On occasion, tourists carry items that the Transportation Security Administration will not permit them to take on a plane – such as shampoos, liquor, pocketknives, keychains decked out with sharp parts, and more. So naturally, this raises the question: does TSA recover all these prohibited articles and resell them? With this, my mind when into overtime wondering how to buy TSA confiscated items.
To enforce its mandate to prioritize passenger safety, TSA will not allow prohibited items inside the airport or the airplane. That’s clear.
Why Does TSA Confiscate Items At The Security Checkpoint?
TSA is responsible for passenger safety, so they don’t allow passengers to bring prohibited items into the airport or on airplanes. But, like every passenger, you should know these rules before you go to the airport. Airlines also have ample reminders and warnings on their websites.
Unfortunately, some passengers forget they have pocket knives or scissors in their bags. And others will try to sneak the items in, hoping they can. Either way, once they get to security, it may be too late to take the item back to their car; thus, TSA gained another item.
What Does TSA Confiscate?
TSA will retain anything on the TSA list of prohibited items if you pack them in your carry-on luggage. The TSA will not allow firearms, explosives, knives, razors, flammables, liquids in big containers, and even fake weapons in your carry-on luggage.
And with numerous passengers forgetting what is in their pockets, TSA has quite a collection. On a daily bases, TDSA will find different kinds of toiletries, big and small knives, and pointed or sharp accessories.
Utility knives, for example, make an interesting collection. Because of this, many people who fancy knives go online to find out how to buy TSA confiscated items.
Does TSA Give You Options?
When a TSA officer on duty finds a TSA-prohibited item in your carry-they will offer you some options, namely:
- Put the prohibited item in the checked bag
- Give it to a relative or companion who is not traveling with you
- Return it to their car
- Mail it to their home or final destination, if the airport has a mailing center
- Surrender voluntarily to TSA
Most passengers take the last option as they find the first four too troublesome. Because of this, TSA usually ends a day with a pile of no-no items collected at the TSA checkpoints.
What Does TSA Do With All Of The Stuff They Get?
If it’s food, drinks, or alcohol, TSA disposes of them. Other items like household goods and sharp or dangerous objects go to TSA Lost and Found.
If you value the confiscated item, you have thirty days to recover it from TSA Lost and Found. If not claimed, TSA will either destroy it, sell it or surrender it as surplus property to a state agency.
While the law does not permit TSA to profit from confiscated items, TSA can hand over potentially valuable things to surplus centers. Interested parties can then check on how to buy TSA confiscated items from the surplus centers or other government online auction sites like GovDeals.com.
Where Do You Get TSA Confiscated Things?
The TSA-confiscated items become government property when they leave the TSA security checkpoints. Therefore, it is up to the state to select the auction service to sell the items. The state keeps the proceeds made from the sale.
Here are four websites you can go to for how to buy TSA confiscated items.
Say you want to buy TSA confiscated knives. You can visit any of the four websites to find out their rules on how to buy TSA confiscated items.
For example, if you visit the official website of my state, Florida, there is a simple process to follow. Head over to the Florida website.
Once you get there, put this in the search box, “state agency for surplus property TSA confiscated items.” Next, you will see “Purchasing Public Surplus Sale.” From there, you will see details on how to buy TSA confiscated items.
The website has auction sale links, an invitation for the public to bid, and other pertinent instructions.
In this example, the state of Florida collaborates with GovDeals and A1 Assets to assist the public in buying government surplus. These 2 web pages contain the relevant auction information. The GovDeals page will also show the current bid amount and the number of bids received for specific items.
How To Buy TSA Confiscated Items From Auction Sites
Let’s go over how to buy TSA confiscated items from the state and other auction sites like eBay. Usually, because it’s an auction, you can expect a good bargain.
Through the websites of the state’s auction partners, you will see a list of items for auction by category. So if you want to buy knives, click on the “Knives/Multi-Tool” category.
You will then see the items for auction under the “Knives/Multi-Tool” category. Choose what you want to buy and look at the starting bid.
Depending on the auction rules, you will place a bid online for the selected item during the specified bidding time. If your bid wins, the auction organizers will ship the item or items to you.
How to buy TSA confiscated items are often sold in bulk, and the price is a great bargain compared to buying the same item from other online sellers.
How to buy TSA confiscated items from eBay is basically the same process. Searching for “TSA confiscated knives” on the eBay search box will take you to a page showing knives in different lots and categories.
There are some great deals for TSA-confiscated items on eBay auctions. I found pocket knives with a starting bid of $41 for a lot, which is a bunch of knives for a great deal.
Place your offer and bid against others. If you are the highest bidder, you get the items with additional shipping charges but still save a lot of money.
Knives are not the only TSA-confiscated items sold at state auction sites or eBay. I used knives as an example because TSA gets so many of them. Other things like workshop tools or garden tools are also on the auction list, but collectible knives are almost always on the list.
Questions Often Asked On How To Buy TSA Confiscated Items
Here are 3 questions many people have asked about how to buy TSA confiscated items.
What are the most common TSA-confiscated items?
According to TSA, some of the most surrendered items are liquids in containers bigger than 3.4 ounces -bottled water, shampoo, soda, alcohol, soap, and sunscreen. Other regularly confiscated items are small knives, multi-tools, and keychain knives.
Can you get back your items confiscated by TSA?
If you want to keep the prohibited item, you can check if the airport has a mailing system to send it to your house or destination. For example, some airports have a mailing station close to the metal detectors. You can also recover your item through TSA Lost and Found online.
How to avoid having your items confiscated by TSA?
Keep one travel bag that you will use when flying, and don’t put anything in there which is on the TSA list of prohibited items.
You can find a list of items you can take with you on an airplane when you click the link in the blue box.
Additional Resources
If you are looking for more tutorials, walkthroughs, and troubleshooting on TSA, here are some additional posts about TSA:
How To Buy TSA Confiscated Items – Conclusion
There is a straightforward process on how to buy TSA confiscated items. You only need to know what you want to buy and where TSA or the state sells them.
You can get the best bargains for TSA-confiscated items that you can purchase in bulk, usually at an incredibly discounted price. In addition, you can make an extra profit if you resell the items individually.
Happy bargains, my friends.
