4 ms·

"Woman receives dozens of pairs of free shoes" does not sound like a problem. It sounds like an opportunity. Finders keepers.

• ke88y 3y ago
  Unlikely. The packages are being sent to her because the fraudster sellers don't want to bother with them. The value of the shoes is likely not worth her time (else it would've been worth the seller's time -- the margins here are not huge). And to make matters worse, she's being charged for the shipping: > She says couriers have also abandoned packages on her porch, denying her the opportunity to refuse them. It has also resulted in more than $300 worth of Collect-on-Delivery (COD) customs charges from the United Parcel Service (UPS). The bills are mailed to her by the delivery company.
• warent 3y ago
  Hmm maybe you didn't read the article, she's being charged by customs for the imports. Also, she doesn't want this stuff. It's not free shoes it's forced trash.
  • justinclift 3y ago
    Wonder if she can charge customs back? Like maybe a processing fee or something. These abandoned goods shouldn't be her problem, except customs is insisting on her dealing with it.
• zackmorris 3y ago
  Ya it's crazy how far the US has fallen in terms of entrepreneurial spirit. In almost any other country, a continuous supply of resources like that would provide an independent income stream on eBay. And the products are already packaged! It's like how we used to have victory gardens and plant fruit/nut trees and eat chestnuts from trees growing like weeds before they succumbed to blight in the early 1900s. Now all we have are ornamental pear trees that smell like rotten undergarments. Because free food would encourage homelessness or whatever. Edit: woman lives in Canada, but I think my point still stands.
  • Nextgrid 3y ago
    > would provide an independent income stream on eBay Except if the goods have strings attached. "Strings" here could be breaking local regulations, being counterfeits, contaminated with toxic materials, etc. Even if they are pre-packaged, reselling unexpected goods still means you have to open them, examine them, photograph them and write up a listing, and you have to do it for every single unique type of goods you receive.
    • glonq 3y ago
      Donate them as-is to charity or a thrift shop and reap the sweet sweet karma you've earned by putting like-new shoes into the hands (feet?) of people who need them.
  • nitwit005 3y ago
    She would just end up making less money than she would working a normal job. A huge amount of trash has theoretical value, but you'll lose money trying to extract it.
  • vkou 3y ago
    > I think my point still stands. Where do you live? I'm happy to start dumping my trash on your porch...