“It’s a bit like a lottery”: they open a business selling surprise packages in Castres

It is a phenomenon that is spreading very fast in France. And Castres is no exception to this rule. Starting Saturday, a store selling lost or unclaimed packages will open in Tarn sub-prefecture, 12 rue Pasteur, a street parallel to avenue Charles-de-Gaulle.

It is under the Daystock Collis brand that the three partners Denis Olivares, David Dupuy and Fabrice Guilhoumont decided to venture into this business of selling surprise parcels. The principle is simple: you buy by weight of packages without knowing what is inside. These are goods ordered through online sales platforms such as Amazon that have never reached their recipient or have not been claimed.

And since the Anti-Waste Act of 2022, these lost packages can no longer be destroyed. Then various suppliers, carriers or logistics companies resell them in bulk. This can be related to clothes, high-tech equipment, shoes, furniture, crockery, decorations, tools… in short, everything that can be ordered on the Internet. And Daystock Collis, which already has stores in Sauvignon, Perpignan, Nice and Paris, is one of the brands that buys these stocks by the ton and resells them.

“It can be anything from studs to a Chanel bag”

Denis Olivares explains, “The founders of Daystock Collis are my niece and her husband. There was an opportunity to open one in Castres. Because this restaurant from Hérault immediately thought of his “40-year-old” Castres friend David Dupuy to partner with him. Especially since the latter had space available. “For me it’s an opportunity to bounce back and the idea is great,” says David Dupuy, who worked as a food wholesaler for a long time.

The business, which is open Monday through Saturday (and this Sunday as an exceptional opening), allows customers to select packages by weighing them, feeling them, shaking them, but not opening them before placing them. them. have bought They will be sold blindly at €14 per kg. “We don’t know what’s out there. It’s a bit like a lottery. You can find studs out there like a Chanel bag. Our goal is to find gems for people,” Denis Olivares continues.

There are two types of customers. Those who come to “play”. And those who build a second business by reselling their purchases on private-to-private sales sites. “Even if the goods we find are of no interest to you or of any use to you, they often have a definite value,” confide traders who will offer “surprise boxes” of 30 kg each selling for €500 containing only Electronic and hi-tech equipment. “We will also organize pop-up sales in other towns of Tarn such as Albi,” confides managers who received 10 tonnes of packages for the opening at 10 am on Saturday.