From old pickup trucks to 33-passenger seat buses, the sale of old surplus equipment at auction has netted Ocean County more than $166,000.
“The online auction has been very successful when it comes to the sale of county items that are no longer needed for public use,” Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr. said. “We have been using the Internet for more than five years to conduct these auctions and it has given us a broader audience and in many instances better bids.”
More than 55 surplus items were sold during the recent online auction, including passenger buses, dump trucks, front-end loaders, a cement mixer and a band saw, according to a press release.
“People across the world can bid on a golf cart, an industrial-size lawn mower or a street sweeper. The accessibility to the items that are on the website makes the process much more convenient,” Freeholder Director John P. Kelly said.
Bartlett noted that items go to surplus when they are no longer needed for public use.
“In some instances, when the cost of repairs on a piece of equipment becomes prohibitive we look to sell the items because it is just no longer feasible for the county to keep them,” he said.
The online auction was conducted by Auction Liquidation Services, which is authorized by the state to conduct online auctions.
The auctioneer is responsible for providing photos and descriptions of each of the items online and for posting all the terms and conditions of the sale.
Ocean County usually holds a surplus equipment auction in the spring and again in the fall, according to the press release.
“The online auction has provided us with a much larger field of bidders and more competitive bids,” Bartlett said. “The total received by the county shows this process is successful.”