Still Time For a Surplus Sale Before Winter Break

If you are trying to figure out whether you can "squeeze in" a surplus sale before school breaks for the Holidays, the likely answer is a resounding "Yes."

Based on our experience selling items on eBay over the last two Decembers, surplus sales remain brisk up until a few days before Christmas. As many of you know firsthand, there is no shortage of buyers on eBay leading up to the holiday.

This means that as long as you can let us know about your surplus items by December 5, that should give InterSchola time to visit your site(s), perform inventory, and help you post Public Notice in accordance with CA Ed Code. Your items will be sold before Christmas, and we will arrange for pickup in the first couple of weeks after the New Year. Our goal would be to have these items cleared out of your premises by the middle of January. If you are interested in an acclerated inventory, please give Jeff Greenholtz a call at 888 653 7360 x2.

Unique Surplus Item Receives Full Value Potential

Education institutions often find themselves in possession of unique surplus items for which traditional surplus disposal methods may not be sufficient. The Schools Insurance Program for Employees (SIPE), a schools insurance joint power authority along California’s Central Coast, owned a mobile emergency command center – a trailer equipped with emergency communications devices, designed for use in an emergency situation. Upon declaring this item surplus, Garth Maijala, SIPE Safety Coordinator, had a good idea of its potential value. However, given his other responsibilities, Maijala had neither the time nor the resources to expect that SIPE would realize the expected value via a sealed bid auction to a limited group of local buyers.

SIPE enlisted InterSchola to help sell the mobile emergency command center. By offering items for sale on eBay, InterSchola enables institutions to find buyers for surplus items outside of their local network.

An InterSchola representative performed a complete inventory, taking digital photographs and documenting all of the trailer’s special features. InterSchola then listed the trailer for sale on the Internet in the InterSchola/eBay store, where the listing – featuring 63 photos – could be viewed by a national (and international) buyer base. InterSchola took a list of potential buyers developed by SIPE and actively marketed to this group. In addition, InterSchola developed a longer list of possible buyers through its own network, and marketed the trailer to this group. InterSchola handled questions from potential buyers, and arranged inspections by multiple parties.

Ultimately, InterSchola fielded two highly competitive offers for the emergency command unit. One offer came from a large school district in Southern California. The other offer came from a major California university, with whom InterSchola managed the negotiation of a “mutual aid agreement” enabling other education institutions along the Central Coast – including SIPE – to continue to use the trailer for special needs. For SIPE, the opportunity to realize $30,000 from the sale, and to enable local school districts and other institutions to continue to use the trailer, as needed, made this the perfect outcome for SIPE. “InterSchola did a great job, from inventory to marketing to negotiating the best possible deal for SIPE,” says Maijala. “We had not one, but two terrific offers for an item that some people questioned whether we could realize a fraction of the final price. Best of all, InterSchola did practically all of the work. This is truly a win-win situation for all involved.”

Effective Surplus Disposal Eases SJUSD's Burden

Patrick Day, then the Director of Purchasing and Contract Management of San Jose Unified School District (SJUSD), faced a familiar problem for education institutions – surplus disposal. His district was paying too much money to have its surplus items taken to a local dump. For the remaining surplus equipment that did have value, such as pianos, food service equipment and swimming pool pumps, the district had no effective model to capture the remaining value in these items. As a result, surplus items were piling up in his warehouse. Moreover, Day knew that with a number of school closings pending, the surplus pile – and its associated problems – would soon be growing.

In March 2004, Day attended a presentation by InterSchola at the Santa Clara County Office of Education. InterSchola offered a full-service solution to help school districts dispose of surplus assets, using eBay – the world’s largest auction marketplace – as its primary sales channel. InterSchola understood that most school districts have neither the time nor the proper resources to effectively manage surplus asset sales. Moreover, InterSchola demonstrated how existing venues for surplus disposal did not maximize the value of school districts’ excess property. To Day InterSchola seemed the perfect fit for SJUSD’s surplus needs.

An InterSchola representative visits the SJUSD’s warehouse to perform a complete inventory of surplus items, at the district’s request. InterSchola evaluates assets for feasibility of sale, tests equipment, takes digital photographs and gathers item-specific details. After sending documentation to ensure that SJUSD posts necessary public notice in accordance with California Education Code, InterSchola lists the items for public bid on eBay. Upon auction close, InterSchola collects payment from buyers and returns to the district to package and ship sold items or meet buyers for local pickup.

InterSchola’s services have become an essential part of SJUSD’s warehouse operations. In any given month, InterSchola may work with items from the district’s Transportation Department, Food Service Department, and/or the Buildings and Ground Department. A sample of items sold through InterSchola include 34 upright pianos, multiple pallets of salt (formerly used as water softener in the district), and a large quantity of kitchen equipment declared surplus when the district centralized its food service operations. “Our work with InterSchola started out as a new venture,” says Kelly Cefalu, SJUSD Supervisor of Operations and Warehouse, “and now it is a well-oiled machine.”

In two years, InterSchola has sold over $100,000 worth of surplus items on behalf of SJUSD. “InterSchola’s services have freed up my district staff to focus on more pressing items”, says Day, now SJUSD’s Director of Maintenance/Operations/Purchasing/Contract Management. “We don’t want to be experts at selling stuff. We want to be experts at educating kids, and InterSchola allows us to focus on the bigger picture.”

New Legislation Should Not Impact Surplus Sales InterSchola has received a number of recent inquiries from district clients regarding AB 368, a new bill which requires the State Department of Education (SDE) to develop, maintain and make accessible to districts a registry of career technical education (CTE) equipment that is listed for sale. The way the bill is phrased, there had been some confusion regarding whether districts were required to list their surplus items, such as shop equipment, in this registry. InterSchola has confirmed that for districts, participating in this registry is an option - not a requirement. If you choose not to include your surplus equipment in this registery, current surplus disposal guidelines will continue to apply. Please let us know if you have any questions about this bill and how it may apply to you.