Trace is an international database of stolen, lost, seized, and recovered property that you can use for free. Our goal is to help the public and law enforcement drastically improve their chances of catching criminals, recovering stolen goods, and preventing the sale of stolen property. The Trace database contains everything from watches, jewelry and consumer electronics to art, antiques and collectibles of every type.
If your valuables have been lost or stolen, you can add them to the Trace database for free. Then auction houses, secondhand retailers, and pawnshops will use Trace to ensure they are not buying or selling your stolen goods. If someone does attempt to resell your things, the thieves will be unable to fence your valuables, and police will be automatically alerted.
Trace is also partnered with MyThings.com, where you can create an inventory of your possessions online – saving valuable information like receipts, photos, and descriptions. If any of the items registered on MyThings are lost or stolen, you can automatically add them to the Trace database via MyThings and print your online records for police and insurance.
Reporting Stolen Items
In order to add a lost or stolen item to Trace, you must first report the item to the police. After you have a valid and verifiable police report number, you can immediately add your stolen goods to the Trace database.
Victims of crime will remain anonymous. Only the item and the reporting police agency will be identified.
Searching the Trace Database
It is free to search the Trace database. Members of the art trade, pawnbrokers, secondhand retailers, online auctions and major auction houses like Christie’s and Sotheby's search Trace before buying or dealing in valuable goods. If an item comes up as stolen or lost, Trace may alert the potential buyer, dealer or agent and the police, greatly increasing your chance of recovering those items.
In addition, when police recover items that they suspect may have been stolen, they can search the Trace database to see if, where, and by whom they have been reported stolen. The process of recovery can then begin.
Professional and Premium Services
Our catalogue search services for auction houses are known as Trace Professional and Trace Premium. These services allow auction houses to perform a batch search of their sale catalogues in one easy step and are priced to reflect each auction house's particular needs. Trace's technology, in partnership with its in-house experts from the art trade, provides the leading service to the sector today.
Founded in 2004 by retail, insurance, and technology executives, MyThings is a global business with offices in Palo Alto, California, London, England, and Tel Aviv, Israel.