TSA Booty Up for Grabs on eBay

Bravo! For someone being creative by bringing in bonus bucks to Pennsylvania’s coiffers.
Make a positive out of a negative by cashing in on the items we forget in our carry on.
Other states – take note.

More government garbage. Let’s make fuzzy policies that cause people to lose belongings. Then the state sells them. Some weird new form of taxation. THESE THINGS SHOULD BE GIVEN TO CHARITY. THE SALE SHOULD BE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

If private property is seized while breaking any other law, it is often sold at auction by the city, county, state or federal law division that seized it. Why would breaking this law be any different?

Could it be the REAL reason for TSA is to put people to work to steal the personal items of travlers so the staes can sell them AFTER hiring MORE folks to do it.
SECURITY—humbug!!!!

It’s so great to see entreprenuerial government in action. But like typical bureaucrats, they are being far too timid. C’mon TSA, think outside the bag here! How about auctioning the entire contents one piece of checked luggage selected at random from each flight. You could call it “The TSA Grab Bag”.

Scott — I’ve already been doing that from NYC — driving to friends in the midwest or along the east coast. I just take a long weekend and see some sights along the way. Airlines will rediscover customer service or stagnate (they won’t die b/c there are too many simple folk who like inconvenience as an excuse to whine; but as the population ages they’ll fly less).

Shakespeare said it best: much ado about nothing

What’s next? This could be just the start of a government-wide plan to obtain personal property and profit from its sale (via eBay and other outlets)! Just think, what if the TSA (or another government agency) decided to force you to “voluntarily surrender” your laptop-computer rather than your lipstick? Under the current regulations the TSA operates under, how much stuff do you think average TSA employee is keeping for themselves? Do they confiscate expensive knives, scissors, lipstick, perfume etc? If you want to create a “Rube Goldberg Machine” ( a complicated, unnecessarily burdensome apparatuses to complete a simple task) have the government design and run it! Being pragmatic, we do need effective screening of carry-on baggage (the same goes for checked baggage as well) but at what cost? Who should bear it costs? Who should be in charge of the screening? Under what circumstances should anyone be able to take items you have legally purchased, legally are yours and sell them for a profit? There are some obvious problems with the current system, but there are also some not-so-obvious problems that exist as well. We need a better screening system for identifying explosives in any form. We need a better system for the disposition, disposal, sale or gifting of items that were or will be confiscated or “voluntarily surrendered” property – period! Here are three (3) simple solutions as for what to do with the property in question… I.) Charge each and every airline passenger a $2 fee for mailing banned items back to their home or wherever (have the items placed in a mail-ready envelope by the passenger themselves and drop it in a US Mail box before they could board the plane or leave the waiting area) This would be fair to all involved and would cost the government nothing, but give the passenger the opportunity to keep what is rightfully theirs. The passenger could also have the option to destroy or donate the stuff… II.) Destroy the items no matter what if you confiscate, I mean, have passengers “voluntarily surrender” the items. This would be fair, but what-the-heck, everybody loses except for the agency or company charging to destroy the property!… III.) Place all banned items in a small tub and have airline employees and carry it onto the plane and place it in a secure location. Upon arrival at your destination you could reclaim the property, decide to have it destroyed, given to charity or whatever. After all, it is your property!
While I may not have the perfect answer or answers to this problem, I can guarantee you the TSA is wrong in what it is doing. Perhaps I’m stupid or perhaps I’m just naive, but I feel that taking someone’s property and selling it for a profit is stealing. I see it like Robinhood in reverse. It’s the rich, the government, stealing from the poor, the average airline passenger. Whether I’m right or wrong is a matter of opinion, but it’s my honest opinion what the TSA is stealing our stuff and profiting from the sale of this stuff. If nothing else, I hope this got you thinking about this issue in detail. Thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts – Steve!

“give me back my bullets” ,,,,,,,,,Lynard skynard

This is aweful…Suppose you need to use the items that TSA confiscated when you get to where your going. And you happen to be in a place where there isn’t a store anywhere, that sells what you need to use.

Last I checked we weren’t being forced to fly. We also know before we fly what we are and what we aren’t allowed to carry on the flight. How many people show up at an airport and aren’t aware that they can’t carry a knife or scissors on the flight. Let’s look at this realistically. By flying on an airline, you are agreeing to be screened by TSA. If TSA finds something that you aren’t allowed to take on the flight, you aren’t being forced to fly! If what they are trying to keep you from flying with is so important or valuable, then either leave it at home or don’t get on the flight! You can always choose not to surrender your items. If you try to get a ride from a friend and he asks you not to smoke in his car, are you going to get mad at him for not allowing you to smoke in his car? Of course not, you understand that that is a consideration you have to make by accepting the ride. Same goes for the airlines. They are providing a service. One stipulation for this service is that there are certain items you are not allowed to carry aboard. If you still choose to fly, you must either leave those items at home or surrender them at security. Again, you are not being forced to fly. If you don’t like their rules, then don’t use their service! I just don’t see what the big deal is here. It is our responsibility to find out what we are allowed to carry on before we fly. If we fail to do so, then we must be prepared for the fact that we may have to surrender certain unacceptable items at security. The fault lies on us for bringing the items with us to the airport, not on them for enforcing their policies.

