A woman in China was left stunned after discovering that a luxury handbag she had bought for more than 20,000 yuan was actually the same bag that had been stolen from her a year earlier.
The woman, identified as Li, said she initially had some doubts when she came across the bag for sale. However, she genuinely liked the design and decided to purchase it at the end of March this year.
After receiving the bag, Li began to feel that something was strangely familiar. She believed it could be the exact handbag that had disappeared from her home.
There was just one major problem — she had lost the original purchase receipt, making it impossible to immediately verify the bag’s serial number.
The mystery was eventually solved when Li was clearing out her studio while moving house. Her sister found a small card that she nearly threw away. When Li checked it, she realised it was the original receipt containing the unique serial number.
After comparing the number with the handbag, everything matched.
The bag Li had bought was confirmed to be her own stolen property.
Police then traced the handbag’s sales history through the online marketplace and discovered that it had changed hands five times, travelling from Shanghai to Guangzhou before eventually returning to Shanghai.
Investigators eventually identified a familiar name — Zheng, who was reportedly one of Li’s close friends.
Police found that Li had invited Zheng to stay with her in Shanghai in February last year after Li was going through a difficult period following a breakup. Zheng had only recently arrived in the city and reportedly received support from Li while trying to establish herself there.
The two became close, with Zheng eventually staying at Li’s home for about four months before leaving in June 2025.
Just two days after Zheng moved out, the stolen handbag appeared for sale online.
According to investigators, Zheng was facing a compensation claim worth more than 100,000 yuan after allegedly breaching a work contract. Unable to raise the money, she allegedly took Li’s handbag when she left the house and sold it for 10,000 yuan.
In an ironic twist, when Li first realised the handbag was missing, Zheng reportedly told her not to worry and suggested that she had probably misplaced it because she often left her belongings around the house.
The case has since taken a painful turn for Li, who had trusted Zheng as a close friend.
Zheng has now been placed under criminal coercive measures by Xuhui police on suspicion of theft, as investigations continue.
