3486 New York on eBay

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Life is not like a box of chocolates. It’s more like a jar of jalapenos.
What you do today might burn your ass tomorrow.

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The state of New York has opened a store on eBay to sell surplus stuff, in huge lots. Last week they had a lot consisting of hundreds of ancient desks of various sizes and shapes, another lot of a gazillion mismatched tables, and a couple lots consisting of multiple heavy trucks in each lot, most of which were, uh, "well used" to be polite. There are few photos and scanty descriptions. If you win the bid, you have to go to the fairgrounds in Albany to pay for and and pick the stuff up, and you must take the entire lot.

I don't know who is buying this stuff. I'd love to know what they're doing with it.

There's a lot out there now that they're calling "maintenance items", consisting of
33 - Magazine/Media Racks
1 - 48" x 84" Glass Door and Frame
2 - 36" x 80" Wood Door
1 - 4 Drawer Metal Filing Cabinet
2 - 2 Drawer Metal Filing Cabinets
1 - Prezel Warming Machine (typo? pretzel?)
53 - 16" Street Brooms
20 - Dust Pans
1 - Pallet Ground Glass for Road Repairs
1 - GE Glass Refrigerator Shelf, Model# WR32X1510
28 - Boxes Copy Paper 8 1/2" x 14" - 5000 Sheets Per Box

"Maintenance items?" Huh? Sounds like they started out with the brooms and dustpans, and then just started throwing more junk on the pile. Eight bids on that lot, currently over $200.

Who puts these lots together? The same people who want the doors might also want the cabinets, the rack, and maybe even the warmer. But what on earth would they do with the huge pallet of ground glass? Why would anyone want the refrigerator shelf? And nobody uses legal sized paper any more.

And yet people are bidding on it.

They also have "metal canopy arches" that look interesting. It's a set of two half-circle frames that you'd stretch canvas over. They are photographed in front of some railroad cars, and look large enough to park boxcars under. But in the description, they are described as 30'' Wide x 10'' Deep x 14'' Tall. There are 37 bids on them as of now, with the high bid slightly over $2,000.

I sent them a message asking if they meant FEET, not INCHES. I haven't got a reply yet. I'm tempted to place a nuclear bid of, oh, say, $10,000 to ensure I win them, and then when I arrive to pay and pick them up, refuse to pay on the grounds that they won't fit in the back seat of my car like they said they would. Snork.
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