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Auctions Across America

By Larry Doyle on August 30, 2009 at 5:00 PM in Economy, Sense on Cents (Larry Doyle blog)

How does an entity sell a massive amount of assets? Individual sales are too time consuming. Personal negotiations would be too onerous. How about utilizing the internet and engaging a wider audience? That is, in fact, exactly what is happening as America goes on sale via auctions. That’s right, folks.

From the state of California to small banks and all points in between, there are and will be ongoing liquidations via auctions for the foreseeable future.

How does one receive a list of items for sale? Check out the following to start:

>> Great California Garage Sale held by the California Department of General Services.

>> Auctions for U.S. Treasury, FDIC, Personal Property, Real Estate, and Services by Rick Levin and Associates, Inc.

I have two rhetorical questions:

1. What will these auctions mean for consumer spending and retail sales going forward?

2. What will these auctions mean for the pace of inventory buildup?

All part of the new dynamic within the Uncle Sam economy.

Have fun shopping.

LD

  • Linda Anselmi

    LD -

    I wonder if the Fed’s “Resale Round-up” will hit a snag with CA’s garage sale. (I’m sure other state have or will have their own soon) And will Arnold’s (or any celebrity) signature on a item save them?

    http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/74102.html
    Seller, beware: Feds cracking down on garage sales

    If you’re planning a garage sale or organizing a church bazaar, you’d best beware: You could be breaking a new federal law. As part of a campaign called Resale Roundup, the federal government is cracking down on the secondhand sales of dangerous and defective products.

    The initiative, which targets toys and other products for children, enforces a new provision that makes it a crime to resell anything that’s been recalled by its manufacturer.

  • Portia Elizabeth

    I’m convinced the govts. paid way too much for all that stuff in the first place. And they probably didn’t need half of it to start with. So now they’ll sell it at bargain-basement prices for a net total of… what? I hope they got a good deal on red ink.

  • Tricia Spiegel

    This is so interesting. I wonder if poor California will get enough to make a dent in our huge deficit?

  • http://www.sonicninjakitty.wordpress.com Sonic Ninja Kitty

    the new dynamic indeed :(

  • Patience

    Someone who isn’t a regular poster on NQ recently made a comment that he’s attended hundreds, maybe a thousand, foreclosed-upon home auctions in Ohio but that banks always won. Now, I can understand that banks are willing to bid as high as the outstanding mortgage, whereas private individuals who bid are hoping for a better deal. If this pattern keeps up, what will it mean in the long run?

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