The Transportation Security Administration has scheduled its next public auction of lost or surrendered items and state surplus property at the Arizona Department of Administration Office on March 2, 2018. The sales are scheduled on the first Friday of every month from 8 am to 4 pm at 1537 W. Jackson St. Items sold in the past range from electronics to designer jewelry. Cell phones typically sell for around $40 depending upon the make and model, and laptops can even be purchased for around $80.

According to ADOA official Elizabeth Bartholomew, this once a month sale not only clears up warehouse space, but it also generates about $7,000 a month in revenue for Arizona’s general fund. “You as a passenger have the right to ship it back home, but sometimes you’re in a rush so it comes to us and we sell it,” she said. 

The TSA provides travelers with a comprehensive list of items allowed in carry-on and checked baggage. They also compiled a travel checklist for airline customers to review prior to arriving at the airport. The TSA estimates that approximately 90,000 to 100,000 items are left behind at checkpoints each month, and although they make every effort to reunite passengers with items left behind at the airport checkpoint, lost and found items are generally kept for 30 days and if not claimed, are then either destroyed, turned over to a state agency for surplus property, or sold by TSA as excess property.