Who could lose watch worth $12,500?
Lost, stolen, unclaimed items — more than just bikes — to be sold to highest bidders
A $12,500 gold watch. Guitars. G.I. Joe dolls. Ipads. And hundreds of hundreds of bikes.
All this and much more will be up for bids Saturday as the Vancouver Police Department auctions off recovered but unclaimed stolen goods. The annual event brings in plenty of bargain hunters looking for their own steal on one of the more than 800 items up for bid.
Rob Kavanagh of Able Auctions, which handles the event for the police department, had one piece of advice for bidders: Do your research.
“Come to the preview, look at the item you’re interested in, find out its original price . . . and determine what you want to pay for it,” Kavanagh said Wednesday.
“Mark it down, and don’t get too excited at the auction. Set some limits.”
Aside from the 400 bicycles — which Kavanagh said are of higher quality than usual — there is a separate warehouse for other items, including electronics, art and clothing sold by the box. There’s also a number of pieces of Tiffany-appraised jewelry, including the high-end gold watch.
Last year, more than $250,000 was raised, with all proceeds returning to the City of Vancouver. But Ian Wightman, property and storage manager for the police department, said that, in an ideal world, the amount would be zero.
“We don’t want to have the auction, because that means we’ve returned everything,” Wightman said.
“Ultimately, our goal is to get everything back [to the original owner]. If you’ve made a report, odds are you’re going to get it back.”
Items can be claimed by their original owner up to and including the day of the auction, Wightman said, but he asked that people bring serial numbers, police report or other documentation for proof of ownership.
The auction starts at 9 a.m. at 1055 Vernon Drive, with bicycles being sold first, followed by general items. A public preview will be held Thursday and Friday.