Geek Treasures will be a continuing column
exploring some of the great hidden treasures of our area. Of course, one person's
treasure is another person's junk as this issue's column will show... Geek Treasures will be a continuing column
exploring some of the great hidden treasures of our area. Of course, one person's
treasure is another person's junk as this issue's column will show...
What a fabulous state North Carolina is! We have great highways. We have vocal personality-driven Senators. We have minute taxation on tobacco products. And we also have North Carolina State Surplus Property Auctions.
What are State Surplus Property Auctions? To a technology geek like myself, the Auctions are like a trip to a museum, a toy store, and an army base all rolled into one big adventure. Whenever a North Carolina agency acquires new equipment, they are required by law to auction off the outdated equipment. Sometimes the equipment is shuffled off to another needy agency, but all equipment eventually ends up at a Surplus Property Auction. Most of these auctions are "sealed bid" meaning that you write your bid on a bid sheet and submit it to the State Surplus Property Agency. Bid sheets list what property agencies are auctioning off. These agencies can be in Raleigh or anywhere in the state. Sealed bid auctions happen every Tuesday and usually the bid winner is notified by the following Friday. The person with the highest bid gets the lot or item (a lot is when an agency lumps a bunch of stuff together to be auctioned as one item). There often is no rhyme or reason to what is lumped togetherin one lot, I got a printing press, a nice swivel chair, and a 1940's adding machine. I got the whole lot for $50 (the chair works great, the press will work some day, and the adding machine makes a nice paperweight.) You have to pay with a money order or certified check. You also have to pick up your stuff in fifteen days; otherwise, it could be auctioned off to someone else.
What property do they auction off? You name it. Probably the only items I haven't seen listed for auction are firearms and ammunition. I've seen x-ray equipment, file cabinets, school buses, hot dog cookers, wheelchairs, mainframe computers, highway patrolman shoes and so much more stuff available for auction. One year, almost all of the fire towers in North Carolina five-story towers which used to dot the countryside where rangers would watch for firescame up for bid. Anything that the state purchased and no longer needs can come up for bid; the usefulness of the items available is limited only by your imagination.
A word of warning: these auctions can be habit forming. I knew that I was hooked when I bid on twenty-eight CPR mannequins only because I had a bunch of high school marching band uniforms that needed to be filled. My mind reeled at the possibilities of such a combination of items.
You can pick up bid sheets free of charge at the State Surplus Property Warehouse in Raleigh or you can subscribe ($30 a year) to receive new bid sheets every week. For more information, contact:
State Surplus Property 6501 Chapel Hill Rd, Raleigh, NC 27607 (919) 733-3889
Skip Elsheimer, they don't get any geekier