by David Ball
Staff Writer
“I’m basically looking at laptops, just seeing what the prices are,” said Mark Schwartz, standing behind a table filled with used computer equipment and electronics. “My daughter is getting older and she could use it for school.”
It was Schwartz’s first time at the City’s surplus yard on McDuff Avenue, where more than 350 people gathered Tuesday to bid on used products ranging from cell phones to exercise equipment to SUVs.
At first, Schwartz kept to the outside of the crowd before weaving to the front. Twenty minutes later, Schwartz had spent $225 on a laptop and a few old Nikon 35mm film cameras.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do with the cameras,” he said. “I’ll give them away or something. I mean, at $35 you can’t go wrong.”
He also had his eye on a few pricer items.
“I’m looking at a 2002 Chevy Impala. And they’ve got a few nice Tahoes out there,” said Schwartz. “If it’s a good price, I’ll buy it and use it or fix it up and sell it. There’s definitely some good deals here.”
For his first time out, Schwartz worked the auction block like a pro — and there were plenty of pros on hand, buying old cars and electronics to fix up and resell. Some arrived towing U-Haul trailers to transport away the spoils.
Weeks Auction Co. has run the auction for 10 years, taking a commission of the total amount sold. The company also handles surplus sales for JEA and the Duval County School District.
Sales Manager Bill Catsulis, who has worked the auction for 17 years including time with another company, said between the dealers and the buyers just looking for that one special item, the entire inventory of more than a thousand products will be cleaned out by the afternoon and the City will have up to $400,000 back in its coffers.
And Tuesday was one of the smaller sales.
“We usually have some heavy equipment out here, tractors and things,” said Catsulis. “We had a nice John Deere wheel loader, but I guess it’s Downtown.”
The heavy tractor was pulled from the yard to be used to help clean up debris from the collapse of the parking garage at Berkman Plaza II almost two weeks ago. While that may be a sign of the quality of some of the items up for auction, conditions widely vary.
“We are not guaranteeing mileage or year of any of the vehicles,” announced Catsulis to the crowd before the bidding started. “Be your own judge.”
The auction began slowly with stationary bikes, treadmills and other exercise equipment. $10? No bidders. $5? No bidders. An entire row of four pieces of equipment for $10? Sold.
“We knew some of these wouldn’t bring in any money, so we bundle four or five of them together,” said Catsulis. “It’s to get the crowd involved early on and get them into bidding.”
As auctioneers continued down the line, moving into mowers and other lawn equipment, a second group began bidding on electronics in another building. Much of the devices were phones and laptops pulled from police cruisers.
“I saw one guy buy whole pallets full of stuff and put it into a container to send to India,” said Earl Leavitt, who drove up from Lake City for the sale but wasn’t impressed with the current inventory. Instead, he just people-watched.
Another building held large-format printers, filing cabinets and other office equipment. However, the real excitement began when bidders moved to the rows and rows of used automobiles — nearly 80 old patrol cars, utility trucks and even ambulances.
Bidding was heated for the Tahoes, which brought in more than $5,000 each. By the time the caravan of bidders reached the rows of old Ford Crown Victorias, there were only a few that bought most of the cars.
“Crown Vics are hot sellers. I buy ‘em here to sell,” said William Simmons, who thoroughly inspected each car and would buy them if the price stayed well below $3,000.
“I’ll spend about $20,000 here and turn it into $40,000,” he added.
Car buyers must put down a $300 deposit on each vehicle purchased, and they have 24 hours to pay the remaining balance and take the car from the lot.
Besides a few stragglers, the once-full lot will be nearly bare by Thursday. However, City Procurement Services Manager Jim Boyle said it will only be a matter of time before the lot is full again and ready for bargain hunters.
“The turnout was great, and I’m glad it didn’t get any colder,” said Boyle. “It gives tax payers an opportunity to come out and buy the tangible property that their tax dollars first bought. Where we save money is not only bringing money back into the City, but not having to pay to have all this hauled off and destroyed. I think it’s a good deal for everyone.”