4 ms·

We've bought "surplus" Dell and HP servers from different government entities that were two generations old, basically brand new in the box. I wonder what % of

We've bought "surplus" Dell and HP servers from different government entities that were two generations old, basically brand new in the box. I wonder what % of purchases go unused for whatever reasons.

Ididntdothis 7y ago
"I wonder what % of purchases go unused for whatever reasons." the same happens in big companies. W have budget cycles so we buy test equipment when the money is in the budget even at the risk of it never being used. Otherwise you can't buy stuff when you actually need it because at that time the budget isn't there. Same with hiring people. We are letting good interns go because there is a hiring freeze. 8 weeks later we scramble to find new hires because now we have headcount. Not sure how to do better but it just shows that planned economies tend to produce waste, be it in a corporation or in a communist state.
- Nasrudith 7y ago
  Why not just give them a savings "buffer account" for the budget? Let them build up the remnants so that the available funds can build up some. Obviously you need to watch it still and be sure "underbudgets okay with surplus" don't deplete it entirely or too much builds up (as in multiples of the budget).
bochoh 7y ago
Via auction site?
- 2000YearOldMan 7y ago
  https://www.govliquidation.com/ https://www.govliquidation.com/ Looks like the site moved to https://www.go-dove.com/ https://www.go-dove.com/
  - prostheticvamp 7y ago
    Have you used that site in the past? I see a lot of listings saying something like “24 ea” to describe a lot of 24, but can’t find what the ea means. I’d think it might mean “bid is per item,” but that makes no sense (I’m seeing bids at multiples of what the individual items are worth).
    - 2000YearOldMan 7y ago
      The site is horrible in a sense of trying to figure out what you are buying. Also things like hard drives are usually removed, so you may be looking at a pallet of desktop towers that are unusable until you do some work to them. I never purchased anything off that site but I did turn stuff into the department that had the responsibility to list stuff on that site.
    - krallja 7y ago
      ea is short for each
    - jandrese 7y ago
      Exactly. I look at a lot like this: https://www.go-dove.com/asset/65/17113 https://www.go-dove.com/asset/65/17113 And see monitors of various sizes and vintages, listed as "24 ea". Do you win all the monitors if you win, or is it first come first serve for the 24 highest bidders? I'm guessing it's the former, but it's not like any of the FAQs on the site are going to clue you in. Instead they tell you that their web guys don't know how to scrub input properly: Message received: "Your bid is not in the correct format" This means you have entered a dollar sign, or comma. Here is an example: (Correct) 1000 (Incorrect) $1,000.00 I found another doc that may have the answer: 2. Items that have no tag number and are of identical kind and condition may be grouped on one SPMD-1A. Example (25 ea. chairs, wood w/arms). https://publications.tnsosfiles.com/rules/0690/0690-02.pdf https://publications.tnsosfiles.com/rules/0690/0690-02.pdf Suggests that you are bidding on all items with one bid--if you win you get all of them.
    - jcrawfordor 7y ago
      Typically in an auction, a situation where you are bidding price-per-item for multiple items would be described as "24 times the money" or "24 x money". Only some auctioneers do this because it is confusing to novice bidders. Seems to be more common in live auctions than online. "24 ea" would generally mean that you're bidding one price for all 24. Your price may be increased by a buyer's premium as well, but again, this is more common in live auctions than online auctions. Typically it would be in the paperwork you sign to register for the auction (...which online auctionhouses often don't do at all).
blackearl 7y ago
I've heard you need to use it or lose when it comes to gov budgets. Anecdotes of jets dumping fuel into the ocean just to come back and refill to keep a budget.
- minikites 7y ago
  Corporate department budgeting works the same way.
- briandear 7y ago
  Zero based budgeting would be my first policy proposal as President.
  - jandrese 7y ago
    It's a shit ton more work, and the government takes about 18 months to come up with the annual budget already. The only reason it works at all is the ability to let hundreds of thousands of small projects coast on their last budget.
- Nasrudith 7y ago
  That action in itself has some legitimate technical reasons at least - fighter jets are very envelope pushing and often cannot land safely while carrying a sufficiently full load of fuel. Say the jet can only land safely at 35% or less fuel capacity, is at 50% and needs to reach a target which requires at least 70% capacity to reach, fight, and return. Midair refueling isn't an option for whatever reason and others are logistically committed. Dumping 15% and landing to refuel before launching could make sense. Granted stupid waste without any valid tactical or strategic edge case reasons aren't exactly unheard of in the military either.
simias 7y ago
I'm sure that they need spares for some of their critical infrastructures, that could be it. Not to say that I don't believe that it could just be unused stuff lying around for years, that could definitely be it too.
azinman2 7y ago
Where from?

