Surplus Personal Property Sales offers items the federal government no longer needs as well as exchange/sale property for sale to the general public by competitive means.  The basic authority for this program is Chapter 5, subchapters III and IV Title 40 U.S. Code.  Surplus personal property is sold to the public by competitive offerings using the following methods:  Auctions, Fixed Price, Negotiated, Sealed Bid, and Spot Bid.

GSA's objectives are to conduct sales in an efficient, expeditious manner and obtain maximum net returns with a minimum of inconvenience to holding agencies. GSA sells surplus and exchange/sale property for the civilian federal agencies while the Department of Defense sells for the military services. Holding agencies are responsible for the care and handling of surplus property during the sales processes and perform these additional services:

• Provide descriptive information for sale and accountability on SF120, Report of Excess Personal Property, for reportable property or SF126, Report of Personal Property for Sale, for non-reportable surplus and exchange/sale property
• Provide for inspection by prospective bidders
• Provide facilities and assistance when requested by GSA
• Assist in the physical lotting of property to be sold (lotting refers to the division of the property into reasonably sized groups of similar items in order to promote competitive bidding)
• Transport property to a consolidated sales site when acceptable to both the holding agency and GSA

For further information, see Purchasing Government Personal Property.

Introducing GSA Auctions®

GSA has a history of pioneering electronic solutions for streamlining and enhancing the management of excess and surplus federal assets. GSA continued the transformation of the federal disposal process throughout the late 1990's with the introduction and subsequent refinement of the Federal Disposal System (FEDS), a centralized electronic clearinghouse for reporting and transferring excess/surplus personal property within the federal community and among eligible donees.  November 2003, GSAXcess® was launched to provide a new customer interface to the FEDS.  GSAXcess® is a totally web enabled platform that eligible customers use to access all customer functions of FEDS.

The GSA Auctions® site has been developed to complete GSA's transformation to an all-electronic asset management system. The site offers the general public the opportunity to bid electronically on a wide array of federal assets. The auctions are completely web-enabled, allowing all registered participants to bid on a single item or multiple items (lots) within specified timeframes.

The GSA Auctions® site offers federal personal property assets ranging from commonplace items (such as office equipment and furniture) to more select products like scientific equipment, heavy machinery, airplanes, vessels and vehicles. The online capabilities allow GSA to offer assets located across the country to any interested buyer, regardless of location. GSA invites all to visit GSA Auctions® frequently to keep current.