Every travel blog and morning TV show seems to have unpacked every last detail about Unclaimed Baggage in Scottsboro, Alabama. The store where your luggage might wind up for sale if your airline loses it has been generously covered over the years.
A somewhat sad bazaar for dashed vacation dreams past and present, Unclaimed Baggage is one of those “hidden secrets” of American travel that’s neither hidden nor a secret anymore.
But the blog Slashgear, which made its name covering mobile tech, reminded us last week that there’s a second marketplace for errant items from the airport. And browsing this one—which most people still don’t know about—can be unsettling.
When something is abandoned by a passenger at a TSA security checkpoint—if the item is not allowed through, for example, or if a flyer simply forgets to pack it back in hand luggage after inspection—then the item might end up for sale elsewhere.
We’re talking about GovDeals, an online auction site that’s mostly for liquidating surplus items from the government. For the benefit of bargain-hunting vacationers who are capable of suppressing their curiosity and sense of hygiene, GovDeals dabbles in goods that didn’t make the cut at airport security, too.
Most of the time, chastened packing pirates abandon their forbidden booty right there in the airport terminal. Once that stuff is gathered up, it may wind up for sale in the eBay-style online auctions at GovDeals.
After some of these things are resold, we’re kind of scared to know where they end up.
The orphaned bikinis and wayward Kindles at Unclaimed Baggage suggest tragic tales of leisurely holiday plans that went awry, but the type of goods left behind at TSA checkpoints tend to skew much darker and more dangerous. To add to the dystopian vibe of these misfit toys, GovDeals frequently sells them in bulk as lots.
You’ll find so many knives that people tried to take into airplane cabins that shopping GovDeals may give you a renewed appreciation for traveling on foot. How about 13 pounds of silver-handled knives? Approximately 11 pounds of box cutters? Perhaps 4 pounds of specialty blades used for gutting fish, for a starting bid of $3?
The best deal this week might be the 10 pounds of assorted Leatherman multi-tools, which can cost $60 per unit in stores but were offered on GovDeals for a starting bid of $5.
If bidding on a bouquet of razor-sharp edges is somehow too excessive for you, you could opt for 5 pounds of various cast-off sunglasses, 13 pounds of umbrellas, or 8 pounds of flashlights (let’s hope there’s nothing strange about them—the TSA permits all those things on flights).
The savings at GovDeals can be far better than at Unclaimed Baggage. You can buy seven pairs of used AirPods (7,000 gallons of sanitizer not included) for less than the price of a single pair at Alabama’s more famous post-airport clearinghouse.
If cooties are of no concern, you can even buy used pillows and blankets by the box via GovDeals—but if you choose to fly with them later on, please don’t sit by us.
Slashgear dutifully points out that although GovDeals refers to these items as potentially “confiscated,” the TSA doesn’t technically confiscate anything. Agents tell passengers what’s not permitted, and it’s up to the passenger to figure out what to do with the rejected stuff.
Not all items sold in this section of GovDeals were necessarily plucked from the hands of naughty airline passengers, either. In any case, the potential deals are bonanzas. Take the bridal ring confiscated by the Marietta Police Department near Atlanta. The jewelry went on sale amid TSA items for a starting bid of $10. Who said romance is dead?
Often, the lost loot found at GovDeals can be sent straight to your home, but sometimes there are restrictions about whether your winnings are too dangerous to be mailed to you. In some cases that are clearly marked on the auction listing, you’ll have to pick up your bounty in person.