Customer discovers their thrift resale order is covered in a mysterious black sludge: 'This is actually insane'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Sep 22, 2026 10:00 AM EDT

Sometimes a mystery is not worth solving…

Have you ever received a package covered in an unnamed black sludge? Me neither, but this person did, and it's worth investigating. Online shopping can be a huge risk. You never quite know what you're getting into until you open the package. And then it all becomes clear. Who hasn't been catfished by an online listing? Maybe something was suspiciously cheap, but you added it to your cart anyway, and when it arrived 6 weeks later, you realize that you got got. The material is cheap, the fit is weird, and the pattern is not what they said it was. This seems to happen now more than ever in an era of digital photo manipulation and cheap manufacturing processes. It's buyer beware out there. Sometimes it's malicious false advertising, and sometimes things just happen. 

It's a human impulse to want to air your gripes. You want some witness to your pain so you feel like you're not alone in it. It's why we reach out to friends when something bad happens, and it's why we hit "post" on stories like this. We also love to help each other toward solutions. Two heads are better than one, and multiply that across the vastness of the internet, and we're really cooking. Sometimes it takes outside perspective to really dig into an issue and figure it out. It's also how you know when something is a widespread issue rather than a myopic one. That's what was happening here. 

Advertisement

  • Black sludge on half my order...

    AVEN TANKEN Kleny
    via Full-Grass-5525
  • KitchenAi AND M ACCESSORE POUR SPIRALIZER WITH PEE DECOUPEUR EN SPIE ENLEVER LES
    via Full-Grass-5525
  • KEN
    via Full-Grass-5525
  • Cheezburger Image 10665322496
    via Full-Grass-5525
  • My order was shipped out September 9 from Georgia. I've been hearing about stained orders so was nervous. Package takes ages to get out of GA to WV then MD. Somehow ends up back in GA on the 18th. Delivered today via FedEx. Clearly has been repackaged. Half the order are in plastic bags with a sticky black oil all over. I'm so sad! Contacting ThredUp but how is this consistently happening to people and it seems like they are doing nothing about it??
    via Full-Grass-5525
  • Full-Grass-5525 OP The worst one! ZARA CK of USA
    via Full-Grass-5525

  • It's amazing that you can ship something across the world and it will mostly arrive on time and unharmed. This is an underrated part of human existence nowadays. For the right price, you can get anything from anywhere. The world has never been more at our fingertips. And yet, things still manage to go wrong. Things happen, and humans are imperfect. But we should realize when those mistakes hurt others, and we should do our best to make it right. Keep scrolling to read what happened here, and let us know what you think in the comments below.

  • KittyBoat I know TU refunded you, but you should contact FedEx too. This is horrendous, even for them. My guess is your box got ran over by a truck or sat under a truck in the warehouse and oil leaked on it. That's not TU black grease. That looks like
    via Full-Grass-5525
  • mechanical oil or grease. FedEx is so trash and they don't pay their employees sh or have any incentives for them to do a good job so none of them care. I get TRR packages from them and the boxes are always jacked up and smell bad. I hate them.
    via Full-Grass-5525
  • cinnamngrl This the same black sludge that everyone reports and ThredUp won't explain. I have had it immediately. It was only like a smudge mark and it came out in the wash, but the other fairly consistent report is that it's
    via Full-Grass-5525
  • not visible in the photos which means it happens some point between storage and shipping. I haven't actually really tracked if it's the same facility or all the facilities.
    via Full-Grass-5525
  • Chemical-Shallot-964 None of my clothes from thredup have come in plastic packaging. Is this from a direct listing?
    via Full-Grass-5525
  • Full-Grass-5525 OP Nope! I've never had this either but it was repackaged by the shipper. There was no thred up box or green paper, only a sliver stuck on one of the ruined items.
    via Full-Grass-5525
  • Hey_nurse666 Good luck with their customer service. They wanted me to ship something back with an active moth infestation
    via Full-Grass-5525
  • Sublimegirlie1 I'm betting this was a shipment problem! It seems like maybe they even noticed it and repackaged the order! Because there was no regular ThredUp packing things like the sticker and green tissue paper. What makes me think
    via Full-Grass-5525
  • that even more is that you found a bit of the paper in the order! So my theory is that the shipper noticed they had some spill disaster, repacked the piece's effected by this, and then shipped them out like it was something that the buyer would blame on the seller and not the shipment
    via Full-Grass-5525
  • company! So far all of my ThredUp has come from VeHoe, and I've had great experiences with them so far, except sometimes my package will go to a shipment center further away from me, but I'd guess. that's just because they are picking up items to come back my way and it's easier
    via Full-Grass-5525
  • to do that first. They even ship on Sunday and late night! So it's exciting to get a Sunday morning package, or think it's not going to come until the next day and then see it came that evening! Hopefully OP got a free order, and it's not a chemical spill, but
    via Full-Grass-5525
  • something like molasses like she said it smells like, and that it comes out of most of the items!!! I know it's still a pain, but if it's non toxic and free and she can remove it, then I call it a win!
    via Full-Grass-5525

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

thredup black sludge unboxing shopping online shopping clothing thrifting
Scroll Down For The Next Article