In 2024, Sydney Airport welcomed 41.4 million passengers. In the first three months of 2025 alone, 10.4 million people passed through the airport’s three terminals. With so many travellers passing through, it’s no wonder that Sydney Airport’s lost property bank is overflowing with valuables. Behind the scenes at the airport, there’s a team of people working to reunite travellers with their lost treasures, with more than 7,000 items successfully returned last year alone. But not every lost lamb finds its shepherd, and the team are always left with a heap of unclaimed items. So, every year, the airport auctions off the items that haven’t been claimed – to raise money for charity – and this year’s auction is going live real soon.
More than 2,000 unclaimed items are going to be auctioned off online, with bidding starting at just $10. Proceeds will help provide families facing cost-of-living pressures with free swimming lessons and water safety programs through the Inner West Council Aquatics team.
So what sorts of treasures are in store? There are 250 laptops up for grabs, 250 pieces of jewellery and watches, 80 handbags, 60 Kindles and three surfboards, to start with. Some of the more unusual items include a violin and The Lord of the Rings book collection.
From Tuesday, June 10, the online auction will start accepting bids on the first round of items. The auction times and categories for this year’s auction are below:
Tech and Gaming | Tuesday 10 June | 11am
Jewellery and Watches | Wednesday 11 June | 11am
Clothing and Shoes | Thursday 12 June | 11am
Sunglasses, Scarves and Accessories | Thursday 12 June | 2pm
Beauty, Alcohol, Home | Friday 13 June | 11am
Since 2013, Sydney Airport’s lost property auctions have raised $1.9 million for charitable and community organisations. As mentioned, this year’s auction will support swimming lessons for children. The initiative will be kicked off by an initial $100,000 in funding from the airport, who hope to raise a further $200,000 from the 2025 Lost Property Auction – the equivalent of 8,000 free swimming lessons.
The five catalogues have gone live online today, so you can have a good browse before bidding goes live next week. You’ll need to register to bid, so make sure you’ve registered and checked out your top picks before the sale goes live. You can learn more over here.
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