eBay METRICS

Safety in Numbers

What the TSA takes away really adds up on eBay. By Chris Smith

What really happens to personal items confiscated by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)? They end up on eBay. In a three-month period (Feb-Apr 2005), $72,494 worth of goods appropriated by the TSA were sold on eBay. It’s not surprising that pocket knives were confiscated more often than anything else. They were the most valuable for resale, too. Plenty of lighters, nail clippers, multi-tools, scissors, box cutters, and corkscrews were also nabbed and sold by the pound. Less obvious were hand tools, padlocks, cigar cutters, money clips, letter openers, staple guns, and kitchen utensils like cake cutters. Oddest of all: a large purple sombrero, which sold for $67.22.

 

Total Number Average Sales Sold Price

Victorinox Knives

$19,132.00 9,654 $1.98

Swiss Style

$2,650.79 2,376 $1.12

Other Assorted Knives

$11,071.00 3,721 $2.98

Gerber, Old Timer, Buck, Wenger, etc. $11, 522.00 8, 379 $1.38

Leatherman Tools

Other Multi-Tools

Hand Tools (pounds)

Scissors

Corkscrews

Lighters (pounds)

$5,354.00 520

$4,769.00 1,349

$4,750.00 2,103

$1,367.00 609

$1,603.00 5,009

$415.00 153

$10 50
^$10.30 If you were one of
_$3.54 the people who
purchased these
_$2.26 confiscated items
on eBay, please
^$2.24 don’t try to bring
them with you to
^$0.32 the airport again.

$2.71

• Gun and bullet-shaped

keychains: $10.50.

$67.22

• A 5-piece BBQ set: $7.64. • A studded leather bracelet and bullet-adorned leather belt: $8. • A very large purple sombrero: $67.22.