First off, to defend the TSA (only once), they are just doing their jobs when it comes to security checks. I for one would not like to see another 9/11, thanks very much.
Now, about confiscation….are you kidding me? How can my seized goods be resold? My stuff is not for your profit, jerks! I had nail clippers and tweezers taken from me. #1, I am not buying used cosmetics, etc.! I don’t know where you’ve been, and you don’t know me either. You telling me these ‘over-worked’ guys have time to sterilize things? If they do, then they are not doing their jobs, they are running a Sally’s Beauty Supply. We as USA travelers and the airlines themselves are not to blame wholly for why security has been increased, terrorists are always going to ‘improvise,adapt,and overcome’ (to steal from the military)…evil always finds a way. I’m with Steve W.’s post from 09/07….since no one really needs to be penalized for this ‘inconvenience’, a holder/locker/cardboard box/anything to hold my things for me until arrival at destination. How hard is that? Cut half your man-power usage, buy some teeny containers, AND HOLD MY S**T TILL WE GET THERE! I am giving you my money to fly, not the other way around! And to the fella who said ‘just drive, you don’t have to fly’….uh, hello? When you teach me how to drive to Tokyo-just one of many places not in N Amer.- to/from the US, I will do just that. Or maybe I should swim?
Maybe we should all be sterilized, x-rayed (pregnant women too, why not…they could be suicide bombers carrying C-4 instead of babies. Trust me, it happens), and stripped naked. Then we can be given those sexy hospital gowns to wear on the flight. We will then be strapped to our seats for the duration, being allowed monitored bathroom breaks; or heck, they can fit us with Depends, and we won’t have to get up at all!Maybe people should be gassed upon take-off, then we would sleep the whole flight! Upon arrival to our destination, we can all sit in a holding area until the luggage we had to express mail to ourselves arrives with our belongings. See, I solved it….are we all happy now? What, you’re not? Gee, what a surprise.
There will never be a perfect way to travel or anything while terrorism is such a threat. Isn’t being the ‘most advanced’ creatures on the planet just fun?!
Yeah, we’re real smart. When’s the last time a beaver blew up another beaver’s dam, because the first blocked the 2nd’s waterway? Hmmm….maybe he found another path! Maybe we should all find our paths….

I am all into safe flying. If this means they have to look up my backside with a flashlight and I know that going in then all is good. Don’t blame security for having your head up your behind.

They would make more money selling pre-paid mailing envelopes for banned items. If your swiss army knife is worth more than $5, it would pay to send it back home. All of the airlines now have pages describing what is allowed and what is not allowed. If you are too lazy to check the list with all that has happened, then there should be an option to recover you property. The mailer envelope would be a good option for make-up, another expensive throw away.

Well, I’m as annoyed as the rest of you. After a 1 hr 15 min traffic delay, I made it to the airport later than I planned. Apparently the time it took to check in took me past the allowed time to check bags. (Then the flight was delayed 50 minutes because they were still loading checked baggage, oh the irony). Luckily my checked bag was small enough to be carried on (what do they do if it’s not?). Of course that meant that I lost my toothpaste and $50 of hair products but they also took my contact lens saline solution!
I argued with the TSA guy–guaranteed to be a losing battle, but I was having a bad day. The rules expressly allow saline solution, it says so right on the list they have posted everywhere in the airport. I explained that I was on an overnight (9 hour) flight and I wear contacts and please, I need it, can I put some in my eye to prove to you that it’s safe? He said no. If my contacts were a problem I should wear my glasses on the plane.
I said that was a great idea, but before I put my glasses on, how should I store my contacts? Yeah. He was stumped too.
Ah, the joys of trying to find contact solution in a foreign country. I don’t want to get blown up on a plane, but let’s be realistic. Oh, and the TSA now wants to tell you what kind of underwear to wear. They would prefer women to not wear underwire bras.
Like many other posters here…if it’s driveable, I’m driving.

It is better to die by the had of a terrorist than to allow our freedoms to be taken a away from us by our government.

