Buy cheap stolen goods
Grab bargain bikes and bling via police auctions
Pssst! Wanna buy cheap stolen goods? From bikes to gadgets to designer bags, it's possible to grab goods at a fraction of the normal cost. Not many people know about this trick, so you could nab some real bargains.
How to buy cheap stolen goods (and it's absolutely legal)
Don't worry, we know MoneySavers are law-abiding citizens, and we're not about to encourage you to break the law. This is all about snapping up lost property or goods seized from criminals when the police can't find the rightful owners.
Many police forces across the UK sell on loot which they've seized. Under the Proceeds of Crime Act, police can seize a criminal's cash or property. So as well as stolen goods, you might find gangsters’ ill-gotten gains – think Rolexes or Christian Louboutin heels.
And because this isn't widely known about – and because the police sell on items they'd otherwise have to store or dispose of – you could bag bargains.
There are two main routes the police use to flog this stuff, but the route for you may depend on what's available near you, as larger items often need to be collected.
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Official police eBay stores – some forces have now set up their own eBay (and even Vinted) shops. You can collect items in person or sometimes have them delivered.
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Auction houses – some police forces also sell goods via auction houses, in person or online.
Police auction Q&As
The items available can be limited, as it depends on the amount of stolen goods each police force recovers.
Official eBay stores vary – when we checked, one didn't have any items on offer, though there were over 100 items listed on others.
No – it's important to remember that just because it's a police auction, doesn't mean it's automatically cheap. Always check prices for similar items on eBay, Facebook selling groups and the used marketplace on Amazon* too. See our eBay Buying, Facebook Selling and Vinted Tips guides for more.
Police forces say they make every effort to trace the rightful owner of the property before they sell it.
If you spot something that belongs to you on eBay or in an auction house, contact the auctioneer or message the eBay account and hopefully they'll reunite you with your property. If that doesn't work, get in touch with the relevant police force.
If in the rare case you spot your property after it's been sold, the police force may be able to contact the buyer and attempt to negotiate its return.
Each force uses the money it raises differently, but generally it goes into policing initiatives or to a charity fund to help worthy causes.
Ever watched Storage Hunters, the US TV show where people bid for the mystery contents of storage units? Well, you can do something similar with lost luggage auctions. When airlines can't reunite lost bags with their rightful owners, they often sell them via specialist auction houses.
You don't always know what's inside the cases, but pick a winner and profits are possible from eBaying them on.
How big is this?
Is it always a bargain?
What if I spot something that belongs to me?
Where do the proceeds go?
I've got the bidding bug. Any other auctions worth checking out?
Official police eBay stores
Some police forces have set up their own official eBay shops to sell recovered goods. What's more, many smaller items have a delivery option, so you can still buy even if the force is miles from you.
To find an official store, start by checking your police force's website to see if it sells stolen goods on eBay. If not, look further afield.
When we checked, most items were sold via auction. However, a few were 'buy it now', so it does vary. Most smaller items (eg, cameras and jewellery) had a delivery option. Larger items such as bikes and televisions were collection-only – often from the police force's headquarters. For tips including how to auto-bid to seal deals, see our eBay Buying guide.
Here are the biggest official eBay (and now Vinted) shops we found:
Sussex Police. When we checked, Sussex Police had nearly 100 items up for grabs on eBay. Recent sales included a sound system confiscated from an illegal rave which sold for £72, an Apple Macbook Pro 14” £194 and a Superdry puffer coat £27. A lot containing 11 bikes went for £390.
Leicestershire Police. With over 200 items for sale, the Leicestershire Police eBay account sells everything from cameras to designer clothing. We saw some Hugo Boss loafers sell for £16 and a Jimmy Choo bag for £95. At the upper end, a Louis Vuitton Flandrin bag went for £670.
Northamptonshire Police. This is the first police force we’ve heard of using Vinted to sell goods. Among the 120 items on offer when we checked were a Vivienne Westwood ring for £58, Deadpool Xbox game £30 and Next shoes £10. As with other Vinted sellers, you can put in offers to see if they’ll do a deal – for more tricks, see our Vinted Tips blog.
The force also has an eBay account – it was mostly flogging Pandora charms, starting at £10.Thames Valley Police. There were no items for sale on the Thames Valley Police eBay account when we checked, however we’ve kept this here in case it adds more.
Have you bought cheap stolen goods from police? Let us know how you got on – plus any police eBay stores or auction houses you've spotted which do this – in the forum.
Auction houses
A number of forces use auction houses (which you can visit in person) to sell goods. Most items sold are similar to those on eBay, but you're also more likely to find larger items such as bikes.
To bid, you often need to go to an auction house on the day and bid in person, though more and more now offer online bidding. You'll have to register to bid either way.
You can often view items in person the day before an auction too. It's worth asking questions, as items are sold as seen.
The top auction houses for police auctions
You may have to do a bit of detective work to find an auction near you. Some police forces give this information on their websites, but not all do. However, if you search online for police auctions in your area (eg, 'police auction Manchester'), you should be able to find if there's an auction house that sells goods on behalf of police.
Here are some of the biggies:
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John Pye Auctions – online only. One of the more established players, John Pye Auctions holds weekly online police auctions, with 100ish lots up for grabs. You need to register to bid and it works a bit like eBay – you can bid any time until the end of the auction.
Yet unlike eBay, John Pye charges a buyer’s premium of around 25% on top of the sale price. Recent sales include plenty of designer handbags, jewellery, homewares and even a Samurai warrior suit. You can collect in person or get most items delivered for a fee (this should be shown on the listing). -
Wilsons – online and in person (Glasgow). Wilsons holds in-person auctions for Police Scotland at its Glasgow branch. You can also bid online, though you need to register at least 24 hours before the auction. It told us popular items include watches, jewellery and clothing.
Do note you need to pay a refundable £100 deposit before you can bid, whether you bid online or in-person. The buyer's premium varies, but it should be shown on the listing page. You can collect goods in person or arrange your own courier. -
Greasbys – in-person only (South London). Greasbys works a little differently. You can’t bid online or in the room. Instead, you need to go on viewing day, inspect the item and leave a ‘commission bid’ with the maximum amount you want to pay. Do note there's an £100 deposit, which is refunded or deducted from your bill.
Once the sale’s concluded successful bidders are notified and you need to collect goods in person by Thursday after the sale. Expect to find items such as bikes, alcohol and tools. Currently Greasbys charges a 23% buyer’s premium, but from 1 April this will go up to 26%.
Watch out for steep extra fees
It's important to understand that at auction houses, your final cost will be much more than the amount the item closes for after you've bid. There are two fees that are usually applied, so do your sums:
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The buyer's premium: This is typically 15-30% of the item's price – you also pay VAT on this premium. So if you successfully bid £30 for an item, and the buyer's premium was 20% (plus VAT), the total payable would be £37.20.
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VAT on the hammer price: You will often also pay 20% VAT on items' hammer prices. This would push your price up to £43.20. (VAT is not applicable on some police auctions - this should be made clear in the auction details.)
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