The annual sale of items left behind by travellers at Sydney Airport is now underway, alongside an auction of collectables from unclaimed post. Thousands of items are up for grabs, with profits from the airport sale funding free swimming lessons for families experiencing financial hardship.
What’s Up for Auction
Laptops, e-readers, cameras, and earphones are among the more common lost and found items, but some unique items are also up for auction from July 7. A wedding dress, a circular saw, a type of Chinese violin called an erhu, ski boots, an air fryer, and a rice cooker were left behind at the airport this year.
Items lost in checked baggage are managed by individual airlines and are not included in the auction. Travellers looking for lost baggage should contact their airline directly.
Bidding Details
Bidding for items to be auctioned—including gold and silver jewellery, designer handbags, watches and sunglasses, and bundles of items—is now open, starting at $10. It closes on July 6, 7, and 8, depending on the auction category.
Fragrances, skincare, paintings, prams, whiskey, skateboards, ice skates, snorkel sets, homewares, and even a binding machine are among the huge range in the “beauty, alcohol, home” auction category alone.
“With 120 laptops, 350 lots of jewellery and 150 pairs of sunglasses up for grabs, there is something for everyone,” Theodore Bruce Auctioneers Director Casi Prischl said. “For the kids and the young at heart, we have a Batman Lego set, gaming consoles and three skateboards just waiting to find new homes.”
Profits Support Community Swim Program
The profits will go to Bayside Council’s Community Learn to Swim and Water Safety Program. Sydney Airport aims to raise $200,000, which should equate to more than 8,000 free swimming lessons for the local community.
Sydney Airport has also recently opened a new passenger-facing Lost Property office in Terminal 2, opposite Gate 55, open from 8am to 4pm on weekdays.
Unclaimed Post Auction
Packages that have not been claimed from post offices will also go under the hammer next Saturday. Collectables, figurines, custom dice, card games, books, and trading cards are all among the haul set to be auctioned off by Theodore Bruce Auctions.
Bidding for the items is already open and closes next Saturday. “Theodore Bruce, under instruction from Australia Post, conduct regular auctions of items that are Unclaimed or Unaddressed (e.g. no postal address or return address),” the auction house website says. “The RRP on all the items in any one Post auction can be up to $250,000 and there are many bargains to be had.”
To discover more about auctions for lost and unclaimed items, visit the auction house website.
