A shocking discovery by a small business owner has exposed what may be happening to the thousands of ‘lost’ parcels that mysteriously “disappear” in Evri’s network every year – they’re ending up at auction houses where they’re sold for a fraction of their original value.
Hayley Hanigan, who runs baby equipment rental company TinyExplorers, was stunned when a customer alerted her that one of her £450 Babyzen Yo-Yo strollers was being flogged on Vinted for just £20.
What she discovered next should worry anyone who’s ever had a parcel go missing with Evri.
The Trail That Led to John Pye Auctions
The stroller’s journey from legitimate rental return to bargain basement sale reveals a murky world that most Evri customers never knew existed.
The Vinted seller claimed she’d bought the high-end pushchair from a local man for £20, who in turn had purchased it as part of a bundle from online auction house John Pye Auctions.
This wasn’t just a one-off incident. When Hanigan’s team started digging around on the auction site, they found more of their products being sold off – all items that had supposedly gone missing while being returned via Evri.
The particularly galling aspect? Each item bore large adhesive labels stating “if lost please call” along with QR codes that automatically redirect to TinyExplorers’ website.
These weren’t unmarked packages that could reasonably be considered abandoned – they were clearly labelled with return instructions that any competent courier service should have followed.
Where Do Your ‘Lost’ Parcels Really Go?
John Pye Auctions openly admits they “hold contracts with several major delivery companies to manage goods that may have been lost, damaged, or are the subject of completed insurance claims.”
While they claim ownership transfers to insurers once claims are settled, this raises uncomfortable questions about what Evri considers “lost” versus what customers experience as theft.
For a company already struggling with endemic theft problems at their depots and a ParcelShop network that’s falling apart, the revelation that “lost” parcels end up being sold for pennies on the pound is particularly damaging.
Evri’s response was predictably defensive, claiming the auction house confirmed they hadn’t received any items “of this make” from Evri.
But this carefully worded denial sidesteps the broader question of what happens to the thousands of other parcels that disappear in their network every week.
The Perfect Storm of Evri’s Failing Systems
This auction house revelation comes against the backdrop of Evri’s systematic failure across multiple fronts. The company has spent months implementing digital receipt systems that don’t work, leaving customers without proof they ever sent their parcels in the first place.
Meanwhile, their crumbling ParcelShop network means fewer collection points, while retailer after retailer pulls out of partnerships they describe as “untenable.”
For small businesses like TinyExplorers, this represents a devastating combination.
Items go missing in Evri’s network, customers can’t prove they sent them due to failed digital receipt systems, and now it emerges those “lost” items may be quietly sold off rather than being returned to their rightful owners.
The Compensation Con Game
What makes this particularly cynical is how Evri’s compensation system works.
The company routinely tells customers their parcels are “lost” and offers minimal compensation – often just the basic £20 liability limit that most people don’t realise applies unless they pay extra for higher cover.
But if those same “lost” parcels are actually being sold to auction houses, that suggests they’re not lost at all – they’re being deliberately diverted from the returns process.
Customers get fobbed off with token compensation while their valuable items generate revenue for someone else entirely.
Hanigan’s experience is particularly telling. She’d switched from Evri to DPD after losing what she described as “a crazy amount of items” – language that suggests this wasn’t just the odd parcel going astray, but systematic losses that made her business model unviable.
A Business Model Built on Customer Losses?
The timing of these revelations is awkward for Evri, fresh from their unconditional merger approval with DHL and amid plans to hire 5,000 new couriers.
The company wants to project an image of growth and reliability, yet stories like this expose the reality of how they treat customer property.
For a company already rated the worst in the UK for customer satisfaction, the suggestion that “lost” parcels are being quietly sold off rather than returned to customers represents a new low in an already dismal track record.
The legal position is clear enough – if your parcel goes missing, you retain ownership rights regardless of what Evri or auction houses claim.
But enforcing those rights when facing a company that routinely loses parcels and maintains digital systems that don’t work is another matter entirely.
What This Means for Your Missing Parcels
If you’ve ever had a parcel disappear in Evri’s network and wondered what really happened to it, this investigation provides some uncomfortable answers.
While Evri will tell you it’s “lost” and offer minimal compensation, there’s now evidence suggesting some of these items end up being sold rather than returned.
The scale of this problem is likely much larger than anyone realises. TinyExplorers only discovered what was happening because a customer happened to spot their distinctive product being sold online.
How many other “lost” parcels are quietly making their way to auction houses without the original owners ever knowing?
For customers, this represents yet another reason to avoid using Evri whenever possible.
The combination of poor service, failed digital systems, systematic losses, and now evidence that lost items may be sold rather than returned paints a picture of a company that treats customer property as a revenue opportunity rather than a responsibility.
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