Make Money From Confiscated Stuff at Airport?
Perusing Digg I found this article on Yahoo that lists the agencies that sell all the confiscated stuff at airport security lines. The majority of the confiscated items are knives or other sharp objects like box cutters and scissors.
I noticed my local government agency that sells all these items back to the public called the Texas Surplus Store was not even 5 miles away from where I live, so I paid them a quick visit. I wasn't sure what I'd find there.
I went there and it was a large warehouse with some airport confiscated stuff in the front, and a giant warehouse full of furniture, industrial machinery, cop car parts and other random stuff. Everything there was either retired government equipment, foreclosed items, defaulted loan items or seized property....all at super discounted prices. This government agency gets all the stuff, and it's their purpose is to get rid of it quickly. It reminded me of a big pawn shop, except much cheaper.
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So the reason I went here was to see if any money can be made from these items by reselling them on eBay. Something that caught my eye were these big bags of assorted pocket knives for $10. I couldn't count how many each bag had inside, but it was a lot. So as a little money experiment I bought a $10 bag of knives plus one Leatherman Micra pocketknife for $5 (just to get more keyword searches on eBay).
I counted all the knives, and it turns out I got 74 knives for $10. The extra Leatherman knife made it 75 knives total.
eBay Auction 170168750293
I also went ahead and made a quick video of the knives, slapped it on YouTube and posted it in the auction:
In a few days I'll see how much this $15 experiment returns!
-----UPDATE 11-20-2007-----
The eBay auction bid up to $26.55 + $10.95 shipping for a total of $37.50.
It cost me:
$10 purchase price
$12 shipping
$1 fees
-----
Total costs: $23.00
Bought for: $37.50
-----
Total Profit for Experiment: $14.50
I noticed my local government agency that sells all these items back to the public called the Texas Surplus Store was not even 5 miles away from where I live, so I paid them a quick visit. I wasn't sure what I'd find there.
I went there and it was a large warehouse with some airport confiscated stuff in the front, and a giant warehouse full of furniture, industrial machinery, cop car parts and other random stuff. Everything there was either retired government equipment, foreclosed items, defaulted loan items or seized property....all at super discounted prices. This government agency gets all the stuff, and it's their purpose is to get rid of it quickly. It reminded me of a big pawn shop, except much cheaper.
---------
So the reason I went here was to see if any money can be made from these items by reselling them on eBay. Something that caught my eye were these big bags of assorted pocket knives for $10. I couldn't count how many each bag had inside, but it was a lot. So as a little money experiment I bought a $10 bag of knives plus one Leatherman Micra pocketknife for $5 (just to get more keyword searches on eBay).
I counted all the knives, and it turns out I got 74 knives for $10. The extra Leatherman knife made it 75 knives total.
eBay Auction 170168750293
I also went ahead and made a quick video of the knives, slapped it on YouTube and posted it in the auction:
In a few days I'll see how much this $15 experiment returns!
-----UPDATE 11-20-2007-----
The eBay auction bid up to $26.55 + $10.95 shipping for a total of $37.50.
It cost me:
$10 purchase price
$12 shipping
$1 fees
-----
Total costs: $23.00
Bought for: $37.50
-----
Total Profit for Experiment: $14.50
Labels: Money Experiments
posted by Neville @ 1:03 AM
22 comments
22 Comments:
Swiss Army knives go for $2.50 a piece there. The big grab bag I bought is the best because you get an assortment.
I don't know much about the knife market, but if you rummage around I'm sure you can find some high value knives on the cheap.
The glasses I'm keeping though :-)
The best resell opportunity I've found is going to manufacturing surplus auctions and getting new equipment in bulk and then eBaying individual parts. Takes around $2000+ to buy a lot, but you can double or triple your money in a month (can't list all at once or it will dilute) so it's worth the effort most of the time.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,208080,00.html
Pennsylvania Selling Banned Airline Items on eBay
Saturday, August 12, 2006
HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania — A man-sized artificial palm tree and a sausage grinder share space in a state government warehouse with piles of Swiss Army knives and chain saws — just a few of the things travelers have had to give up at airport security checkpoints.
Pennsylvania turns a small profit by disposing of these castoff items, which it accepts from security contractors at 12 airports in five U.S. states, by selling them to the highest bidders at online auction site eBay.
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And what did PA learn from their experience: "Knives, auctioned by the lot, sell fastest. Ten pounds of assorted pocket knives, for example, recently attracted nine bids and sold for $42."
"Pennsylvania has modified its program to maximize profitability. Smaller lots bring in more cash, so it no longer offers bulk sales like the 500 small Swiss Army knives that went for a record $595."
"Kentucky, one of at least three other states that sells airport surplus on eBay, brings in $3,000 a month and stocks state agencies with surrendered hand tools and other equipment."
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Do you ever have an idea of your own?
All NTSA seizures...hmmm..wonder if he stole your idea?
It takes a big man to leave a 3 paragraph anonymous post.
While you could potentially make a lot more selling them individually, it would take a lot more time. To make a sale on eBay worthwhile, I figure you need to make a minimum of $20 profit per hour of time spent.
I'm curious to see what your "real" profit here was, including the amount of time that you put into the sale.
At first blush, it does not look as profitable as your income-generating magical change jar.
$10 purchase price
$12 shipping
$1 fees
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Total costs: $23.00
Bought for: $37.50
-----
Total Profit for Experiment: $14.50
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Nev, did they teach math at UT? In your post, you said that you bought a $10 bag of knives plus the leatherman for $5. That's $15 in knives, not $10, reducing your profit to $9.50.
You just wasted $2.40 by using the wrong mailing method. I know that seems petty, but it would have also gotten to the customer quicker via priority mail.
I would assume that going to the building, browsing, buying the knives, making an ebay listing, taking pictures, opening and closing the knives for the pictures and video all took over an hour.
So he made $6 for over an hours worth of work.
Business genius.
That was an awfully snide remark.
To be sure, the "business genius" was the fact that Nev LOST $2 on shipping....LOL.
Yet all the ball-sniffers will keep posting what a wonderful businessman Nev is.
Why he would not sell a pair of sunglass and make a huge profit, incurring little shipping cost, as opposed to a bag full of stupid knives is beyond my limited business accumen.
Why sell some sunglasses which he claims are worth a couple hundred dollars when he could just wear them and give himself a "professional" look while he makes $6 or less per hour selling knives.
I only see your info up to Dec 2006. Your Online Biz still going?
Remember, this is a kid who thinks a change jar is income.
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