Ididntdothis 7y ago

"I wonder what % of purchases go unused for whatever reasons." the same happens in big companies. W have budget cycles so we buy test equipment when the money is in the budget even at the risk of it never being used. Otherwise you can't buy stuff when you actually need it because at that time the budget isn't there. Same with hiring people. We are letting good interns go because there is a hiring freeze. 8 weeks later we scramble to find new hires because now we have headcount. Not sure how to do better but it just shows that planned economies tend to produce waste, be it in a corporation or in a communist state.

Nasrudith 7y ago
Why not just give them a savings "buffer account" for the budget? Let them build up the remnants so that the available funds can build up some. Obviously you need to watch it still and be sure "underbudgets okay with surplus" don't deplete it entirely or too much builds up (as in multiples of the budget).

bochoh 7y ago

Via auction site?

2000YearOldMan 7y ago
https://www.govliquidation.com/ https://www.govliquidation.com/ Looks like the site moved to https://www.go-dove.com/ https://www.go-dove.com/
- prostheticvamp 7y ago
  Have you used that site in the past? I see a lot of listings saying something like “24 ea” to describe a lot of 24, but can’t find what the ea means. I’d think it might mean “bid is per item,” but that makes no sense (I’m seeing bids at multiples of what the individual items are worth).
  - 2000YearOldMan 7y ago
    The site is horrible in a sense of trying to figure out what you are buying. Also things like hard drives are usually removed, so you may be looking at a pallet of desktop towers that are unusable until you do some work to them. I never purchased anything off that site but I did turn stuff into the department that had the responsibility to list stuff on that site.
  - krallja 7y ago
    ea is short for each
  - jandrese 7y ago
    Exactly. I look at a lot like this: https://www.go-dove.com/asset/65/17113 https://www.go-dove.com/asset/65/17113 And see monitors of various sizes and vintages, listed as "24 ea". Do you win all the monitors if you win, or is it first come first serve for the 24 highest bidders? I'm guessing it's the former, but it's not like any of the FAQs on the site are going to clue you in. Instead they tell you that their web guys don't know how to scrub input properly: Message received: "Your bid is not in the correct format" This means you have entered a dollar sign, or comma. Here is an example: (Correct) 1000 (Incorrect) $1,000.00 I found another doc that may have the answer: 2. Items that have no tag number and are of identical kind and condition may be grouped on one SPMD-1A. Example (25 ea. chairs, wood w/arms). https://publications.tnsosfiles.com/rules/0690/0690-02.pdf https://publications.tnsosfiles.com/rules/0690/0690-02.pdf Suggests that you are bidding on all items with one bid--if you win you get all of them.
  - jcrawfordor 7y ago
    Typically in an auction, a situation where you are bidding price-per-item for multiple items would be described as "24 times the money" or "24 x money". Only some auctioneers do this because it is confusing to novice bidders. Seems to be more common in live auctions than online. "24 ea" would generally mean that you're bidding one price for all 24. Your price may be increased by a buyer's premium as well, but again, this is more common in live auctions than online auctions. Typically it would be in the paperwork you sign to register for the auction (...which online auctionhouses often don't do at all).

blackearl 7y ago

I've heard you need to use it or lose when it comes to gov budgets. Anecdotes of jets dumping fuel into the ocean just to come back and refill to keep a budget.

minikites 7y ago
Corporate department budgeting works the same way.
briandear 7y ago
Zero based budgeting would be my first policy proposal as President.
- jandrese 7y ago
  It's a shit ton more work, and the government takes about 18 months to come up with the annual budget already. The only reason it works at all is the ability to let hundreds of thousands of small projects coast on their last budget.
Nasrudith 7y ago
That action in itself has some legitimate technical reasons at least - fighter jets are very envelope pushing and often cannot land safely while carrying a sufficiently full load of fuel. Say the jet can only land safely at 35% or less fuel capacity, is at 50% and needs to reach a target which requires at least 70% capacity to reach, fight, and return. Midair refueling isn't an option for whatever reason and others are logistically committed. Dumping 15% and landing to refuel before launching could make sense. Granted stupid waste without any valid tactical or strategic edge case reasons aren't exactly unheard of in the military either.

simias 7y ago

I'm sure that they need spares for some of their critical infrastructures, that could be it. Not to say that I don't believe that it could just be unused stuff lying around for years, that could definitely be it too.

azinman2 7y ago

Where from?