VPD’s annual auction is back this weekend

It’s one of the biggest days of the year for bargain hunters.

Vancouver police will have hundreds of prized items on sale this weekend as part of their annual auction.

The event includes hundreds of bikes, power tools, jewelry and a wide range of other goods recovered during investigations and unclaimed by their owners.

“It is a great event every year,” says auctioneer Rob Kavanagh. “A lot of treasure hunters come out to look for good deals.”

Around a thousand people come out for the auction every year.

It is expected the auction will fetch more than $100,000 this year. All money goes to the city of Vancouver.

There is a range of items on sale, from highly prized items to coffee makers and razor blades.

One of the most expensive items to be auctioned this year is a diamond bracelet that was appraised at $16,500.

Ian Wightman with Vancouver police says it is not too strange to have large, expensive items go unclaimed.

One of the examples is a brand new refrigerator that Wightman says was stolen from a new development, but investigators could not determine which house it came from, so it went unclaimed.

But bikes remain one of the best-selling and coveted items at the auction.

Wightman says they have more than 400 bikes on sale this year, and he expects every one of them to be gone by the end of the day.

“It is a very dynamic, fast-moving auction. The bikes go at about 60 seconds per sale. Some bikes will go in 30 seconds, and some higher end bikes will take longer. But on average, they will sell 60 bikes an hour,” he says.

The auction begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning at 1055 Vernon Drive. Only registered bidders will be admitted.

For the full item list, go here.