A Very ‘Jersey Shore’ Idea: Seaside Park to Sell Old Beach Badges to Collectors

A 2021 Seaside Park season beach badge with security features. (File Photo)

Shore residents have long had a love-hate relationship with beach badges. They cost money, they must be worn for access to the sand, and occasionally you’re asked to show them to a roving badge checker just after you laid down on your towel to soak up some rays. But they pay the salaries of lifeguards, Public Works employees who clean the beaches each morning, and make up for the gap left open in New Jersey since the state does not fund local beach maintenance costs. Some would even argue the system is better and cheaper than the high parking fees found in other states.

Regardless of one’s views on badges, they’re a Jersey Shore tradition, for better or worse. On the “better” side, past years’ badges have often been given second lives as collectables, historical displays, and even works of art. In Seaside Park, borough officials had an idea to sell the town’s glut of unused badges to collectors.

“We have a lot of badges down there in the basement,” said Councilman Joseph Connor. “We go back to about 2017.”

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Rather than throw out the expired badges, Connor and a committee decided selling them could help with frequent requests from residents to obtain old badges for collections, clear out a few boxes from town hall, and generate some extra beach revenue to help fund future beach maintenance.

“We had an idea to sell these badges to people for their collection, or to make something out of them like an ornament – whatever they’d like to do,” said Connor.

Beach badges are already a surprisingly in-demand item on platforms like eBay and Facebook Marketplace, and social media sites see dozens of posts every fall seeking anyone willing to part with their used badges to help local artists and collectors.

“You’re a hot item on Marketplace, mayor!” joked Councilwoman Gina Condos.

With the help of Borough Attorney Steven Zabarsky, council members were able to craft an ordinance that declares the old badges surplus property and allows them to be sold. Modern beach badges, officials said, come with holograms and other security features inside them that prevent counterfeiting or re-use – a problem that has occasionally cropped up over the last decade – so the sales do not have the potential to lead to future issues.

The ordinance was unanimously introduced last week. Connor said the surplus badges will be sold at town hall as well as the borough’s Beach Control headquarters for $10 each. Sales are limited to two badges of each year per customer.

The borough has a limited number of badges available from the last seven or eight years, but will keep the program going in the future. If older badges are found, they can be added to the collection.

“We do, occasionally, get a few people who tell us they wish they could buy something from further back, but at least we can start this now and accumulate them every year,” said Connor. “We can get something for these badges sitting in the basement collecting dust.”