Move over eBay, there's a new Web site in town. With its stolen and unclaimed goods, http://www.PropertyRoom.com is literally the "hottest" online auction around.
The Web site works with law-enforcement agencies across the country, including the St. Louis Police Department, which joined in April. It's taken the place of the department's annual auction, which has reduced some of the hassle that went with it.
"An unlimited number of people can see the auction through the Web, compared to maybe 100 to 150 people who'd go to an auction," Lt. Bob Dunigan said. "I estimate we're saving $2,000 plus by not having the auction."
But the department isn't the only beneficiary; the online setup is better for buyers as well. Dunigan said that in past auctions, a box of car radios would be sold, regardless of their condition. But PropertyRoom.com will clean, test, describe and photograph all of them, then individually sell only the working items.
The Web site's founder, Tom Lane, confirms that.
"If we say it's a real Rolex, it's a real Rolex," said Lane, who's based in Mission Viejo, Calif., and started the site in 1999. "If they're phony Rolexes, we destroy them."
Lane served as a police officer and detective in Long Beach, N.Y., from 1971 to 1978 and often cleaned out the department's property room.
"I thought if we could get all the property from police departments to one site, we could show it to more people," he said.
The Web site offers an additional service, however, with its sister site, StealItBack.com. People can register serial numbers or other pertinent information about stolen property at this Web site, Lane explained. Before posting an item on the online auction, PropertyRoom.com employees check it against the Steal It Back database. If the item matches an entry, it's returned to the owner rather than auctioned.
The proceeds from auctioned items go to the police departments from which they originated. In St. Louis, the proceeds are used as they always have been: to fund the Police Relief Association, an organization that provides financial aid to sick or injured officers.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
