Consumer

MINNEAPOLIS (CBS) ― Ever wonder what happens when police find stolen goods, but can't figure out who they belong to? All that stuff ends up in police property rooms and is eventually auctioned off, CBS station WCCO-TV reported.

Most of us don't go to police auctions, but it turns out these items can be bid on online.

Clarence Hawkins is one serious bargain hunter. He's also the assistant training officer for the St. Paul Fire Department.

"I'm a collector, scrounger and I enjoy getting a good deal," said Hawkins.

He'll scrounge for himself, his family, even his workplace. A while back, he stumbled upon PropertyRoom.com. The site auctions off items from around 1,400 public safety agencies across the country.

"And when it can help me in my job and save some money, it's a win-win for me," he added.

Most people wouldn't know what it was, but Hawkins recognized a "foam eductor." It helps control the amount of foam used while fighting fires. A new one would cost upwards of $1,000. Hawkins got one used on PropertyRoom for $25.

"We probably wouldn't have spent the money for the full price, but at $25, it's something that we can use out here at training and we saved a lot of money on it," he said.

The Eden Prairie Police Department signed up with PropertyRoom earlier this year. Now the department has more space in its property room.

They don't hand over computers for security reasons. But as for things like shoes confiscated while executing a search warrant and bikes found along the road, pretty soon they'll be sold online with the Eden Prairie operating fund getting a 50 percent cut.

"They're professional auctioneers, we're not," said Eden Prairie Police Sergeant Bob Olson, referring to the website operators.

Olson says it beats the old-fashioned parking lot auctions.

"Just the logistics of setting up an auction, contracting an auctioneer to hold the auction, and physically moving the amount of items, it's a burden that we don't want to have to have," he said.

Tom Lane is a former cop and the founder of PropertyRoom.

"Then they'd hope they could sell it all. If they didn't, they'd have to bring it all back into the property room. So they just give it to us now, and we handle the whole process for them," said Lane. "We're like eBay in the sense that we auction items on the Internet. That's the only way we're like eBay."

His trucks crisscross the country picking up property and bringing it to the site's four warehouses.

"We actually come and pick the stuff up, handle it, photograph it, write it, get it appraised, fix it, sell it, ship it, collect the money, do the whole process and send the money to the city," he explained.

For folks used to eBay, PropertyRoom will take some getting used to. If anyone bids in the last three minutes, the auction is extended. It undoubtedly drives prices up, but the company says that's not the reason for the rule.

"We instituted it the first year we were in operation, and it was at the request of a lot of our customers, because there were a lot of complaints at the time of people using the sniping software to come in and steal these items at the last minute," said Lane. "So it really takes the advantage of these people using sniping software away from them and gives everybody a level playing field."

The "sniping software" he mentioned is used on auction sites like eBay to automatically place a bid seconds before the auction is set to expire, leaving little opportunity for other shoppers to stake their own claim on the item.

Another difference is shipping costs. They can be higher than eBay's.

For Hawkins, the best thing about PropertyRoom is its low profile. Because it's not as well known, he has fewer people bidding against him. That's how he got a great deal on his cell phone.

"I saved about $180 on that," he recalled.

If more people start finding out about the website, prices could go up. Maybe Hawkins shouldn't be telling people about PropertyRoom.

The police say you should take a couple simple steps to help get your stuff back if it's ever stolen. First, keep records of your property, including model and serial numbers. Then, consider engraving your driver's license number on your belongings.

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