Bigmike11 peered into the plastic tub filled with a tangle of sparkly bangles, bracelets, even someone’s military dog tags, and decided there was something in there that he must have.
Ditto for Repostl1975 and 41junk72.
How else to explain why these three were in a bidding war — up to $4,050 as of mid-November — for what to most people would appear to be a heap of junk?
But here’s the thing: None of the bidders (Bigmike11, Repostl1975 and 41junk72 are their online names) had actually examined the thing (or things) they wanted. They’re online bidders in the State of Illinois’ Online Auction, which runs year-round. Each auction typically lasts a week, offering items as tiny as a set of earbuds or as big as a dump truck. All of it is housed in a one-story, 40,000-square-foot warehouse in Springfield, which isn’t open to the public.
If you’re in the holiday shopping mood, it might be a great place to snap up some bargains. Is there a man in your life who could use a pocket knife?
The Springfield warehouse takes deliveries of 300 to 400 pounds of knives every other week, mostly items Transportation Security Administration agents have confiscated at Chicago’s major airports.
Or perhaps you’d like to give your house a winter wonderland vibe?
“We had one lady a couple of years ago who was buying all of our snow globes. She bought them all, like 150 of them, over the course of a couple of weeks,” said the affable Brent Boesdorfer, who is in charge of the warehouse, overseen by the Illinois Department of Central Management Services. Each year, the online auctions generate about $2 million to 3½ million dollars, he said, money that goes into the state’s general fund, which covers the state’s day-to-day expenses.
Snow globes are allowed through airport security checkpoints if they “appear to contain less than 3.4 ounces of liquid [approximately tennis ball size]” and they can fit inside a resealable one-quart plastic bag, according to the TSA.
Tons of other stuff ends up in the warehouse. Milwaukee’s Mitchell International Airport has contracted with Illinois to take its confiscated and forgotten items. And surplus items from every state agency — except the Illinois State Police and the Illinois Department of Transportation (they conduct their own auctions) — end up there. Various Illinois municipalities use the state’s auction platform to advertise their own items, but successful bidders must travel to the specific agency for the pickup.
Back in 2018, an “exotic stripper/dancing pole” ended up on the auction web site. It was quickly removed after the Chicago Sun-Times inquired about it.
It’s clear that Boesdorfer loves his job.
“It’s kind of fun because you never know what’s coming next,” he said.
There are sure, though, to be lots and lots of knives.
“It is really weird that people just don’t understand that you can’t take a knife on an airplane, no matter how small it is,” he said. “We’ll get ninja swords that are wrapped in duct tape because they think that makes them safe.”
Baseball bats, throwing stars, nunchucks, cast-iron pans and bowling pins (also a potential weapon) all end up at the warehouse.
Occasionally a cherished item will end up in the warehouse, and Boesdorfer said he and his team do their best to track it down. A few years ago, a couple’s engraved wedding cutlery ended up there.
“They called us and said, ‘Hey, do you have this?’ We ended up having it and reunited them with that,” Boesdorfer said.
But what about the black tub full of costume jewelry? Why would anyone be willing to pay $4,050 for that?
“You’ve seen [the TV show] “Storage Wars”? It’s basically the same concept. We are not jewelry experts by any stretch of the imagination. For the most part, we don’t know if something is gold or fake gold,” Boesdorfer said. “You might get some really good stuff there, or you might not. It is eye-opening how that went from $10 to $3,500 in three days. Somebody sees something in that [tub] that they think is worth that kind of money.”
Boesdorfer said he doesn’t know the identity of Bigmike11, Repostl1975 or 41junk72 — the eventual highest bidder in an auction that started with a $10 bid.
“Obviously, they are not friends,” he said. “Because they keep bidding each other up.”