by Doug Smith
Seized property offered through government auctions and police auctions are a bargain hunters dream. The wide range of new and used merchandise sold is astounding, and the prices are as low as 10% of market value!
What is seized property? Most states have “seizure laws” in place. These laws allow law enforcement agencies to seize property that was used to commit a crime, such as a car or truck used to transport stolen goods or illegal drugs, as well as any real property that was bought with money acquired from the commission of a crime.
If a criminal uses the money he acquires from his crime to buy a car, truck, boat, even a house, they fall under the “seizure law” and will be confiscated. Jewelry, computers, cameras, art all can be seized.
The numbers and types of seized property that is sold through government auctions is mind-boggling. You can buy cars and trucks, boats, antiques, jewelry, office equipment, even aircraft. And they can be had for mere pennies on the dollar.
These auction goods can also be merchandise that was seized by Customs. The seizure might be for smuggling, or improper importation, even failure to pay import duties or taxes. The US Customs agency often seizes entire cargo containers full of property. Many times, these consist of brand new merchandise that was originally intended for retail store sale, and are now being liquidated through a government auction.
Government auctions and police auctions are held by hundreds of individual agencies, from federal government agencies like US Customs, the IRS, FBI, and DEA, down to your local city government and municipal sheriffs departments. Each agency conducts it’s own auctions, some online, some at specific locations.
How would you actually find all these seized property auction treasures? You can look through individual listings, but since each agency holds it’s own auctions, and change daily, you will miss most of them. A much better alternative is to join a government auction membership site that compiles all those listings together in one place. Since membership sites vary in cost and features, you will want to check out reviews such as those found at Government Auction Site Reviews.
Seized property auctions are vast treasure troves of merchandise. If you are willing to put in a little time browsing through them, you will find literally thousands of “deals of a lifetime” on just about anything in the world!
