65 Vidmar cabinets at auction

[Speedbird]

https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemID=551&acctID=3395
Amazing.Will probably go much higher than the $80.00 they are now, but could be the opportunity of a lifetime. Wish I was closer. If someone from here gets them, please let us know.

 

[Digital4n6]

$80 bid didn't hold long. $5,100 currently with plenty of time to go.

 

[Speedbird]

$5100 divided by 65 is about $80.00 each. Granted, they will end much higher, but I will guess they will be cheap compared to new. Great profit potential for someone that has the time and money to invest.

 

[ksafi]

You're also going to need some space to put 65 cabinets.

 

[CNGsaves]

Wow, those look to be in great condition. Pictures show from 10 to 14 drawers not counting the open space cabinet on top (not sure if included).

Any GJer's with a warehouse in Long Beach, CA for a monster group buy ???

 

[Zeke]

Right around the corner from me. I don't think I'm in the mood for a group buy.

 

[rice rocket]

None of these large government auctions go as you guys plan. It's picked up by large tech schools or businesses, who don't mind saving a buck or two on each, as long as they don't have to pay retail.

If you find them listed individually, then you have a much better chance of getting a deal, because their bidders/buyers don't spend the effort to go through all 65 auctions.

 

[JamieK]

Why in the heck did the USPS need 65 of these cabinets?

 

[Mgnu]

Why in the heck did the USPS need 65 of these cabinets?

Pretty easy to spend money when it is not yours isn't it?


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[Richard Cranium]

I wish this was closer to me, I would like to get into a group buy.

 

[slow]

Parts for the automated sorting machines or other equipment. Between belts rollers and sensors on just the afsm machines I ran would take up several of these.

 

[930dreamer]

Auction shows the starting bid is 5K.

 

[Yojinbo]

Are we sure these are cabinets and not the Vidmar modular shelving units? The main differences being discrete cabinets have sides, bottoms, and backs. The shelving units do not.

If cabs, these will finish at $14,490 or higher. Thank you for posting - I love to watch these auctions to see where they go.

 

[Toxictom]

You can almost always find Vidmar and Lista cabinets on Govliquidation.com. They handle surplus stuff from military bases across the country. Another good site government surplus site is GSAauctions.gov. Both are searchable by location. Seeing how the government sells stuff for pennies on the dollar will help you understand why the national debt is so huge.

 

[Yojinbo]

You can almost always find Vidmar and Lista cabinets on Govliquidation.com. They handle surplus stuff from military bases across the country. Another good site government surplus site is GSAauctions.gov. Both are searchable by location. Seeing how the government sells stuff for pennies on the dollar will help you understand why the national debt is so huge.

Oh, there is waste in large companies and large governments for sure. But a lot of the cabinets I buy (and I buy more than average) have issues - broken hinges, cut-open backs due to lost keys, dents, dings, missing drawers. A big, clean lot like this will go for good money.

 

[Vinko]

Seeing how the government sells stuff for pennies on the dollar will help you understand why the national debt is so huge.

Oh yes, we'd really get it under control if it weren't for that pesky practice of leaving money on the table when reselling things.

Oh, there is waste in large companies and large governments for sure. But a lot of the cabinets I buy (and I buy more than average) have issues - broken hinges, cut-open backs due to lost keys, dents, dings, missing drawers. A big, clean lot like this will go for good money.

The operative word here is "AND." Any large organization often has waste. I've never bought the argument that waste is confined to Gov't organizations. Business is inherently wasteful as well.

 

[ATC]

None of these large government auctions go as you guys plan. It's picked up by large tech schools or businesses, who don't mind saving a buck or two on each, as long as they don't have to pay retail.

If you find them listed individually, then you have a much better chance of getting a deal, because their bidders/buyers don't spend the effort to go through all 65 auctions.

This! I don't fool with gov. auctions. There is ALWAYS someone or some business out there with a bigger wallet. Too many loopholes and paperwork to go through to buy and pick the item up as well...that is, if there are any near you and not across the country...

 

[organ]

You're also going to need some space to put 65 cabinets.

They got any warehouses for sale?

 

[Trey T]

nice cabinets to hold stamps ....lol

For this to be a deal, the whole lot needs to be sold for under $20K

I'm thinking buying them $30/drawer and sell them for $75/drawer.

 

[gustsant]

Wonder how much shipping is to 80111, over $100 maybe?

 

[Speedbird]

Bid has jumped to 12,700. I will make guess they will end between 30,000-35,000.

There used to be a seller on ebay called reliabletools that was in California. They would buy out complete factories that had closed and large lots of surplus equipment. I think a big used industrial equipment company like this will get them.

 

[Vinko]

Bid has jumped to 12,700. I will make guess they will end between 30,000-35,000.

There used to be a seller on ebay called reliabletools that was in California. They would buy out complete factories that had closed and large lots of surplus equipment. I think a big used industrial equipment company like this will get them.

so that's about 200 per piece at this point. I could see buying a few at that price or even a bit more, but not 65

 

[Richard Cranium]

up to 20,900.00 so far. How high will it go?

 

[Yojinbo]

Maybe not much more. A guy can't unload them all at once - it will crash prices in any one location. They are heavy to ship. You can avoid the price crash by selling only a few at a time but what will it cost to store the rest?

