This is where your lost luggage really goes! Massive warehouse outside Atlanta SELLS your unclaimed bags knockdown prices

Have you ever wondered where your lost luggage ends up?

Well, look no further than a store called Unclaimed baggage in Scottsboro, Alabama – about 150 miles northwest of Atlanta.

It's predicted that airports will be the busiest they've ever been between Christmas and New Year this year, and with that, airlines are bound to lose a suitcase or two.

“With five decades of experience in processing large quantities of unique items, we maximize the potential of each item for a second life,” Unclaimed Baggage said on their website.

Unclaimed Baggage states that aviation technology reunites more than 99.5 percent of luggage with its owners. However, if a bag is still not collected after a three-month search, less than 0.03 percent of bags are orphaned and end up on the store's shelves in Alabama.

Unclaimed Baggage is the only repository for lost luggage in the country and will be the destination of all stray bags as it has contracts with all domestic airlines.

Once the bags arrive in the store, employees sort them into three categories: resell, reuse or recycle.

About a third of items are sold and prices are determined by estimated retail value and terms.

When an item is repurposed, it is donated to communities around the world. If items need to be thrown away, they ensure that all personal information is destroyed and items are recycled properly.

Items listed on the website include designer clothing, jackets, handbags, accessories, home goods, sporting goods and electronics.

'I would say people come here to shop in our clothing department. The sales floor here covers 50,000 square feet of retail space and the sales floor stocks 7,000 new items every day. So it really is a treasure hunt,” Sonni Hood, PR manager of Unclaimed Baggage, told DailyMail.com.

Hood said the most expensive item the store ever sold was a men's platinum presidential Rolex watch, which sold for $64,000 and sold for $32,000.

They have found three Birkin bags in the store's history, two of which were found this year. They sold one last month that was appraised at about $30,000 and sold for $15,000.

Hood said the charity Reclaimed for Good is the “heartbeat” behind Unclaimed Baggage.

“Our goal in taking these bags and determining whether to sell, donate or recycle is that we want to redeem these items for good. We want to keep them out of the landfill and do the best with them,” Hood said.

Some of their charitable efforts include donating prescription glasses to Lions Club International and donating suitcases to children in foster care.

“On average, for every item sold, we donate an additional item to someone in need,” the store said on its website.

The store started in 1970 when Doyle Owens used a borrowed pickup truck and a $300 loan to purchase his first load of unclaimed luggage from Trailways Bus Line in Washington, DC.

Initially, the store was only open two days a week, but after Doyle got a contract with Eastern Airlines, he became so popular that the store opened full-time.

In 1981, the store launched its first ski sale, which has become an annual tradition on the first Saturday in November, bringing customers to camp in the parking lot to be first in line.

In 1995, Doyle's son Bryan and his wife Sharon took over the business and expanded the store to more than a city block, adding a cafe and a Museum of Found Treasures that opened in 2023.

The café called Cups Café offers visitors menu options of sandwiches, salads, coffee and sweet treats.

To celebrate the store's 50th anniversary in 2020, they opened an online store, but had to postpone their road tour.

Finally, the company took their show on the road in 2022, traveling through all 50 states to show off their collection of unusual finds.

The Found Treasures museum opened in 2023 and showcases their strange finds over the years, including a suit of armor, a space shuttle camera, Hoggle from the fantasy film Labyrinth, a shrunken head and more.

Hood said the store has become one of the top tourist destinations in the state and has had visitors from all 50 states and more than 40 countries around the world.

AAA expected 7.5 million air travelers this holiday season, surpassing the record of 7.3 million passengers set in 2019.

However, completely lost luggage is relatively rare. Dates of The Bureau for Aviation Consumers Protection found that between January and September 2023, airlines mishandled 0.64 bags per 100 removed from aircraft.

That number represents checked bags lost, damaged, delayed and reported stolen by passengers.

According to the US Department of TransportationAirlines have their own policies on when they officially declare a suitcase lost, but most fall between five and 14 days.

Once an airline determines that your bag is lost, they are responsible for reimbursing the passenger up to $3,800.

Only then does it end up at Unclaimed Baggage, where the abandoned goods are sorted and resold in the store and online.