Want knives? How to buy what people leave at airport security.

A decade ago, a woman famously downed an entire bottle of Rémy Martin XO Excellence rather than surrender it to airport security. It didn’t end quite the way she planned: While she managed to avoid a trip to the hospital, she was deemed too intoxicated to fly and forced to stay on the ground.

As unhinged as that might sound, you can imagine how her internal monologue might have gone: “No way I’m letting these guys have a $190 bottle of cognac.”

It’s a popular myth that members of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) walk home with all the good stuff passengers have to leave behind—the expensive alcohol, the loose joints, or the set of Toledo steel knives you bought as a wedding gift. Who hasn’t found themselves furious with airport security after the loss of a prized possession?

But what really happens to items you’re forced to abandon at airport security? TSA officers certainly aren’t the ones ending up with your confiscated items.

No, the TSA officers can’t take your stuff

Even if they wanted to, there’s actually no way that a TSA officer could swipe your pocket knife—at least not without losing their job if discovered. “Transportation Security Officers at airport checkpoints do not confiscate prohibited items,” said an official TSA spokesperson via email. 

Technically speaking, when you hit security with, say, a bottle of fancy cognac, you’re always presented with options. “Passengers have a choice when they present at a checkpoint with a prohibited item,” the TSA spokesperson said. “They can hand it to a friend or family member at the airport who is not traveling with them, they can return the item to their vehicle, or they can return to the airline ticket counter and place the item in checked baggage.”

But let’s say none of those options work for you. Maybe you’re flying solo or maybe you’re running so late that you may miss the plane if you return to the baggage counter. That’s when you come to the last resort: “They can voluntarily abandon the item at the checkpoint.”

Granted, it may not feel very voluntary at the time. Even then, TSA officers aren’t allowed to take anything home. What’s more, the organization itself can’t directly sell the items for profit. After all, no one wants to create an incentive for agents to take anything from your luggage. Instead, any money garnered from the sale of an abandoned item will go back to the government of the state where the items were picked up in the first place.

An Arizona news outlet uncovers what really happens to the pocket knives, gadgets, and other items travelers leave behind at TSA checkpoints, and how many end up on the auction block. Video: TSA treasures auctioned off at the highest bidder, 12 News

How the TSA sells off your abandoned items

So what exactly does the TSA do with the 2,000 or so pounds of prohibited items picked up at large airports each month? Most of it is collected at the end of the day and sent to a third-party auction site like GovDeals.com. Here’s the cool part: You can bid on many of these objects, which often sell for incredibly cheap.

Unfortunately, if you’re looking for full-size Le Mer skincare products or Johnny Walker Blue, you’re probably out of luck. You might, however, get lucky on a set of cordless drills, a box of assorted flashlights, a box of headphones, or eight pounds of miscellaneous electronics. 

Most of all, you’ll find knives—lots and lots of knives. Swiss Army knives are particularly common, since it’s easy for someone to forget they had one tucked away in a backpack pocket. Often, it’s possible to snag a good-as-new Victorinox for a couple of bucks. Some blades are sold individually, while others come in sets of 11 pounds.

Given the number of switchblades, hunting knives, boxcutters, and other potentially lethal weapons that make their way to the auction, you may find yourself with a newfound appreciation for the TSA. 

What to know before bidding on abandoned TSA items

The savings on GovDeals auctions can be substantial. Recently, there was a gold Omega watch with a starting bid of $10. Earlier this year, Frommer’s spotted a bridal ring confiscated by the Marietta Police Department in Georgia. There’s also a whole section of laptops, iPads, and eReaders.

There are a few things to bear in mind should you be tempted to place a bid. First of all, there are no guarantees when it comes to hygiene on this stuff. No one’s responsible for washing those old sports jerseys or pairs of Nike sneakers. Bottles of shampoo and conditioner regularly turn up, but you may be rolling the dice by purchasing them. 

Also some of the items in question (i.e. the giant boxes of knives) are dangerous enough that they can’t go through the U.S. Postal system. Instead, you’ll have to be located close enough to the source to drive over and collect your booty in-person. 

Troll through Reddit and you’ll find a number of people taking advantage of these deals. It’s maybe better not to speculate what anyone needs pounds of knives for, although at least some wind up on eBay to be resold. At the very least, they’re unlikely to be stashed in the overhead compartment on your next longhaul.

This story is part of Popular Science’s Ask Us Anything series, where we answer your most outlandish, mind-burning questions, from the ordinary to the off-the-wall. Have something you’ve always wanted to know? Ask us.

 

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