Buy-It-And-Try-It: Stolen Goods Websites

You've seen the crime scenes. You've seen the cops carry out bags of goods.
But what happens to that stuff?

Stolen goods, recovered property and evidence find their way to aisles at the Sacramento Sheriff's Department Property Bureau. Computer equipment, TV's, tools, even brand new X-box's can be found at the bureau.

There's also jewelry like rings and pendants and collectible bills dating back to the 30's, and bikes, lots and lots of bikes.

"We get on average 50-100 bikes a month," said one spokesman.

After the Sheriff's Department is done processing the items, and the courts are done with them too, Captain Doug Diamond says his team at the property bureau waits at least 3 months. They try to find the owners.

"Anything, that's not claimed goes to auction that has any auction value," says Diamond.

They get shipped off to sort of an e-bay for stolen stuff, stealitback.com and propertyroom.com.

"They go or pretty good prices, definitely cheaper than you'd buy new in the store," says Diamond.

The profits go back to the county. Last year it put back $65,000 in the general fund.

Kurtis wanted to see what he'd get in an auction. So he bid $20 on a mountain bike with some scratches that needed some cleaning. No one bid against him and he won. He paid $50 for shipping and had it a couple days later.

When he opened up the box he realized they took it apart to ship it to him. So he brought it to the Natomas bike shop.

"To put this bike back together, you're looking at $65," said bike shop employee Chris Coones.

He thinks it's about 5-years old.

And we've got to cut off a bike lock which is still attached.

A brand new comparable bike goes for about $240. Our total cost about $135. It would've been cheaper if we put it together ourselves. So you be the judge whether we got a good deal.

Shipping is a lot on big items. But on something much smaller, like a watch you're looking at about ten bucks to ship. So how do you make sure you get your stuff back from the Sheriff's Department? Etch your driver's license number right on anything you'd like back, if it were stolen. They do work hard to find the rightful owner, but after 90 days, it's off to auction.