To be fair, I wasn’t really expecting it to go any other way
15:58, 04 May 2026Updated 17:20, 04 May 2026
A treasure trove of lost and undelivered parcels has made its way to the Arndale – and you can rummage through them in hopes of a good find
Can you really turn one man’s trash into someone else’s treasure? That’s a rough idea behind a pop-up shop which has appeared in the Arndale this week – and, naturally, we had to visit.
On Monday (May 4), King Colis has launched its Manchester residency – which will run until May 10 – where the idea is that people can ‘unbox the unknown’ by buying lost parcels and hoping to find something worth your time and money.
It’s a method of shopping which has gone viral across the world, with some people being lucky enough to find gold bars and rare Pokémon cards inside their hauls.
Here in Manchester, the early worms here for the store’s debut appears not to have been so lucky – with some people coming out unfazed with phone chargers and random TikTok-shop style USB light devices. One even came out with a pair of very-70s looking pants from online fashion brand Allegra K.
The fact that they were then left on a nearby table after being opened probably says everything.
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Another group sat in front of a crowd full of people in Starbucks as they opened a box of high-heeled shoes (albeit not in their size) and immediately searched for their retail price online. One website suggested they are often sold for around £200.
It’s a lottery – or a ‘tombola of the modern age’ as one colleague tells me – so the name of the game is that not everyone is going to be a winner. In fact, most people won’t be.
The shopping experience is free to queue up for and enter, but it will cost you £2.50 per 100 grams for anything you take home – something that a quick search tells me is the equivalent of one banana or a pack of playing cards. So, potentially not cheap either if you’re after any of the big items – and you’re not allowed to open up your goodies until you’ve left.
Queues had already formed early in the day from those wanting to give the experience a go
I was invited along for the experience to give it a fair review so thankfully I did not have to part with my hard-earned cash. Full disclaimer: I had already agreed prior to give everything I ‘purchased’ back after having a go of the experience, even if that meant I got a Gucci dress or a six-figure-sum find.
Normally, you’re not allowed to do that. There’s strictly no refunds or returns, so make your choice wisely.
With the rules and formalities out of the way, I was let into the pen – where you have ten minutes to pick your goods, weigh them up and pay. Operating on timed sessions, there’s people waiting to take your spot once you’re done.
This handlebar device came from E-scooter brand A Dece Oasis
I found the experience to be quite overwhelming to begin with. People are bumping into each other, parcels are being slung from one end to another and there’s a lot of speculation about what could be inside each package.
Of course, most people opted for the small and light packages as they will ultimately be cheaper but there’s a few others who go straight in for the bulky items. You’ve got to be in it to win it, I guess.
For me, I give a rummage around for anything that feels familiar.
There’s a lot of what I can imagine are clothes and whilst I am not familiar with most of the brands, the style of packaging and the names of certain companies attempt to give away what’s inside – one suggests it’s from a children’s toy shop, another claims to be ‘So Elegant’ fashion.
You have ten minutes to search through the parcels, with no opening allowed until you’ve bought them and have left the experience
For my haul, I first opt for a square cardboard box that feels a little bulky but not overweight – I’m presuming it’s a figurine or some sort of collectable toy.
Another parcel feels like books, so I opt for that one too. I also pick out a lighter parcel which could be clothes but the feel of it doesn’t give away what could possibly be inside and it intrigues me.
The last parcel I go for feels fairly heavy and is ‘bar’ shaped – suggesting it could be an elusive gold bar.
When we weigh up the items, it comes to a total of 3.38kg (apparently close to the average weight of a newborn). And with that the figure for my total items comes to a whopping £84.
Whilst I was aware I had picked out a few items which were on the slightly-heavier side, I was expecting it to be around £35 so was very shocked at the price.
And apparently, that’s quite cheap for some hauls. The staff member I spoke to said one person had spent £200 earlier in the day on one treasure trove.
Still not a clue what this is
Here, I feel it is my duty of care here to remind you all to keep an eye on the pennies. It can be very easy tot up a hefty bill. You can put things back if the weight or price is too high for you, but that comes with the downside of never knowing what you could have ended up with.
Taking the items to one side, I got to opening the goods with a staff member to help me to find out exactly what I could have gone home with.
That collectable figure I thought I had found turned out to be a bike handlebar grip from e-scooter brand A Dece Oasis (ADO). A quick search online suggests it could go for about £10 so not a bad find, but definitely not something I’m in the market for. Elsewhere, my theory of a package of books was correct – turning out to be quite a nice trio of mindfulness colouring books, a pencil case and some pens. Definitely not worth more than a couple of quid in total, but a decent find.
Knee supports for sports training were in one of the parcels we opened
My non-descriptive thin clothes item turned out to be a pair of knee support braces for sports, There’s no brand name but standard types of these items can go for anywhere online between £5 to £15, so, again, you could maybe get your money back on this.
The last item – which we had hoped was going to be the gold bar – certainly proved to be a bit of metal. But what it is has kept me and the team stumped ever since.
Silver and shiny, they appear to be some form of shelving or framing. There’s six of them in total, but there’s no instructions or descriptions so I have no idea.
A bit of ‘calm, confidence and self-reflection’ after a manic ten minutes of parcel rummaging
Once I returned my items back to staff, I asked them what other kinds of finds people had unwrapped so far. One person won a decent brand-name microphone, another a high-end coffee machine.
Later in the day, I find out that someone also takes home a Louis Vuitton shirt, which is a pretty decent result. There was also some jewellery being floated about, whilst one girl came out with an AI-designed puppy poster sadly proclaiming ‘but I’m a cat person!’.
Would I go again? Personally speaking, probably not.
Whilst I enjoyed the high of the hunt, I’m a bit too much of a cynic and, ultimately, know I’d only ever end up with things I don’t need or want. As one other person said as they walked out: “Well, that was exciting. It was rubbish, but it was exciting.”
I guess that’s the lure of it of the whole experience. It’s a bit of excitement, it’s a bit of an adrenaline rush – but you need to expect to be disappointed. Go in with no expectations, have ten minutes of fun rummaging around, and then be prepared to walk out with questionable garments or a random bike handlebar grip you’ll have trouble selling on.