Went to Chicago Police Auction yesterday

Went to a Chicago Police Dept auction yesterday. They have it right near 26th and California which is a notoriously bad area and of course they make it a cash only auction so you gotta go into this bad neighborhood with a couple thousdand bucks on you great lol.

I was pretty happy with how prices were. Some prices got crazy but other things were really low. For certain items people were paying over retail for stuff but other stuff was deals.

There were lots of lots of 100 burnable dvd's which you can get on ebay for $15.88 free shipping and people paid as much as $25.

I was surprised at how much stuff was still new in wrappers, factory sealed, etc.

Basically a lil bit of everything several sets of skis, about two hours worth of bikes some really expensive bikes like fisher mountain bikes. First 2 hours of auction was nothing but bikes. Lots of video games, WII, xbox connect, etc still in origional packaging, some sports memorbilia, lots of dj and recording studio equipment.

I picked up a few flat screen computer monitors for $30 and my best pick of the day was a home theatre projector I got for $200. It's an In Focus model so not top of the line but definately a good buy, still factory sealed with carry case. I'll probaby keep it for a few weeks and plaly some NHL 2011 on my xbox and then sell it.

Next week going to check out a US Marshals auction mostly cars but also some jewelry and other stuff.

Basically a lil bit of everything several sets of skis, about two hours worth of bikes some really expensive bikes like fisher mountain bikes. First 2 hours of auction was nothing but bikes..

One auction house in my area handles the police items for many municipalities; they also sell a lot of furniture and other new stuff at same location but at a different area of the facility, so multiple auctions going on at the same time.
Cars and bikes are a biggie at this auction. Sometimes a car can be had for a good price; you can start it and drive it forward and back 10 feet.

Bikes?  People buy them by the lot, 10 to 50 at a time. I have seen more than one set of these then come up in a storage lkr sale with the tags still on them from the first auction. Naturally, the ones that are left in the lkr are somewhat less valuable than the whole batch which was origianally acquired.

Movieman, unfortunately not by the lot...I WISH...man I thought the bikes were never going to end. The auctioneer was going into great detail about every bike as well, would not only say the brand and model but talk about this one has the dual springs the bike is actually two parts that connect with a suspension, yadayadayada yada.

I had heard they were like this and would have liked to go like 3 hours into it but wasn't sure if you had to register so got there early.

Tons of jewelry and with gold and silver prices so high even ugly stuff coudl be good money for scrap but I got there an hour early adn still wasn't able to sit at the jewelry counter to inspect stuff. Jewelry was sold in lots, they would put watches, rings, necklaces, etc in a plastic sleeve almost like a baseball card sleee. They would fill each slot so some bags were full of crap costume jewelry adn others were filled with what looked to be engagement ring, chain, watches, etc. Those tended to go fro anywehre from $100 - $250.

In Chicago we have a lot of boosters so lots of stuff still factory sealed with store tags. There must have been 2 dozen of these camping cots still in boxes.

I'm curious to see what teh US Marshals auction is like. They probably go after higher level criminals so I'd guess nicer stuff than just what some crackhead boosted from Walmart.

My next mission is to check out a post office auction.

I went to the Police auction here in Jackson ,tn, I stayed about 3 hours, I did not see one thing sell that I thought was a good buy, I know several things went for more than Walmart sells it for.. it was unreal.. The same for a court house sale of some rifles and shotguns, they went within $50 to $75 of the new price.. I dont waste my time even going to those anymore.

I have to say I was surprised like you said that certain items fetched retail prices. Why would you go to an auction, sit for hours, buy something that has not been tested, no returns, etc and pay the same price you could go to walmart and buy one for. I dont get it either.

This is only some of the stuff though. I was surprised a few Nintendo Wii's and Xbox Connects went for retail prices. There was also some camping equip that wasnt much under retail.

It seems like the small items that appeal to lots of people tend to go for high prices. When your talking larger specialty tools or gas powered equip be it concrete scuffers or whawtever that's where the deals are. I also got a pretty good deal on a home theatre projector only $200.

bikes were wierd. You'd see a Fisher 2k mountain bike sell for a a couple hundred bucks and then see a huffy go for more than walmart sells them for.

Rules, it doesn't count when the cops are selling your stuff.