The ability to purchase surplus equipment from the county may be coming to a computer near you.
Phelps County commissioners previewed an online auctioning service during the Aug. 12 session, and they liked what they saw.
The no-contract, no-cost auctioning service is provided by Public Surplus, an online government-agency auctioning service, which can be previewed at the Web site, www.publicsurplus.com.
Although the commission took no formal action to authorize usage of the online auctioning service by county officials, it did discuss a trial run of the service by auctioning a prisoner transport van that brought no offers of purchase on a recent advertised bid.
The online auctioning service is paid by a 7 percent “buyer’s premium,” which is added to the cost of the winning bidder’s purchase, in addition to sales tax.
Presently, more than 2,000 government agencies around the nation utilize the service, the Public Surplus sales representative told commissioners in the teleconference. The private sector cannot use the service to auction items, but it can purchase them from government agencies.
