In the eBay world, anything is possible.
In 2000, a leftover piece of French toast, half-eaten by pop star Justin Timberlake, sold for an unbelievable $3,154 on the Internet auction site.
Late last year, a man put his soul ? yes, his soul ? for sale online, setting the initial bid at a ridiculous $1 million. He hoped to raise money for “those I care about and those who truly need it,” but no one was buying what he was selling.
And just last month, two sisters from Virginia took breakfast to the bank, as an Illinois-shaped cornflake netted them $1,350.
Today, even the state of Maryland is in the eBay business, selling various and numerous unclaimed items online. The property can be reclaimed by the owner at any time. Money that isn?t recovered is placed in the state?s general fund.
Since the Comptroller?s Office began the eBay program in July 2006, about 2,800 unclaimed items ? from classic baseball cards to diamond rings and necklaces to 100-piece dining sets ? have been sold for more than $300,000.
“I don?t know of anything that hasn?t sold on eBay,” said Lynn Hall, manager of the Comptroller?s Unclaimed Property Unit. “We sell everything.”
?Nancy Drew? goes to work
It?s an interesting process ? one that begins with three years of inactivity.
Financial institutions, utilities, insurance companies and other corporations are required by law to report to the comptroller any bank accounts, security deposits, wages, insurance benefits and contents of safe-deposit boxes that have been unclaimed for three years.
The mix-up can occur when a person dies and his or her beneficiaries don?t know an account, stock holding or deposit box exists in the name of the deceased. Changing residences can also cause someone to lose contact with a fund or item.
When the Comptroller?s Office receives the unclaimed money and items, the office creates an inventory and has the items appraised. Before the items are put up for auction on eBay, the office staff, led by Hall, does its best to locate the rightful owners of the coins, the cards, the jewelry.
“She?s our Nancy Drew,” Comptroller Peter Franchot said. “She works vigorously and aggressively to link people with their property.”
In fiscal 2007, which ended last June, the Comptroller?s Office honored almost 40,000 claims totaling more than $46 million in unclaimed funds. The agency has records on about 758,000 accounts worth more than $708 million in cash, bonds, stock dividends and property.
“It?s always a fun job,” said Hall, who has worked in the Unclaimed Property Unit for 19 years. “There?s never a dull moment.”
One of Hall?s favorite moments was returning a WNBA Championship ring to a local woman who had all but forgotten about the keepsake.
Kelley Gibson, who played basketball at the University of Maryland, played for the WNBA?s Houston Comets for four years, winning a championship in 2000. She gave the ring to her mother for safekeeping, and her mother stored the ring in a safe-deposit box. Gibson?s mother, though, moved to Philadelphia and neglected to pay the rent on the deposit box.
The box ? and the ring ? were turned over to the Comptroller?s Office in late 2006. Hall knew there was a chance to return the item, because Gibson?s name was on the ring.
“We wanted to see if we could track her down,” Hall said.
In June, the Comptroller?s Office returned the ring to Gibson, who was an assistant coach with UMBC?s women?s basketball team at the time.
“Winning a championship at any level is what you play for as an athlete,” said Gibson, now an assistant coach with the University of Maine?s women?s basketball team. “It was a dream come true.”
More than just winning a championship, the ring symbolized the years of hard work Gibson put into the game.
“Basketball is my life ? it?s what I breathe and what I know,” Gibson said. “I?m not a big jewelry person, but my experiences in basketball have meant a lot to me.”
“We?re doing our best to match things up,” Franchot said. “Our first goal is to reunite the item with its rightful owner.”
The digital auction house
At any time, there are 20 to 40 items for sale on eBay by the seller “mdcompfranchot.”
Men?s and women?s jewelry ? some pieces with bid prices of several thousand dollars ? historic coin collections and gold pen sets are all up for auction.
“We?ve sold a lot of gold coins,” Hall said as as she clicked through the eBay site. “Pocket watches have also been big sellers.”
The eBay practice is relatively new to the Comptroller?s Office, but the state?s auctioning of unclaimed properties has been happening for years.
“We used to use auction houses, but we get a lot more bids and money through eBay,” Franchot said.
“It?s been a big difference,” Hall said. “With the live auctions, we were limited, because you would have 150 people in the room. Now, we?re dealing with millions of buyers.”
The eBay site launched in 1995, but it became widely used about six or seven years ago, said Jon Allen, president of Eldersburg-based Advantage Internet Marketing.
“It offers a huge audience,” Allen said. “If you?re looking to sell something, you?ve got a lot of people looking to buy.”
More than just giving the Comptroller?s Office a forum to post their items for sale, eBay helps with listing items, offers different payment features, and tracks buyer and seller feedback, Allen said.
“It?s the whole buying-and-selling platform,” Allen said. “It?s really easy for the state to use eBay to list and sell the items.”
There are some items the state won?t put online, Hall said. The Comptroller?s office will keep those items, like war medals, indefinitely. Hall and her staff continue to hold the ashes of a Frederick woman who died in 1995.
“There are just some things you can?t sell,” Hall said.
About 30 other states run similar Internet auction programs to sell unclaimed property, Hall said. The Comptroller?s Office learned from Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., when establishing its system.
Hall herself says she?s “not an eBay person,” when she leaves work. She did, though, previously buy a snowboard her son wanted from the site.
“A lot of people don?t know about this program,” Hall said. “But it?s been really successful.”
Money for nothing
Hope Leach couldn?t believe the news.
The 30-year-old Cockeysville mother of four recently found out she had $2,300 coming to her, and she had the Comptroller?s Office to thank.
“I would never have imagined that I would have forgotten about money that was owed to me,” Leach said, laughing. “I just said, ?Wow. I really needed that.? ”
A few weeks ago, Leach?s friend was paging through the newspaper and saw the comptroller?s annual unclaimed property supplement. The friend didn?t find her name, but she found Leach?s with a Pikesville address.
“She asked me if I used to live at that address, and I did, so she said, ?You need to look into this,? ” Leach said.
It turned out Leach was owed the money from a life insurance plan from a previous employer. Leach thinks the confusion occurred when she moved to Cockeysville.
“It meant a lot, because it wasn?t something the Comptroller?s Office had to make a priority,” Leach said. “For them to put forth that effort says a lot.”
Leach said the surprise $2,300 “couldn?t have come at a better time,” because she recently left her job and has four young children to take to football, ballet and soccer practice.
“I plan on paying some bills and stimulating the economy, because I hear we need some help there,” Leach said, laughing. “I?m going to be out there stimulating.”
Franchot urged all Marylanders to check whether they?re owed anything by visiting the Comptroller?s Office?s Web site, www.marylandtaxes.com, and entering their name.
“It?s like winning the lottery,” Franchot said, “but you don?t have to buy a ticket.”
