By Andrew Amaya
Tables were stacked with discounted items at Long Beach State’s annual Lost and Found Flash Sale in front of the Student Recreation and Wellness Center on Nov. 14.
For over a decade, the sale has featured unclaimed items from the lost and found that students can purchase.
According to the event flyer, all net proceeds from the sale will be donated to student scholarships in the CSULB General Scholarship Fund.
The items sold at the sale varied from school essentials, such as calculators and binders, to more premium items, such as water bottles and hoodies.
Higher-value and more in-demand items, such as bicycles and electronics, are auctioned off online via Public Surplus until the end of the second week of November.
According to Chad Keller, CSULB’s public relations and communications specialist for Parking and Operations, high-value items dropped off at the lost and found are held longer, while lower-value items are held for less time.
Keller said most items are generally held for one-to-three months.
“The main purpose of the sale is to clear our warehouses of old items that were never claimed throughout the year,” Keller said. “The second purpose of the sale is to offer a sustainable alternative to purchasing a new item from a store, and therefore decreasing the amount of waste in our environment.”
Students flipped through pants, hoodies and sweaters that were priced as low as $1 at the Lost and Found Flash Sale on Nov. 14. Photo credit: Andrew Amaya
As students shopped around and waited in line to purchase their finds, organizers at the flash sale constantly refilled the tables and racks.
Students, including second-year aerospace major Christopher Lopez, learned about the sale while walking around campus.
“I was walking to the gym and saw a bunch of clothes and thought it looked sick,” Lopez said.
Lopez purchased a hoodie for only a dollar and said it was worth shopping at the flash sale.
“It’s a bunch of stuff from the lost and found, so it’s secondhand, but it’s the same thing as thrifting, and, honestly, it’s way cheaper,” Lopez said.
Although the items on sale are secondhand, Keller said all items are cleaned and inspected before they are placed on sale. He said electronics are sanitized and checked to see if they function before being displayed.
Hydro flasks, Stanley cups and other reusable water bottles filled nearly two tables at the flash sale held on Nov. 14. Photo credit: Andrew Amaya
The low prices also stuck out to Jadeene Santillana, a second-year business major, who attended the sale after walking by the SRWC after class.
“I just saw a flash sale, and I was like, ‘Okay, let me go look at the prices,’” Santillana said. “Then I saw the prices, and I was like, ‘Okay, I’m going to keep looking.’”
Santillana said that with winter approaching, she was mainly interested in the low-priced sweaters on the racks around the tables.
Keller recommends that students contact the Lost & Found office if they lose something on campus.
Students who find a lost item can turn it in at one of the eight drop-off locations throughout campus.
“It is great karma,” Keller said. “You might just have saved someone’s term paper or at least a lot of worry and frustration for them in trying to replace the item.”
