If you're goal is to steal a bargain, you need to check out www.propertyroom.com.

This online auction site might just be the most unusual of its kind on the Internet site because it consists of items from police property rooms.

You've probably seen police auctions advertised in your local paper, This site takes the concept to the max with items from more than 550 police departments across the country. The auctions are run much like eBay. There's an opening page with featured items called Hot Pursuit Specials, and a list of categories of items such as Automotive, Cell Phone, Clothing & Accessories, Jewelry, Watches, Computing, Bicycles, Electronics, Photography and so on.

You must register to bid. The sign-up process is,similar to eBay's. The way auctions work is also almost identical to that of eBay. When you click on an item to bid, you see the current bid, bid increment, bid history and time left. There is also a complete description of the item, its shipping cost and sales tax (if applicable). If the item is not new, there is also a rating of its condition excellent, good, etc. -- and a description of any imperfections.

What kind of deals can you expect?

Naturally, the items up for bid change almost daily as do the amounts bid. However, here were some of the deals as of this writing.

Item - Current Bid - Time remaining

Douglas Hanna

Douglas Hanna is a retired advertising and marketing executive. Over the course of his 30-plus year career, he created sales-winning advertising and marketing plans for a wide variety of clients. Hanna writes extensively about family finances, old time radio and the Internet. He is also the webmaster of a site devoted to a new technology called HD Radio.