PropertyRoom vs GovDeals (2026): Where Police Seized Property Actually Sells

If you're hunting "police auctions," you'll end up on one of these two platforms — but they handle very different slices of law-enforcement surplus. PropertyRoom is where the contents of the evidence locker go; GovDeals is where the department's old cruisers and trucks go.

TL;DR

PropertyRoom (propertyroom.com) = seized, forfeited, and unclaimed personal property from police departments and sheriff's offices. Jewelry, watches, phones, laptops, bikes, tools, the occasional firearm. Most items ship to you, and most carry no buyer's premium at all.

GovDeals (govdeals.com) = general state and local government surplus, including seized vehicles. Police cars, public-works trucks, equipment, and confiscated cars. Almost everything is local pickup. 7.5–12.5% premium.

Want a seized Rolex shipped to your door? PropertyRoom. Want a retired police Charger you'll drive home? GovDeals.

Quick decision

Pick PropertyRoom if you want:

• Jewelry, electronics, bikes, or small seized goods
• Items shipped to you (no travel)
• The classic "police auction" personal-property experience

Pick GovDeals if you want:

• Seized or surplus vehicles
• Larger equipment and municipal assets
• Lower buyer's premium and you can pick up locally

Side by side

Where each actually wins

Shipping vs. pickup

This is the deciding factor for most buyers. PropertyRoom ships the overwhelming majority of its catalog from regional warehouses, so you can buy from anywhere in the country. GovDeals is built around local pickup — great for vehicles and bulky equipment, useless if there's nothing listed near you.

The premium gap

It runs the opposite way from what most guides claim, including an earlier version of this one. PropertyRoom charges no buyer's premium on the bulk of its catalog — the jewelry, electronics, bikes, and sporting goods. Where a premium does apply it's a set 10%, 12%, or 15%, and it lands on capital assets: cars, boats, aircraft, heavy machinery, and lots sold in-place at the seizing agency. So on a $100 watch you pay $100 plus shipping, while on GovDeals a $100 win costs $112.50 plus your drive. The real PropertyRoom cost to watch is shipping and handling, not the premium. On a seized vehicle the two converge, since that's exactly when PropertyRoom's 10–15% kicks in.

Inventory overlap is small

The two genuinely compete only on seized vehicles, and even there they rarely list the same units — a department typically routes personal property to PropertyRoom and rolling stock to GovDeals. For everything else, they're not substitutes.

Authenticity and condition

PropertyRoom photographs and describes items but sells as-is; on jewelry and electronics, do your own authentication math into your max bid. GovDeals vehicles come with whatever documentation the selling agency provides — read the listing for title status and known issues.

Should you use both?

For resellers, yes. PropertyRoom is a sourcing channel for flippable small goods (watches, electronics, bikes) that ship; GovDeals is your channel for vehicles and equipment you can collect and resell locally. Different inventory, different logistics, different margins.

Either way, GovAuctions.app, our own tool, indexes both PropertyRoom and GovDeals - along with GSA, Public Surplus and the other government sources - into one free search, so you can scan the wider government-surplus market and click through to the original platform to bid. It drops ended auctions and merges cross-posted duplicates, so you're seeing live, unique listings. The live source breakdown is on the sources page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are both legit police auction sites?

Yes. Both are established platforms that government agencies use to dispose of property through a documented public process. Avoid third-party "police auction access" sites that charge membership fees — these two are free to browse.

Does PropertyRoom charge a buyer's premium?

Not on most of what it sells. PropertyRoom's own help centre states the premium is 10%, 12%, or 15% and applies mainly to capital assets — vehicles, boats, aircraft, heavy machinery, and property sold in-place at the agency rather than shipped from a warehouse. For everyday jewelry, electronics, and sporting goods, expect none. It's disclosed in the auction table and on the bid-review page before you commit, so check there rather than assuming a site-wide rate. What you should budget for instead is shipping and handling, which is how PropertyRoom funds the storage, photography, and authentication behind getting seized goods to your door.

Where do seized cars actually sell?

Usually GovDeals (for state and local agencies) or GSA Auctions (for federal seizures). PropertyRoom lists the occasional vehicle but specializes in personal property.

Can I pick up a PropertyRoom item to skip shipping?

Some warehouses allow local pickup, but the platform is built around shipping. GovDeals is the better choice if you specifically want a pickup-based transaction.