Police Auctions: Gadget Getting on the Cheap

While it is kinda creepy, a great way, in theory, to get great deals on gadgets is by seeking out police auctions. Don't worry--these aren't hard to find since they are available online. The most popular one, at least according to Google, is PropertyRoom.com (clever!) which also goes by the domain StealItBack.com (even more clever!). It has a good variety of items, too--not just gadgets. Just now, I noticed a great selection of older iPods--several 4g models, a few 1g Shuffles, some Nanos and a Mini or two. There are even a couple 30GB video iPods in their original packaging, both going for under $200 a piece.

Other items available include Karaoke machines, headphones, wireless cameras, PDAs, DVD players, and more. All of the items I saw were under $200.

So, where do all of these electronics come from? Well, this is the kinda creepy part.

As the name suggests, the items in police auctions usually come from police evidence rooms. Which, of course, means that they originally come from criminal investigations. In some cases they may be things that were stolen by a criminal and for whatever reason were unreturnable to the original owner (cringe!).

Other times these items may have belonged to the criminals, themselves. Either possibility might make you feel bad for the original owner of the item, but hey, if you didn't buy that Sidekick 3 for $55 someone else would have.

Check out all of the electronics auctions PropertyRoom.com has to offer here.