Your local police department probably doesn’t come to mind when you’re thinking about where to do your holiday shopping this year. But, if you’re looking for a good deal, they should. Over 1,500 hundred police departments and other law enforcement agencies from around the country have turned to the internet to auction off stolen property that has been recovered.

Millions of property thefts are reported each year and much of this property is returned as part of the criminal investigation. When law enforcement cannot find the rightful owner, then they are required to auction off the property. This is where www.propertyroom.com comes in.

How about a BMW 5 series for around $3,000? Sound tempting? Then you need to check out www.propertyroom.com. Thousands of items are being auctioned off every minute of every day. Many categories of property are listed….from apparel, automotive, electronics, jewelry, tools to jewelry.

When browsing the site, my recommendation is that you open two windows in your browser, one with www.propertyroom.com and the other with www.shopzilla.com (or another similar site). Then all you need to do is look for items on shopzilla that you find on propertyroom. This will tell you if you have indeed found a real bargain. For example, with little effort, I found a watch being auctioned for $26 dollars that retails for $400. Not a bad for 3 minutes work.

Keep in mind that you must register to bid on an auction item and you must also provide a valid credit card. If you win the auction, your card is automatically charged and the item is yours.

If you have been the victim of theft, then www.propertyroom.com can help you too. They are working on a new program called “Steal It Back.” This program is free. Simply register the serial numbers for items that you own and if this property is ever stolen and listed on propertyroom.com, your possessions will be returned to you. The site lists several success stories of people that have gotten stolen property back by registering on the site.

Happy shopping!

Original Post Date – 12/12/2008