State office selling diamond ring found on Jones Beach in 2012

If you lost a diamond ring at Jones Beach in 2012, consider this your last chance to claim it.

The ring is part of the latest batch of items put up for sale in the state Office of General Services’ online eBay store, where state merchandise and long-unclaimed lost and found items are auctioned off.

A park employee discovered the ring, a 14-karat gold band with seven clustered diamonds, at Jones Beach State Park on Aug. 3, 2012, said Dan Keefe, a state parks spokesman. The ring was later turned over to parks police, but it was never claimed there, either.

Police retain items for up to three years, depending on value, Keefe said. If items aren’t claimed, they’re handed over to the state for possible sale.

The ring was listed on the NYS Store eBay store on March 7 at $238. As of Saturday afternoon, it had received 11 bids from nine bidders, bringing up the price to $300.

That’s still a steal — according to the listing, an appraiser valued it at $595. The auction will close on March 14.

Between January and September 2017, the office sold 1,702 items on eBay for $614,000, said Heather Groll, an OGS spokeswoman.

The eBay store, which was launched in 2012, is something of an island of misfit items no longer useful for state agencies. Professional kitchen equipment? Check. Spare scrap metal? Check. Old porcelain sinks? Check.

Past items have been even more unusual. The store once listed a 4-drawer morgue refrigerator, Groll said. According to the 2013 eBay listing, 36 bidders fought for it, driving the price from $10 to a final total of more than $3,000.

The current listings also include other items plucked from the lost and found at state parks and agencies. There’s a 14-karat white gold wedding band listed at $120 and a 14-karat gold bracelet listed at $278.

Real estate, vehicles and equipment like snowblowers and golf carts are also auctioned off, but are sold through a separate auction system.

OGS policy is to offer items that are no longer useful to other state agencies and local governments. If no one wants the property, it can then be sold to the public.

The system is fairly lucrative, too, Groll said.

Between 2014 and 2016, the program generated $17.9 million for the state. NYS Store’s eBay account accounted for $3 million of that.