I want a leather couch
April 12, 2007 10:51 AM Subscribe
A few years ago I saw on TV that the General Services Administration and congress sell off their furniture and other stuff at low prices at a store of some kind in Virginia or Maryland? Is this for real? Where does a person find the store, is it online, and can I go there with a truck? My google-fu fails me.
There are privately owned stores (although in some cases this is a euphimism for "junkyards") that sell things to the general public which have been purchased at government auctions. The prices will not be anywhere near what the store paid for the goods. Usually, these will be located somewhere near where the auctions are held.
Some of these sorts of stores are online, to various extents. Generally, you can go there with a truck, but check with the store first to make sure you can actually do something once you get there (I'm guessing you don't want to just sit in your truck looking at the store, but some people find that amusing).
posted by yohko at 11:47 AM on April 12, 2007
Some of these sorts of stores are online, to various extents. Generally, you can go there with a truck, but check with the store first to make sure you can actually do something once you get there (I'm guessing you don't want to just sit in your truck looking at the store, but some people find that amusing).
posted by yohko at 11:47 AM on April 12, 2007
Oh, and sometimes they are called "surplus stores", sometimes not.
posted by yohko at 11:48 AM on April 12, 2007
posted by yohko at 11:48 AM on April 12, 2007
Government Liquidation is a private organization, but it has an agreement with most of the military agencies to sell off their surplus stuff. I don't know if they sell GSA surplus or just military.
I've bought stuff from them in the past; it's basically like eBay. They tack on a fee on top of the bid price to make their profit, and you buy the item as-is, where-is (generally on a military base somewhere). You then print out the winning bid confirmation, take it with you, and go pick the item up.
If you live near a large military base or depot (in the Northeast, they sell a lot of stuff out of the old Navy facility in Mechanicsburg, PA), there are occasionally interesting items on there.
posted by Kadin2048 at 12:24 PM on April 12, 2007
I've bought stuff from them in the past; it's basically like eBay. They tack on a fee on top of the bid price to make their profit, and you buy the item as-is, where-is (generally on a military base somewhere). You then print out the winning bid confirmation, take it with you, and go pick the item up.
If you live near a large military base or depot (in the Northeast, they sell a lot of stuff out of the old Navy facility in Mechanicsburg, PA), there are occasionally interesting items on there.
posted by Kadin2048 at 12:24 PM on April 12, 2007
Large universities also have these. The University of Maryland system of schools has Terrapin Trader. My friend got a good deal on a piano from them.
posted by bluefly at 5:15 PM on April 12, 2007
posted by bluefly at 5:15 PM on April 12, 2007
There used to be a GSA surplus warehouse out in Springfield-ish a good 10 or 15 years ago. No clue if it's still open anymore or if the government surpluses things differently now.
It's probably a bit far for you, but the University of Virginia has a pretty neat surplus system, though, which you can even search online.
posted by wildeepdotorg at 5:48 PM on April 12, 2007
It's probably a bit far for you, but the University of Virginia has a pretty neat surplus system, though, which you can even search online.
posted by wildeepdotorg at 5:48 PM on April 12, 2007
« Older Grand National this Saturday - online streams ? | Yep, I actually am asking strangers on the... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by philulrich at 11:05 AM on April 12, 2007