A Bronx store has gone viral for peddling $4-a-pop “mystery” packages from retailers such as Amazon and Walmart that were returned and are now up for resale — but the set-up isn’t without controversy.
The packaged deals have been flying out of massive bins at Dollar Universe in Allerton faster than employees can restock the containers since an April TikTok video posted by a local influencer racked up nearly half a million views, store manager Luis Almonte told The Post.
“People are buying these like crazy,” he said last week. “Today I sold 150 packages. We have people coming all the way from Brooklyn.”
But at least some of the wrapped parcels’ original owners were disgusted to learn from The Post that the packages — which hail everywhere from Texas to Florida to Pennsylvania — still have their names and addresses on them.
“It’s an invasion of privacy,” said Melanie Bagley of Levittown, Pa. — whose onetime FedEx parcel, complete with her name and address, ended up for sale in The Bronx.
“It’s personal information. That’s scary, because you don’t know what somebody can do [with it],” Bagley said.
“It should be against the law,” she said of the sale of the packages with the personal information still on them.
From now on, “I will definitely be monitoring things a little bit more closely.”
Tina Tian, a business owner in Huntington Station on Long Island, said she returned a package of LED lights that ended up in the bin.
When told how they were now being sold in The Bronx, she said, “Whoa.
“I don’t know how they got there.”
The mystery packages – and most of Dollar Universe’s other inventory — come from massive liquidation centers in Brooklyn and New Jersey that buy returns in bulk from retailers including Amazon and Walmart, Almonte said.
The returns are usually opened, inspected for damage and then sold to businesses such as Dollar Universe.
But Almonte got the idea to buy the packages before they are opened as a sales gimmick — and the gamble paid off.
The shipments of still-sealed packages cost him $300 to $400, or about $1 per package.
Buyers have found everything from a foldable walking cane to children’s tablet case, zip-up sweater and wig inside.
It doesn’t appear illegal to sell the parcels as is, although Amazon and Walmart said they are looking into whether the move is a violation of their policies.
“We’re looking into this specific instance and appreciate you bringing it to our attention,” a rep for Walmart told The Post.
“It’s unclear from the video of this came through our liquidation process, as it could be due to a variety of scenarios. We strive to protect our customers’ privacy and safeguard the use of customer information to protect confidentiality and maintain trust. We have procedures in place to ensure that all customer information is removed during the liquidation process, and we require our liquidators to do the same.”
Amazon said, “We are actively investigating this matter, including the possibility that these products may have been delivered to customer addresses, were stolen, and are now being resold by unauthorized third parties, rather than originating from authorized channels.
“We take customer privacy seriously, and we have internal protocols to remove all identifying information from resold items.”
Almonte insisted that his customers don’t care about anyone’s personal info — just the deals they’re snagging.
“People aren’t interested in the name, people are interested in what the package contains,” he said.
“We sell hundreds [of packages] every day,” Almonte said. “People buy two, three, and they come by half an hour later and they buy 10. And then they bring another people and they buy more.”
A store customer who scooped up 10 mystery packages Monday said she frequently uses the packages for giveaways — and has received clothing, a used wig and an Apple USB pen before.
“One time I got a case for a phone — it didn’t fit my phone, but that’s OK, I gave it to my niece,” said another customer named Miranda.
“If it’s just going to sit in a warehouse somewhere, I don’t see the problem with it,” she said of the set-up.
Almonte said he has no plans of slowing down – and recently bought six shipments of “mystery” packages containing nearly 2,600 parcels.
“What I know is that people keep buying,” he said. “They keep coming back.”