Thousands Get a Steal Buying Stolen Merchandise
interactiveDAD Staff - Nov. 1, 2004
It’s ‘windows’ shopping for men. Internet site run by a former cop lets you legally buy stolen goods.

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It’s 10:23pm ET and the bidding goes strong.

 

One auction is for a rare 1922 Peace Silver Dollar.  Another is for a ladies 14K Yellow Gold Fashion Ring. 

 

But there are literally thousands of items being bid on.  There are computers, fax machines, printers, mobile phones and children’s toys like bicycles and video games.  

 

This isn’t Ebay.  It’s a stealitback.com—where just about everything you’ll find up for auction is stolen.

 

HOW IS THIS LEGAL?

 

To be clear, the auction items are obtained legally from police departments nationwide.  These are items that were stolen, recovered, and for whatever reason, the rightful owners never claimed them. 

 

People don’t claim their items because sometimes they don’t know to and other times because they’ve already collected the insurance money.

 

Police departments keep stolen merchandise for as long as they need to for evidence.   After that, departments try unload the goods because they take up something even more valuable: space. 

 

Property rooms across America are filled with stolen goods.  But now, four-hundred agencies in 27 states send their good to this site for auction—including the Los Angeles Police Department. 

 

Thomas Lane, http://www.stealitback.com co-founder, says some agencies used to hold community auctions to clean out their property rooms. It’s an event that Lane says is very time consuming considering only a handful of people ever show up—and it’s usually professional dealers who resell at a great profit. 

 

This brings auctions to the general public nationwide. 

 

“Consumers can sit (and bid) in their living rooms, as opposed to going to an auction held on a holiday weekend” says Lane, whose site attracts more than 12 million visitors a month.

 

‘HEY THAT’S MINE—IT WAS STOLEN!’

 

So now the obvious question:  What if the rightful owner turns up to collect the item being auctioned? 

 

There’s a simple answer.  They get it back.

 

It’s happened 25 times so far.

 

“If we can,” says Lane, “we give it back.” Of course proof is required.

 

WE HAD TO GIVE IT A TEST

 

In researching this story, this reporter came across a Lion King lithograph from Disney.  It’s something that sells for well over $100 dollars retail.  It went for just over $30 on the auction site. 

 

I won it!

 

It’s just as it was advertised to be.  It arrived within days, packaged well.

 

What a steal.

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