Province launches auction website to sell surplus items

The Alberta government is making surplus items available to Albertans through an online auction website.

The provincial government is turning to online auctions to sell off used government goods from government departments, hospitals and post-secondary institutions.

Surplus items are already available to the general public through auctions and sales at outlets in Edmonton and Calgary, now, the province is making many of those items available for buyers to bid on online.

The provincial government rolled out the website Wednesday, making items such as lab equipment, electronics, medical supplies, industrial equipment, computers, vehicles, laundry and kitchen equipment and office furniture.

“The more sets of eyes we have looking at our surplus items, the greater the return on the sale,” Service Alberta Minister Manmeet Bhullar said. “More money is received by Alberta taxpayers.”

Each year, the province said more than 100,000 items are sold, bringing in about $2.5 million in revenue for the provincial government.

The province said the online auction means surplus items don’t need to be moved to warehouses in Edmonton and Calgary.

Surplus items are sold ‘as is, where is’ and can be picked up or shipped at the buyer’s expense.

The province donates computers free of charge to the Alberta Computers for Schools Program.

With files from Veronica Jubinville