A shop has opened in Brussels that sells kilos of unwanted but still sealed packages from Amazon, effectively lottery tickets that can win shoppers a smartwatch, smartphone or worthless item, Reuters reports, according to News.ro.

Amazon parcelsPhoto: Bernd Feil/MiS / imago stock&people / Profimedia

The shop, called Pile ou Face in French (equivalent to “head or page”), is located near the central market Place Flagey and offers parcels at €16 per kilo.

Customers choose a box from among dozens stocked in the store, and some open it on the spot.

“It’s like gambling. I paid 40 euros and got three or four headphones, I did well,” said Paul, who declined to give his last name.

However, Giselle Peters was a little disappointing. Her €14.40 package included an old-style dial phone.

“It’s not something I would buy. I’ll try to resell it,” she said.

Arno Userstam, who founded the store, said connected watches and smartphones are the things people get the most, but others go home with clothes or sometimes particularly odd items.

“One lady got 100 toothbrushes for the dogs,” he said.

Amazon packages have been destroyed before

Userstam started the business after he and his wife wondered what happens to packages that have delivery problems after experiencing the problem themselves.

They found out that there are other similar stores.

Pile ou Face has signed contracts with US retail giant Amazon in Europe to retrieve packages that have not been picked up from collection points, returned by customers or simply lost.

Userstam did not specify the contracts, although it said that previously these packages were simply destroyed.