets on ibidder.com
She also unwrapped a Chesterfield style chair, bath stools and two bedside tables, as well as a complete garden table set, which she has already managed to sell.
‘Happy days!’ she concluded.
Laura, who has two daughters, didn’t disclose exactly how much money she is set to make from the side-hustle, but did say she will likely make a profit.
She describes herself online as: ‘Just a mum trying to find herself and making my kids lives the best it can be.’
Laura inspired many others on TikTok to try their luck with returns pallets, with many amazed at how much she’d got for her money.
Laura won two stunning bedside tables with gold detailing as part of her furniture haul
Laura was ‘made up with’ a stunning wood panelled chest of drawers with marble surfaces
Laura confirmed she would make a profit from the endeavour, as others were inspired to also purchase returns pallets
They wrote: ‘This looks like so much fun!!’ and Laura replied: ‘It is.’
Others said: ‘Omg the diners drawers is so nice’;
‘Well done you’;
‘Omg, that’s a lot!’
Buying mystery boxes online is a considerable risk, as items are unknown and could be in any condition.
But savvy customers should often be able to make a profit, especially if they refurbish what they receive.