2009 Vancouver Police Department Annual Auction
 

The city's largest-ever annual police auction will showcase everything including jewellry, golf clubs, CDs, and a kitchen sink this weekend at a fraction of their original cost.

The Vancouver Police Recovery Auction is boasting a record number of bikes -- 650, on the auction block, and is dedicating Saturday as a bike-only auction day as a result.

Auction organizer Rob Kavanagh says he thinks many of the bikes are high-quality mountain bikes stolen from North Vancouver and recovered by Vancouver police.

"I've got way more bikes this year," he said. "Two-thirds of the sales are bikes ... including (ones) with full suspension, disc brakes ... Kona, GT, we've got Rocky Mountain, all top-quality names."

The vast array of other auctionable goods, including a sailboat, fur coats, scuba gear, electronic goods and power tools will be available for purchase on Sunday.

The annual auction is a Vancouver tradition, selling stolen items recovered by police that have not been claimed by their owners within six months.

The auction usually generates between $200,000 to $250,000, all of which goes back to the Vancouver Police Department.

Shoppers are able to preview the auction items on Thursday 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., Friday 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., or pick up a hard copy of the auction catalogue.

Kavanagh recommends potential buyers decide ahead of time what they want to spend.

"Come to the preview, and if you see an item you like, do some research on it," he said. "Establishing a maximum price you want to pay, that's the best way to do it, so you don't get over-excited and keep raising your hand and paying too much."

Many shoppers go to the auction searching for items they used to own. In that case, they are asked to provide proof of ownership, such as a receipt or photo, and the police will pull the item from the auction and return it to them.

Kavanagh says bikes are always a big seller and he is confident this year will draw crowds.

Every year, the number of bikes continues to increase. In 2007, 500 bikes were on sale.

The auction will be held at the Able Auctions warehouse, 1500 Lougheed Highway, Coquitlam. For more information go to http://www.ableauctions.ca.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------


I'm going on Saturday to look for some deals on bikes, anybody else heading out? I went a few years ago and they had sweet deals, I'm sure they will again this year. It's recommended to go to a viewing before hand so you know what you want. If you guys bought anything, post up what you picked up and for how much!

Brendan

wasn't impressed with the bikes they had last year and it was a pain trying to even walk into the auction area

i always wanted to go to this auction and try and find my stolen bike..then prove it to them it's mine by showing the manual + serial number.

but that was like 4 years ago now =(

Where do i pick up the catalogue?

Has anybody gone to it? Could you actually save a lot on these bikes or not?

I went to it last year and to be honest, it was a waste of time. People don't know the real value of some of this stuff and over bid on the most retarded shit, which kinda ruins it for everyone else. Just my 2 cents

heard about it on the beat this morning! sounds pretty interesting!

i remember people in past threads said there were a lot of retards there that bid pretty much to retail value.

I went last year, picked up 5 decks and two sets of 12" subs for little over $80!!

i want to go, where is it at?

They have some nice snowboards and stuff. they usually package stuff together.

But there are a lot of retards that bid up things just to up the value.

Might check this out

i want to go and see if my bicycles that got stolen ended up there lol

There are idiots that bid the prices up way to high, but then there are also some amazing deals to be found. The bikes range from bikes your find at London Drugs to Specialized Demos. I remember I saw a Demo there last year, didn't know what it went for though. But I'm going on Saturday to check it out again. If you get it for cheap enough, you can part out bikes and make some money.

probably goign to go to see if i can get a good deal on a bike

i think theres a $10 registration fee is there not?

Yeah theres a $10 reg. fee that gives you a catalog and obviously admittance

wtf theres a fee now?

Last time I went, I believe it was 2000, they had a fee to bid but there was no fee to go watch.

As well, after the bid was final they added 30% for commission.

where do you sign up?

Yeah it's the commission that gets you - then add taxes. You end up paying almost 50% more than you bid.

i bought a speciailized demo off a hobo for 10 dollars.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3467/...b55e32f9a7.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3470/...ded743.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3658/...170b00.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3560/...aab0f1.jpg?v=0

Anyone wanna trade for a road bike? lol

^ Nice bike!!

generally is a rip off cause of the dumbass's who bid 2 high on certain things

pretty bunk. the bike selections are dope but everything else was meh~