GovDeals: Government Surplus, Ebay Style

Personally, I think it's easier than eBay to navigate. The home page has an alphabetical directory of categories. While the "Guns" category remains active with 4 items, the "Land mine" category is now closed. Rumors run rampant as to who actually left one in a charity donation container.

Other categories include: Drugs (your confiscated stash is disposed of in the most profitable way), Garbage Trucks (for those of you looking to get rid of some clutter), and Ambulances (which might be a fun way to pick up some extra mad money or at least get through traffic more quickly).

An interesting category is "Buildings". I half way expected to see the portable restroom and shed, but there's a single family dwelling in Ohio with a starting bid of $10! Do you think there's a catch? Here's a clue. The portable restroom bidding is up to $500.

There actually are some categories I would be interested in, like Exercise Equipment, because it's a great place to hang my clothes. There's a Stairmaster with a starting bid of $35, and two treadmills starting as low as $5.

You can search for items closing within 1 hour, 24 hours, and 48 hours to try to sneak in a last minute low bid. The lone bidder on the Coca-Cola vending machine in Arkansas will never believe you walked away with it for just $5 over his bid!

The one drawback on using govdeals.com is that many of the items are sold as is, where they are. You actually need to pick up your great deal from where it's being stored as they aren't keen to mail cranes and election equipment through the US Postal Service. I don't understand that one. You'd think the government could send it for free. If you don't pick up your item within 10 days, they start charging storage fees. If it's big and you'll need help getting it out the door, you'd better bring someone with you because no one's going to volunteer.

The great thing about govdeals.com is that you can search by zip code to see what government surplus or confiscated items are available for sale in your area.

All proceeds from govdeals.com go to the state treasuries where they are sold. Last year govdeals.com put back about $6 million into government coffers. The items are on sale to anyone in the US and 26 foreign countries.