Oh well, people live and learn.

 

[CNGsaves]

That's pretty quick from $5K to $21K . . . with 10 more days to go.

I'll take a WAG that it will hit $25K or so before close of auction. That would put average price around $400 per cabinet which is a lot for 65 of them.

Yet, that's still "cheap" if you were owner of chain of auto dealerships across CA and could immediately put the cabinets to use. Guess my ultimate top end WAG is around $30K total.

 

[ksafi]

Also, don't forget the 5% buyer's premium.

 

[Vinko]

You can avoid the price crash by selling only a few at a time but what will it cost to store the rest?

If you've got the space then "nothing" really. Though I guess you could argue that any space you're not using productively is lost income.

 

[Vinko]

I'll take a WAG that it will hit $25K or so before close of auction. That would put average price around $400 per cabinet which is a lot for 65 of them.

I agree. $400 is kinda pushing it on the used market I'd have thought.

 

[Yojinbo]

Its hard to speculate who is doing what with them. I delivered a trailer load of Lista counter height SCs to a small local airport one time - 2 guys had bartered 3 each from me.

While unloading I had no less than 3 other guys wander up and ask what I was selling them for. I probably could have sold 10 more that day if I had them. Of course, I bought them for $25 a drawer and bartered them off for $50 a drawer.

Edit: Ah for the days when you could just drive onto an airport with your flatbed and trailer.

 

[Mgnu]

I agree. $400 is kinda pushing it on the used market I'd have thought.

Round here you are looking at $80 to &100 per drawer.


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[Yojinbo]

Round here you are looking at $80 to &100 per drawer.


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It varies in my area. An $1100 (via CL) 12 drawer has been listed for 3 months. I am guessing that they are getting $50 a drawer offers weekly - I do when I sell 'em. But they must be holding out for $80 per.

They might get that mythical $960 for it (or even $1100) but it's going to have to wait for the right buyer in the right mood.

That is the reason sitting on a loading dock full of 65 cabinets I paid over $320 each for makes me queasy. The 42,000 lbs and 3 or 4 semi van loads of shipping, forklift operator on each end, special handling to keep the drawers from destroying themselves in transit, and storage, it all adds up. The weight on this lot is no big deal, but the fragility (draw pulls gouging other cabs, cabs shifting against each other, only being able to stack them 2 high), possible lack of forklift skids is a big deal.

So that $320 turns to $480 + $5 more per month that they sit waiting to sell. And if you contract a budget shipping outfit and they don't baby them (fail to strap and wrap each unit, stack them too high, etc.) you are going to lose all of your profit and much of your stake in damaged cabs. If you sat in your office and didn't go inspect (and photograph) each and every unit before the shipper picked them up you have nothing to fight with the insurance company with when you claim that they were whole before shipping.

A good trucking company that knows its own capabilities would do well to grab this load. But I grew up in a truck yard and the average terminal to terminal freight outfit is not going to be ready for these heavy (yet oddly fragile) boxes.

But if a shipper were bidding they would have asked the following question by now: "Is there a removable metal panel on the bottom of each cabinet that conceals a set of forklift compatible skids?"

Because it looks to me like these are flat on the ground. That is going to make moving them about 3 times more exciting - if you can't get forks under them without scaring up the front of each and every box.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Wow, they are up over 30,000 today..

 

[warmpancakes]

when GM and Ford were shutting plants in SE michigan these were 10 per drawer tops if they sold, so much went to scrap

 

[Yojinbo]

$460 each seems pricey. Unbolting them, loading, moving, storing, displaying, marketing, selling, collecting payments, etc. This can't really be someone planning to resell - it must be a large consumer using them directly. I'm not sure there is enough meat on this bone for a middle man anymore.

$13k scrap price on this lot - a bit more if they expect you to take the overhead shelves too.

 

[kiatech]

when GM and Ford were shutting plants in SE michigan these were 10 per drawer tops if they sold, so much went to scrap

Have a lead on anymore?

 

[CNGsaves]

When GM and Ford were shutting plants in SE Michigan these were $ 10 per drawer tops if they sold, so much went to scrap.

Wow, that SHOULD have been a monster GJ Group Buy !!!

I sure would have driven part way across the country to pick up trailer full of Lista's and drop off at GJer's shops on way home !!

 

[Trey T]

@$35K that's about $50/drawer
@$40K that's about $60/drawer

That's not a lot for profit unless whomever win it will have their own storage facility with proper equipment. I don't think transportation is big deal. If you're in the business of buying and selling heavy stuff, you can transport all 65 w/in a week.

 

[warmpancakes]

Have a lead on anymore?

Wow, that SHOULD have been a monster GJ Group Buy !!!

I sure would have driven part way across the country to pick up trailer full of Lista's and drop off at GJer's shops on way home !!

this was 6-7 years ago, scrap was higher than what people were willing to pay, I personally scrapped 2 bridgeports, several hundred feet of pallet racking, Nobody was buying except the scrap yards

 

[Yojinbo]

Someone paid $488 a cabinet for 25 of these from the USPS a while back. I was mystified at that price at the time. Maybe the same buyer made out like a bandit - but I don't see how.

 

[ineedtools]

Looks like just two guys duking it out now on them, I'd expect another $5K of them beating each other up until the end.