WASHINGTON — Black Friday has come and gone. Cyber Monday, too. But let’s say you still have some difficult shoppers on your Christmas list who aren’t interested in just another flat-screen TV or smartphone.
Maybe 55 pounds of assorted kitchen utensils, an electric fence or even a Black Hawk helicopter is just what that special someone is hankering after.
You can find those items and tons of other offbeat, esoteric bits of merchandise — ranging from decommissioned government aircraft to plain old office supplies — on an online auction site run by Uncle Sam.
Check out some of the interesting items for sale in the gallery below:
GSAAuctions.gov, which is operated by the General Services Administration, lists thousands of items — from computers, iPads and household goods to medical equipment, industrial machinery and vehicles. The site is designed to help the federal government get rid of surplus equipment.
And just in time for the holidays, there’s a major collectibles auction running Dec. 13-18 featuring watches, cuff links, necklaces, silverware and decorative bowls.
“There’s a lot of good things that would probably be something great to buy around the holidays,” said Susanne Combs, acting director of GSA’s Office of Personal Property Management, in an interview with WTOP.
The auction will be conducted online, but prospective bidders in the D.C. area can window-shop for themselves at GSA’s Springfield, Virginia, warehouse. (More details are below).
So where does all this stuff come from?
Much of the merchandise on the GSA site was acquired by federal agencies during the normal course of business, and they simply no longer need it. Think office supplies and IT equipment.
But some of the items up for sale are a bit bizarre. Many of these were likely seized by federal law enforcement under asset-forfeiture programs, Combs said.
“So we do have some offbeat items,” Combs said.
For example, after the owner of a bridal store pleaded guilty to embezzlement, the feds seized the contents of her shop and held a big bridal auction to cover some of the legally required restitution the woman was ordered to make.
Who’s buying this stuff? There are some niche audiences, Combs said, including resellers, car dealers and realtors.
The site’s users also include regular, everyday people who are just interested in a deal, she said.
Here’s what you need to know if you’re interested in bidding:
First you need to create an online profile on the GSA site. Then, you can set up alerts for certain types of items you have an interest in bidding on. You can also set up what’s known as proxy bid feature, which allows you to put in your maximum bid upfront. You can also search for items located in your geographic area, which is a helpful feature, since you have 10 days to make arrangements with the government seller to pick up your winnings.
You may find some deals, Combs cautioned, but probably not too many of the too-good-to-be-true variety.
“The government expects to get as much as it can as possible,” Combs said. In the last fiscal year, GSA auctions netted $147 million.
“So really, in the end it helps save taxpayer dollars, because we’re reinvesting in some of the things that we need to do our mission in the federal government,” she said.
More details about the GSA collectibles auction:
The online auction runs Dec. 13 through Dec. 18, with 25 “lots” of property, including watches, cuff links, necklaces, silverware and decorative bowls. Prospective bidders in the D.C. area can inspect the merchandise for themselves at GSA’s Springfield, Virginia, warehouse at 6808 Loisdale Rd. Contact Jacqui Johnson at 703-605-9321 to schedule an appointment.
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