US Embassy in London auctions off unwanted items

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

After moving into a new compound, the U.S. Embassy in London is selling off some of its odds and ends in an auction.

A used car, some vacuum cleaners which saw better days, and more than 1,000 rolls of toilet tissue have been posted for online auction by the embassy, according to reports by some British media, including the BBC.

A 2007 Volvo, listed in usable conditions and priced at $8,427, and the set of 1,200 toilet paper rolls, which are for sale as a set only, is on auction for $199.

Five broken Dyson vacuums are looking for bidders to pay between $15 and $65, while some new LED desk lamps are going for $75.

The U.S. Embassy moved from Mayfair to its $1 billion new building in Vauxhall on Jan. 16, due to security concerns.

Meanwhile, the old embassy building is estimated to have a value of £300-500 million ($393-655 million), and its lease has been sold to real estate company Qatari Diar, which is planning to turn the building into a hotel.

The embassy had a 999-year lease on the building.

None of the auctioned items have any official U.S. insignias or historical value.