Flying is a way of life for most people. Americans have got to understand what is being found at there airports. I work for TSA at Dallas Fort Worth International and the prohibited items found daily are astonishing. At least once a week a passenger has a firearm in there carry on bag. TSA has been around for 4 years and you mean to tell me you forgot your gun was in you carry on luggage. The reason we have changes quite frequently to our prhibited items list has to do with the fact of intel we receive as Homeland Security. Look at other airports in the world. We are not as strict as other countries and I think we should be. I feel that no one should be allowed to carry bags onto the aircraft. People do neet need a whole weeks worth of clothes or anything else in the cabin. When items are voluntarilly surrendered they are not stolen. We give you the passenger several options on what u can do to keep the items. 1. Check the item. 2. Mail the item back to your residence, at DFW we have checkpoint mailers. I cant speak for other airports but we provide this for you so you have the oprtunity to mail your items back. 3. Or voluntarily surrender the item. When check your bag TSA is not the only ones who touches your bags before they end up on the aircraft. Yes TSA employees have stolen and they are facing federal jail time for it. But the airline is the last one to have the bag and yes the airline has also been caught stealing. I am sorry that passengers have there property stolen and anyone that steals should get the maximum sentence. Lets face it American people are so stubborn and we want things our way and this day and age it is not going to happen if we still have people wanting to take down aircraft. I personally do not like taking liquids and gels from people but there is a real threat out there and I have to do my job to protect the flying public. Just 2 years ago there were 2 Russian flights that simultaneously blew up in mid air. 2 feamle passengers had explosives in ther bras. What makes you think that this could not happen here. How do we know that this wasnt a test to see if it could work in the U.S. All I am saying is give TSA a chance and give the government a chance we are doing the best we can with the intelligence we receive.

Both my husband and I have been frequent fliers for several years – both pre and post 9/11. Between the two of us, we have flown into or out of almost every airport in the Continental US. The thing we find the most frustrating is that, regardless or what the “official” rules list as being acceptable, we have learned that it really comes down to where you are and who is screening that day. Flying out of airports such as JFK or LAX, you must not only comply with the current rules, but also go a step beyond (keep quiet, keep your head down, and follow instructions EXACTLY) and hope that your screener isn’t having a bad day. On the flip side, flying out of small, rural airports in the midwest is much easier. For instance, in Springfield, MO I got through security in a matter of a few minutes while the screeners chatted amiably with passengers. It’s been our experience that the posted list of prohibited items is more a guideline – again, depending on what airport you’re in. TSA agents, like all other working people, come in many forms: some are very good at what they do, dedicated, and conscientious in the performance of their duties. Others act as if the fate of the world is on their shoulders and some take advantage of their position (there are at least 2 airports I will never fly out of again unless my husband is with me). And there are, of course, some that are there only for the paycheck and couldn’t care less what’s boarding the plane with you. The biggest lesson we have learned is that being prepared is your best defense against ending up frustrated and angry. Plan ahead by going to websites to learn about the airport you will be flying out of and read comments posted by other passengers. Don’t take anything with you that you aren’t prepared to surrender. If you have no choice but to take something valuable or important to you, take an envelope pre-addressed to your destination and enough postage to cover shipping and, when you drop your checked luggage, ask the agent there if you can carry the item with you. If you can’t, drop in the mail on your way to security. Dealing with the TSA can be extremely frustrating however, I can’t imagaine what it must be like to be a TSA screener in this day and age! I try to always remember that they have a tough job and deal with a lot of real jerks every day. Most of them are honest and trying to do a good job keeping us safe but, as in ANY profession, all we ever hear about are the ones that don’t. I don’t believe it’s right for them to sell surrendered property for profit but if they’re going to do it, they need to put that money right back into the business of keeping us safe: more screeners, a higher standard of training, and better equipment.

This is why I am thankful I got my pilots license and plane and fly myself!

The real problem here is that the only people that hijack airplanes are Muslim males between 20 and 35 years old. In our effort to protect everyone we instead search little old ladys and kids while we can’t even look at someone much more likely to blow up a plane because that wouldn’t be politically correct. When are we going to quit stealing things from passengers that forgot something was there and do some serious security? Smoke and mirrors won’t keep anybody safe.

Government confiscation and resale of private property- isn’t that Communism? Anyone who attempts to carry on board a knife or gun is clearly in violation of the law and deserves to have those items auctioned off by the govt. However, my liquid-filled push-up bra was confiscated at the Denver airport in 2003, THREE full years before the ban on liquids went into effect. Citizens have a right to know what is spefically banned from flights. Those items that are not violative of any posted law should not be taken at whim by the TSA.

Airport security?? Bah humbug.
Aircraft just happened to be the last weapon used during a massive attack.
We have a plethora of nuclear plants, pipelines and ports that could be the next big target. All terrorist would have to do is charter a small plane and fly it into a target.
We are fooling no one but ourselves thinking that any of this “window dressing” serves any purpose.

You know the rules when you fly. If your personal items break the rules you are consenting to lose it. I think it is only right to try and make some money from it for the state. Personally, I would like to see a business that would forward your item to you via the mail. That way, if you have some thing that is valuable “to you” you can have it mailed to you.