What does the TSA do with your confiscated items? Sell them, cheap

Even if you know what to pack and what not to pack, what to shove into your checked luggage and what to put in your carry-on bag, you've probably had at least one item confiscated by an unsmiling TSA agent who gave you a look that said "You should've known better." Those agents are swift and unyielding when it comes to collecting seemingly innocuous (or innocently overlooked) items like corkscrews or water guns or even the cake cutter that you're bringing home from your destination wedding (knives are the most frequently confiscated item, followed by corkscrews).

But what happens to all of those items that are "surrendered" – the TSA's preferred term – by passengers at a security checkpoint? They end up online or in state-run surplus stores, where bargain hunters can buy them at a deep discount or even in bulk.

Each day, in each airport, TSA officers sift through the hundreds of pounds of items that are either surrendered (just go with it) or forgotten by passengers who are busy racing to their departure gates. All beverages and edibles are thrown out, the firearms and assorted illegal weapons are turned over to the local police department and the other items are sorted into even smaller piles.

According to a Washington Post profile of Newark Liberty International Airport's TSA officers, the flammable and hazardous grooming products (think aerosol hairspray, spray deodorant and other Go To items for your Bon Jovi tribute band) are separated from the non-dangerous personal care items. The other goods – everything else, really – that have been given up or accidentally left behind are all inventoried. The personal items, liquids and even alcohol are destroyed, while the remaining items are boxed up and shipped to one of the surplus stores scattered throughout the country. For example, everything collected from the New Jersey and New York airports ends up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, while the D.C. airports send their assorted cardboard boxes to Wytheville, Virginia.

Once at the surplus stores, the items are all sorted again. Some end up online at government-run auction sites like GovDeals.com, where you can buy a bulk package of gold jewelry or, you know, a gently used garbage truck (GovDeals includes property from other agencies besides the TSA). The rest put up for sale in the store, typically at prices between 50-65% less than a retail outlet. The stores are sort of like the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Alabama, although much smaller and much less likely to give you a selection of novelty t-shirts or shrunken heads.

So how can you avoid losing your stuff to a rural Virginia surplus store? Plan ahead. Look carefully at the items in your carry-on bag and, if you're wondering whether you can take something onboard or not, err on the side of caution (and keeping it) and put it in your checked bag. If you're NOT checking a bag, consider shipping that item back home – and you can even do that from within some airports. Also, TSA has a list of prohibited items as well as a searchable database called "Can I Bring My..." which includes pretty much everything you could possibly put in a suitcase pocket.

Otherwise, I'll end up buying your stuff in Wytheville, will inevitably forget it in my backpack and it will start that entire cycle again.