Bronx dollar store goes viral for selling mystery Amazon packages

By Kemberly Richardson

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    BRONX, New York (WABC) — A store in the Bronx has gone viral for selling so-called ‘mystery packages’, which are items that have been found at liquidation centers and are resold.

For just $4, you can buy anything from new sandals to a toilet plunger.

There are questions and privacy concerns over some of the inventory.

“They come, they buy 2 packages, 3 packages, after half an hour, they buy 10,” Luis Almonte, the store manager of Dollar Universe, said.

Almonte sells the mystery packages for $4 each.

One single post on TikTok put the store on the map.

Suddenly, business picked up and people are coming in to join in on the fun.

The packages are returned from all over the country, and the things people buy from companies like Amazon and Walmart.

About every two weeks, Almonte says he heads to liquidators in Brooklyn and New Jersey and buys palettes of about 400 items on each for roughly $600.

“I’m going to do an investigation to see because I don’t want to do anything illegal that hurts myself,” Almonte said.

Eyewitness News’ Kemberly Richardson wanted to test out if the returned item was actually real. The package still had the buyer’s name, address and phone number on the label.

Richardson called up the original buyer of the package and when they answered, they confirmed they bought and returned what was supposed to be a yoga mat from Amazon.

They were stunned to learn their personal information was still there.

Almonte says he only wants to do the right thing so that people’s private information does not end up in the wrong hands.

“I scratch the name dark that way nobody sees,” Almonte said.

He said if needed, he’ll remove the items and throw away the packaging.

Walmart told Eyewitness News it requires its liquidators to remove all customer information.

Amazon said it is investigating the matter ‘including adding the possibility that these products may have been delivered to customer addresses, were stolen and are now being resold by unauthorized third parties.’

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