Surplus auctions and classic computers

[tom ponsford]

Hi All,

Anybody who is interested in surplus auctions, federal regulations 
concerning surplus  (computers) auctions or reselling and who live 
nearby the University of Michigan, might be interested in attending the 
University Surplus Property Association annual meeting this upcoming 
weekend. This is a policy/association meeting...not an auction, but it 
is important for our hobby!

http://surplus.msu.edu/uspa_docs/agenda.htm

I frequently attend surplus property auctions at some of the local (and 
not so local) colleges and Universities in and around Arizona, as they 
almost always have various classic computers at great prices (even next 
to nothing/free).

Several years ago I attended a conference here at the University of 
Arizona of the University Surplus Property Association. This is a fairly 
new association put together to help organizations, especially 
universities and colleges deal with property management and the sale and 
disposition of universiy property. This has become an issue with many 
major universities as the dealing with the sale and disposition of 
thousands of old computers can be a real pain in the ass, but not if it 
can generate a revenue stream.

Many universities have taken the easy way out and just turned everything 
overt to liquidators at a set price and be done with it. Some 
universities like the University of Arizona have a surplus property 
department that sells thousands of items every month. The U of A's 
surplus auction have generated a positive cash flow for several years 
now and is model now for several universities. More importantly, the 
current surplus policy at the U of A and many other universities is one 
of reselling rather than refuse/elimination, especially if it generates 
revenue! SO it is a great way to acquire/save/buy many classic 
computers. Time to time we get a fair amount of classic computers go 
through the U of A that are only now being retired, as they may have 
been used as part of a lab and is only now being replaced. In the 
private sector these computers were replaced decades ago. I have a 
fairly large classic computer collection and 95 percent of it was 
acquired at the U of A.

We recently had a concerned member on this list bemoan the fact that 
surplus auctions may be a thing of the past, dure to onerous new Federal 
Regulations. Well there is a special session at the USPA meeting that 
addresses this same problem. I am sure they have the correct information 
regarding these laws and it might be good for a member of this list to 
attend!

Let me point out that this new association has already convinced several 
universities to open thier own "surplus property" offices to try and 
generate some revenue from old property instead of going through private 
sector liquidators/scrappers. Most likely there have been hundreds of 
classic computers that have landed in the hands of enthusiasts and 
hobbyist instead of the dump.

The meeting also includes several other interesting items, such as 
selling on ebay and fair market valuation. Sellam Ismail has stated that 
the community need several data points to really establish fair values 
on antique computers. While this one would not be fair to sellers, it is 
certainly  a valuble data point to buyers.


All in all, as a former attendee, I encourage anybody who may be 
interested to attend! (They are fairly flexible on 
attendence/registration requirements) I went just as a member of the public!


Cheers,

Tom