Snag A Bargain On iPads, Designer Bags And More At Sydney Airport’s Lost Property Auction

Leaving something in a strange place at an airport is almost a traveller’s rite of passage.

After a big family holiday with my Aunty in Germany many years ago (when Nokias were still a thing), I – a child at the time – asked to see her camera photos. She obliged, telling me how there weren’t just photos of our trip, but precious memories of another vacay she took with her sweetheart. Obviously, I left the camera hanging on the back door of a toilet cubicle in the airport ladies room, only to remember in the car en route home. I never lived down the guilt.

But there is a silver lining to stories like these when the mishaps can benefit charity. That is, Sydney Airport is auctioning off stacks of their unclaimed lost property to benefit children’s hospitals.

Airport staff will usually keep the weird and wonderful items they inevitably find for about a year, after which the lost property storage gets too crammed and so they auction off the items, donating the funds to charity. This year it’s for the Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Hosted by Pickles, the annual Sydney Airport Lost Property Auction for 2020 is now live, and despite airport closures, there’s said to be $100,000 worth of items, with deals to be had spanning the likes of clothing, cameras, booze, perfumes, handbags, jewellery, artwork, homewares, musical instruments and toys.

The unreserved online-only auction is staggering the release of items in 10 auctions, starting yesterday with cameras and headphones and ending on December 22 with handbags.

These aren’t dinky items, either; bargain hunters can score some pretty great deals. The wine and spirits likely purchased Duty Free are still unopened, ditto fragrances. Apple AirPods also seem to be a pretty popular item people accidentally leave. You could also nab yourself a sweet bluetooth speaker, vinyl record, a guitar or even didgeridoo.

“All proceeds will be donated to the Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation to fund music therapy programs at both The Children’s Hospital at Westmead and Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick,” explains the website.

“The program supports patients in the neonatal and paediatric intensive care units to help improve the physical, mental and emotional states of young patients and their families.”

Check out the the full range now at the Pickles site.

 (Lead Image: Facebook / Sydney Airport)