would you buy from government scrap auctions? - Page 2

Lol, I know they have to make everything a pain.

Be very aware as well that the weights that are listed a approximate. Looked at several auctions and after a little research realized the listed weight was off by several thousand lbs. Also don't forget to figure in pallets, boxes and other waste in the amount. And one more thing to remember is the 10% auction premium that you have to pay above you bid.

Personally haven't had much luck with the auctions. Everybody is paying a lot more for everything than we can even get for it and that isn't taking into consideration transportation and profit. Not exactly sure how anyone is making money on these auctions.

I have been looking at some of them to, to big for me, had to furnish a dumpster,be prepared to haul it the day they call,etc,etc.I'm sure somebody with the equipment to handle that sort of thing could make some money.

If you read the instructions it tells you the mutilation can be done on you premesses. I think this is a way for the Gov. to get in to check out your operation.

Originally Posted by Bear

I mostly bought computer related lots, and never once was mutilation even mentioned

I used to buy from GL back when the bids started at $35 per lot, got a bunch of sealed bids for $41 plus the fees. Now lots more folks bidding.

Careful with these auctions. You get a lot of people that get caught up in the frenzy and pay way more than they should. The "thrill" of winning an auction is soon tempered by the hard reality that you probably paid more for a used item than you could have bought it for new! Ok, thats a bit of an exaggeration, but here is one example in Florida: Over Eighty-Five (85+) Pounds of Computer Cards, Boards, Memory - GovDeals.com

85 pounds of motherboards, finger cards and memory. Motherboards look to be Pentium 4's, so I'm guessing the majority of memory is 256 or 512, and not worth much, if anything, other than scrap. The only way this is profitable is if the entire lot were memory. It would require a trip to inspect these items more thoroughly as there might be a gem hiding in there, but not likely. A lot of time and variables go into it, but there isnt much profit when you have these unknowns and the bid is already up to $750!!! My guess is the winning bid will have buyer remorse soon afterwards.

Originally Posted by taterjuice

Not all military vehicles have to be destroyed, I've seen quite a few humvees and cutvees, the forefather of the humvee, running all over the place. What bout of the 5 ton and deuce and halfs running all over and places that only sell govt surplus military rides. Clearly someone hasn't checked their facts

Currently the only vehicle that is no longer sold to the public is the humvee. This is obviously do to them developing a vehicle to sell strait to consumers. When I first went into the USMC you could buy humvees (1990s), that is no longer the case. All the other vehicles are readily available.

Originally Posted by djones36987

Be very aware as well that the weights that are listed a approximate. Looked at several auctions and after a little research realized the listed weight was off by several thousand lbs. Also don't forget to figure in pallets, boxes and other waste in the amount. And one more thing to remember is the 10% auction premium that you have to pay above you bid.

Personally haven't had much luck with the auctions. Everybody is paying a lot more for everything than we can even get for it and that isn't taking into consideration transportation and profit. Not exactly sure how anyone is making money on these auctions.

You really have to be careful with the premium. I haven't paid a premium on anything I bought from the government. The government does NOT charge a premium or tax. What is happening is there are 3rd party websites that link and will bid for you, then charging you a premium, which is how they stay in business. Go strait to the Gov website and you only pay what you bid.

Q: Do I have to pay sales tax or a buyer’s premium on anything I buy on GSA Auctions?

A: The U.S. Government is not responsible for collection of State taxes. Sales tax is not on any items you purchase; successful bidders on GSA Auctions only pay for the high bid amount that they are awarded. Sales tax is an issue handled by each state, especially for items that have to be registered, such as vehicles. You will not be charged a buyer’s premium. However, purchasers of Federal personal property may be subject to payment of state sales and/or use tax and may obtain information from a State tax office. Sales and/or use tax officials are permitted to examine records of Federal personal property sales to determine tax liability.

GSA Auctions, General Services Administration, Government Site for Auctions

I have had the most success with GSA auctions rather than DOD personally. Go to GSA's website, on the left search by state, and it will pull up everything for sale in your area. You do have to check back often. Most stuff in my area goes for very little.

Been looking at a few in my area, if I wina couple for the right price it might be worth it. But Im going to have trouble handling 12,000 lbs. Some of them are confusing as well, the mutilation bit I mean. I saw one auction for thousands of pounds of scrap aluminum, I mean ripped up signs bent peices and it required mutilation... hopw the hell do you want me to mutilated twisted up scrap aluminum? Twist it in the opposite direction?

I checked out my state and found these three sitting at $200 each currently, all non functional. Not sure how to tell the weight but, I don't think the scrap value would be worth the $600+ and travel expenses since the site is 2 hours from me. Would also need a way to haul them cause I don't think my 96 chevy 1500 would cut it lol.

There's an auction about 200 miles away in a rural area. There are several lots of computer towers and they are super cheap right now. I would have to rent a U-Haul but I wonder if there's any money to be made. I calculated basically 75 towers and with my bid maximums, if I won, I would be paying around 5-8 dollars per tower. The towers are all Compaq de5800's. Is this worth pursuing?

Originally Posted by unser55

I would be paying around 5-8 dollars per tower.

If you are going to scrap and not resell the yes at $5 per tower if that is includeing U-haul rental.
Do they have harddrives? Alot of the time they are pulled.

the hard drives have been pulled. U Haul wont work. Its $39 for a truck for 2 days plus .59 cents a mile x's 610 miles...

Bummer not a single GSA auction anywhere near me.