6 ms·

But you can get great deals on TSA confiscated pocket knives and corkscrews. https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=2341&acctid=1328 https://ww

• mindslight 7y ago
  Similarly, you can get great deals on stolen items on craigslist.
• unixhero 7y ago
  This simply is stealing. Thanks for the link, I'm now disgusted.
  • dspillett 7y ago
    What would you like to see happen instead? Let people break the rule and take the items in their carry-on? (in which case why have the rule in the first place?) Pay people when they take the items? That is going to be an administrative faf all because people can't read and follow rules correctly - do you want to pay for that admin in your ticket prices? Allow people to pay for the items to be stored until their return? They'll be accused of profiteering there too because again the admin work will need to be paid for, and there is a logistical problem when people don't return to the same airport. Just send the confiscated items to landfill? You might argue that a lot of the security theatre around air travel places a hindrance on the passengers and that you consider it unfair, but the rules about carrying sharp objects are very clearly documented (at least they have been when I fly around Europe, are the US processes less organised?) and well known even if you don't bother to read the documentation, so having such items taken off you if you do bring them in pockets or other carry-on luggage should be no surprise.
    • jiofih 7y ago
      Yes, simply allowing the pickup of your own confiscated items would suffice.
      • s0rce 7y ago
        My wife has hidden a pocket knife under a floor standing ATM in the departure area at O'Hare pre-security and retrieved it when she got back, it wasn't discovered. Not recommended but there is a way to do this, "unofficially", success not guaranteed. Don't leave bomb-shaped packages.
    • jaclaz 7y ago
      >What would you like to see happen instead? No problem about the sale/auction, but where does the money go? I would prefer to know that the money coming from the bulk sale is going to a known non-profit, as an example.
      • wdrw 7y ago
        Arguably the US government is the "best-known" non-profit :)
    • dsfyu404ed 7y ago
      >What would you like to see happen instead? A post office branch located just outside security that is stocked with 100x the normal number of the cheap flat rate bubble wrap envelope so that people not wanting to lose their items can mail things they shouldn't fly with home or to their destination and then get back in line. To go even further (i.e. something that isn't zero net cost), a great many of the things that you can't carry on can be checked. It wouldn't be hard or particularly costly (though obviously it would still cost something) to reserve half yard of space for those kinds of belongings and find some simple way to make sure they get on the plane and get to their owner.
      • dspillett 7y ago
        Or you, the passenger, could put the item in your checked baggage before hitting any processing (assuming you have any checked baggage of course, it is common not to for short trips), or post it back to yourself before hitting security. Ignoring any cost implications (in both the above circumstances the passenger could be charged at the time), security getting involved in this will just add to the delay experienced by passengers further back in the queue.
        • close04 7y ago
          > Ignoring any cost implications [...] the delay This argument has no value in itself or it would apply equally to everyone. The only thing that gives it power is "because the Government said so" since the power is entirely on the Government's side. Any implication (cost, time, privacy) introduced by the authorities to the passenger is never considered.
          • dspillett 7y ago
            Any delay will certainly be considered by the passenger. By _this_ passenger at any rate!
            • close04 7y ago
              I think it was clear that the consideration for losses you incur should come from the authority. Otherwise yours is quite useless given the above mentioned power balance. It's purely philosophical without any support from the same authorities who sell your seized property for cash because they only consider their side.
    • matwood 7y ago
      > Allow people to pay for the items to be stored until their return? I've had knives confiscated that I was allowed to fill out a form and pay ~$20 to mail back to myself. Doesn't work if you're already late for your flight, but I've done it at least twice.
    • nokcha 7y ago
      The reason that pocket knives were banned is that the 9/11 hijackers used box-cutters to forcibly open the flimsy cockpit doors. Nowadays, the cockpit doors of all US airplanes have been reinforced and are no longer vulnerable to this attack, so the need for banning pocket knives so longer exists. A simple solution would be to scrap the outdated ban on pocket knives.
      • Shorel 7y ago
        In all my international flights this year (Europe and South America) the food was served with metallic cutlery. I would say the rule is obsolete in the civilized world.
      • nyolfen 7y ago
        my memory is that the box cutters were used as weapons to seize the plane, not to open doors. this is the first time i’ve ever even heard that and i suspect it isn’t true.
    • tgsovlerkhgsel 7y ago
      Provide a convenient way to mail it with USPS at USPS rates (for items that can be safely mailed, so probably not lighters). Sell postage, and suitable envelopes for (edit:) normal USPS post office prices. The only airports which offered something similar to this set up a dedicated service profiteering of the captive audience with ridiculously inflated rates.
    • hakfoo 7y ago
      I feel like there's a huge business opportunity for a pack-and-ship franchise on the non-secure side of airports. Have a big display of bags/envelopes conceptually like the Priority Mail flat-rate envelopes/boxes. If you realize you brought a local sauce, or a souvenir pocket knife, and can't check it, you can just toss it in one of those bags, seal it, write your address on, pay a modestly extortionate price, and it shows up at home a few days after you get back. By making it flat rate, they streamline purchasing flow and avoid hassle of people trying to optimize what they send back while on the checkout queue. I could also imagine it directly competing with the airlines' excess-bag charges-- if you're staring down the barrel of a $150 "third checked bag" penalty because you got something special abroad, being able to slap a FedEx sticker on your suitcase full of dirty clothes and pay $75 is a compelling value.
      • dzhiurgis 7y ago
        You can make it soooo smooth. Scan your boarding pass, get an envelope with some Id, put item in, drop into box. Update address later (or gets sent automatically to address provided by airline). Whole experience takes less than 30 seconds.
    • dzhiurgis 7y ago
      Pay $2 for shipping to their home.