Police Auction Bargains

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Anyone can attend a police or government run auction where you can snatch up great deals on things like bikes, laptops, iPods and trainers (often paying less than half their market price).

Police are auctioning off property all the time that has been seized or handed in. When they are unable to find the original owner, you can bid for these products at bargain basement prices (it’s not uncommon to see £300 bikes go for around £20). You can then keep these goods or sell them on for profit.

It can be a creative and fun way to earn some extra cash. Here is your step-by-step guide of how to make a profit from government and police auctions.

Step one: Find out what’s on offer

There are several different auction organisers that deal with different types of goods. Before you turn up to your closest auction, check that they are selling things you are interested in buying.

Government Surplus Auctions: For overstock stationery, ex-MOD and council vehicles, redundant hardware and school equipment, service machinery etc.

Police Auctions: Sales of confiscated and stolen/recovered /unclaimed personal possessions looking for a new home. Bicycles, household items, jewelry, business equipment and, of course, a great many car radios and mobile phones.

HM Customs Auctions: Sales of seized and impounded articles from the effects of drug traffickers and racketeers.

Property Auctions: Government bodies, local authorities, receivers, executors, banks and building societies who have made repossessions, and many others besides now sell property at auction. Prices start from literally £2,000.

Step two: Find an auction

Police auctions – Bumblebeeauctions

Police auctions are a great place to start. Check out Bumblebeeauctions which is regularly updated. The site disposes of unclaimed stolen property; it’s a bit like a cheaper version of eBay, with buyers bidding until a deadline.

There are plenty of bargain-bicycles in particular that go very cheaply. There are lots of car stereos (of course!) that can sell for just a few pounds and electrical items like DVD players and TV’s that sell for much less than they’re worth.

You can also pick up cars at Bumblebeeauctions which tend to be in fairly poor condition but really, really cheap so if you fancy putting in some work and cleaning it up you could make a real profit.

There are full descriptions of all items including notes on condition. The current highest bid will be shown when you click on the item so you can see how much it’s going for and decide whether you want to start bidding on it. Larger items will need to be collected from the police station’s property office. Smaller items can be delivered but the postage and packaging charges are pretty high (often around £10-£15) so you’re usually better off collecting them yourself from the station at no cost.

You can do a product search by town and so only view items that are accessible to you before you buy anything. You’ll need to give the station notice of when you will be picking it up (usually 48 hours) so they can get the item ready for collection. To start bidding you need to set up an e-money account with Nochex here which is the only payment system Bumblebeeauctions accept. Once you’ve done this you can register online and get started.

Other police auctions

Not all police forces are signed up to the Bumblebeeauctions site, but will dispose of property through traditional auction houses. However you can easily find the time and location of auctions near you by heading to police-information.co.uk and clicking on ‘Police Auctions’ on the left-hand menu.

Other government auctions

The Disposal Services Agency sells off army surplus for the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The prices are not particularly cheap, but the range of items available is quite amazing. The things on offer can include anything from parachute linen and riot helmets to quad bikes and aircraft! The Disposal Services Agency don’t sell to you directly but instead use contractors to store and sell the items. They provide the contact details that you need and viewing dates for the bigger vehicle items. Go to their website to view the surplus MoD items. Surplus MoD property disposal is organised by Defence Estates. You can find out the details of any MoD property for sale by contacting your regional Defence Estate Office. You can find contact details for those regional offices here as well as links to the properties on sale in those areas.

The MoD also uses online retailers such as The Outdoor to liquidate surplus army clothing and equipment, ranging from combat boots and camo-pattern jackets to ceremonial tunics and sporrans.

The West Oxfordshire Motor Auction (WOMA) is an independent motor auction house that holds police vehicle auctions on two Thursday evenings each month. Police cars are stripped of any markings, sirens, and radios etc. Clearly they will have clocked up more miles than most cars but they are also likely to have been serviced more than a normal car and kept in great condition in terms of tyres and oil. Click here for WOMA’s 2011 auction dates.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) hold auctions about six times a year at locations in different parts of Great Britain, selling personalised registrations. Go to the DVLA website here to find out where and when the next auction is.

Of course, not all auctions disposing of seized, impounded, or confiscated items will be held online or even necessarily administered by the police or HMRC. A lists of auction houses to which the police and customs services regularly transfer goods for sale is available online at Police Information.

Step three: Be careful

Government and police auctions aren’t secret so don’t waste your money on sites that want you to pay for information that you can get elsewhere for free! Police auctions are organised by each individual local police force, so contact your local station or check their website for information on where their next auction is going to be held. Some cursory web searches will also reveal civilian auction houses that receive items from various government services.

Do yourself a favour: check the retail price for any item you bid on and verify its condition. Most auctioneers will have viewings of all listed items shortly before they are sold. Faulty, damaged, or malfunctioning items will not always be listed as such, so inspect items carefully before placing a bid. You also need to know how much the item would cost as new to make sure you get a good price. If you’re selling it on you need to be able to make a profit.

Also take into consideration that the amount of your winning big will not necessarily be the same as the price you pay at checkout. Most auction houses charge a buyers’ premium, money redeemed by the auctioneer on top of the sale price. Premiums are subject to VAT, as are all purchases categorised as trades or business sales. Be sure you’re aware of all the numbers before the hammer falls, since they could add up to an additional 30% on the final price of any item.

Step four: Selling off the goods

The most popular online auction house is eBay however Loot is another website worth researching. The site eBid boasts that they do not charge a listing or final fee, so this is a great site to start auctioning off your goods and retaining more of your final profit.

If you’ve bagged yourself a cheap car and you want to sell it on, at Bestcarbuyer you can attain a free estimation of your car’s value just by entering the car’s registration number and mileage.

If you were lucky enough to find antiques or art pieces then auctioning your merchandise at Ewbankauctions can be a good starting place.

Once you have the hang of buying bargains and selling off for profit, then the government site Businesslink is a great one to visit for advice on how to exploit the benefits of trading online and some helpful tips on how to set-up a basic online shop. Also, see our guide to selling items on eBay for more information.

How much can you make?

It is difficult to predict or estimate exactly how much can be made, however police auctions offer the best money making opportunities with bikes worth over £100 regularly selling for £20 to £30. Also note that many police auctions will list jewellery as ‘yellow’ or ‘silver-coloured’ because its substance is unknown. If you acquire some metallurgical knowledge or bring a jeweller friend with you to pre-auction viewings you could make a big markup on resale. It’s a tougher challenge to make a profit with the army surplus and personalized number plates as the prices are higher, however with a bit of research some speciality websites can be found.

Useful Links

Bumblebee Auctions
Police-Information
Disposal Services Agency
The Outdoor – sells army surplus clothing
DVLA

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4 Responses to “Police auction bargains”

Annelle Tillberg says:

October 8, 2010 at 2:39 pm

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Dennis Helfgott says:

June 30, 2010 at 10:12 am

Great content, i totally agree with you. Definitely bookmarked . Will come back tomorrow, gotta go to work now.

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AuctionAuto Mover says:

June 29, 2010 at 5:14 pm

Lots of good information in your article. I live in the us, but still can use some of your information.

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Christopher Sierra says:

March 29, 2010 at 11:44 pm

EPIC article! I am definitely looking forward to seeing more

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