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US Gov auctions are great when you want 400 of something broken or want to travel through 3 states for a $1000 mil-spec kitchen sink.

by 1970-01-01 6mo ago

83 6mo ago
Or when you've been wanting to one up your neighbor's boat by buying a drug running speedboat with bullet holes.
- cucumber3732842 6mo ago
  Or want to get absolutely ripped off by the non-government sellers that are somehow allowed on those platforms. The whole point of Govdeals et al is that the seller is a known-ish quantity. If I wanted to roll the dice on garbage with fresh paint I'd be on Ritchie bros. Govdeals managed services (or whatever they call it now) is just as questionable as 3rd party sellers on any given big bog store's ecommerce "platform".
  - triceratops 6mo ago
    > Or want to get absolutely ripped off by the non-government sellers that are somehow allowed on those platforms I didn't realize the government could become Amazon.
    - ufocia 6mo ago
      Not government, these are private auction sites that cater to the governments.
- Barbing 6mo ago
  One of the top reasons auction hunters hate gun control The worst ones will try to add a few extra holes the night before the auction
  - 83 6mo ago
    You're probably kidding but I wouldn't put it past someone. Unscrupulous people bring antifreeze in gatorade bottles to the car auction and dump it under cars they want. Be careful out there.
    - Barbing 6mo ago
      Oh sheeesh! By the way I had to spend at least a second trying to figure out whether that antifreeze was somehow going to offgas and damage the vehicle undercarriage :) But it’s just straightforward dishonest fake leak. Scoundrels!
SilverElfin 6mo ago
Is mil spec a good thing or bad thing? It sounds good but I’m guessing you were using it sarcastically?
- adrianpike 6mo ago
  Depends on the item and if you and the military are optimizing for the same thing It's a lowest bidder situation, so keep that in mind. Mil-spec transport containers? Excellent. Mil-spec rucksacks? Not so excellent.
  - wildzzz 6mo ago
    Bid price is kind of irrelevant for milspec. What's actually important is understanding what the spec requires. A crappy rucksack from Amazon doesn't have a milspec, they can say whatever they want as long as it lasts longer than the 30 day warranty and return period. Obviously govsurp rucksacks don't have warranties but there's a legit spec you can look up that says how it was made and tested. Since it wouldn't have been purchased without a certificate of conformity, you can be sure that when the rucksack was new, it should have had a certain level of quality. No milspec manufacturer is designing the product far beyond the milspec because that increases cost and they won't sell. If Ford makes a car that will go for 500k miles without major repairs, it would likely wouldn't sell very well because of how expensive it would be. Meanwhile a car that can go to like 150k miles without major repairs will sell better because it costs less and is still a reasonable lifetime. The lowest bider thing is such a lame meme. Vendors are going to design a product to cost as little as possible to meet spec. Most consumer products have little to no required specs so they can make it even cheaper. However, since milspec products often just have one spec they are designed to, you have a limited selection of quality. No one is making milspec birkin bags. But in the consumer space, you can buy anything between Temu and high-end designer quality.
    - derektank 6mo ago
      The lowest bidder meme is real, exactly because, for a certain number of contracts, either very junior of very understaffed acquisition professionals will bid out contracts with underspecified requirements. If the contracts have well developed specs, yes, milspec can be great (though it often has an equally great commercial off the shelf comparable).
Twirrim 6mo ago
If you ever want knives, you can get a fascinating set of them by looking out for the TSA/Airport confiscated items auctions. Hawaii's one is at https://auctions.ehawaii.gov/dot/welcome.html https://auctions.ehawaii.gov/dot/welcome.html. I had a boss when I lived in Hawaii that would bid on them, occasionally brought boxes of the random "sharps" (as they were called at the time) that had been confiscated from people by TSA. Some of it is somewhat surprising that people still had on them when they got to TSA, like high quality 18" long machetes.
- protocolture 6mo ago
  My backpack is a bit of a black hole. I used to get pulled up due to carrying my grandfathers pocket knife all the time. Then as things got worse, these days its screwdrivers, wrenches etc. Seems like soon even my ethernet cables are going to be taken from me.
- scarsam 6mo ago
  [dead]

US Gov auctions are great when you want 400 of something broken or want to travel through 3 states for a $1000 mil-spec kitchen sink.

83 6mo ago

Or when you've been wanting to one up your neighbor's boat by buying a drug running speedboat with bullet holes.

cucumber3732842 6mo ago
Or want to get absolutely ripped off by the non-government sellers that are somehow allowed on those platforms. The whole point of Govdeals et al is that the seller is a known-ish quantity. If I wanted to roll the dice on garbage with fresh paint I'd be on Ritchie bros. Govdeals managed services (or whatever they call it now) is just as questionable as 3rd party sellers on any given big bog store's ecommerce "platform".
- triceratops 6mo ago
  > Or want to get absolutely ripped off by the non-government sellers that are somehow allowed on those platforms I didn't realize the government could become Amazon.
  - ufocia 6mo ago
    Not government, these are private auction sites that cater to the governments.
Barbing 6mo ago
One of the top reasons auction hunters hate gun control The worst ones will try to add a few extra holes the night before the auction
- 83 6mo ago
  You're probably kidding but I wouldn't put it past someone. Unscrupulous people bring antifreeze in gatorade bottles to the car auction and dump it under cars they want. Be careful out there.
  - Barbing 6mo ago
    Oh sheeesh! By the way I had to spend at least a second trying to figure out whether that antifreeze was somehow going to offgas and damage the vehicle undercarriage :) But it’s just straightforward dishonest fake leak. Scoundrels!

SilverElfin 6mo ago

Is mil spec a good thing or bad thing? It sounds good but I’m guessing you were using it sarcastically?

adrianpike 6mo ago
Depends on the item and if you and the military are optimizing for the same thing It's a lowest bidder situation, so keep that in mind. Mil-spec transport containers? Excellent. Mil-spec rucksacks? Not so excellent.
- wildzzz 6mo ago
  Bid price is kind of irrelevant for milspec. What's actually important is understanding what the spec requires. A crappy rucksack from Amazon doesn't have a milspec, they can say whatever they want as long as it lasts longer than the 30 day warranty and return period. Obviously govsurp rucksacks don't have warranties but there's a legit spec you can look up that says how it was made and tested. Since it wouldn't have been purchased without a certificate of conformity, you can be sure that when the rucksack was new, it should have had a certain level of quality. No milspec manufacturer is designing the product far beyond the milspec because that increases cost and they won't sell. If Ford makes a car that will go for 500k miles without major repairs, it would likely wouldn't sell very well because of how expensive it would be. Meanwhile a car that can go to like 150k miles without major repairs will sell better because it costs less and is still a reasonable lifetime. The lowest bider thing is such a lame meme. Vendors are going to design a product to cost as little as possible to meet spec. Most consumer products have little to no required specs so they can make it even cheaper. However, since milspec products often just have one spec they are designed to, you have a limited selection of quality. No one is making milspec birkin bags. But in the consumer space, you can buy anything between Temu and high-end designer quality.
  - derektank 6mo ago
    The lowest bidder meme is real, exactly because, for a certain number of contracts, either very junior of very understaffed acquisition professionals will bid out contracts with underspecified requirements. If the contracts have well developed specs, yes, milspec can be great (though it often has an equally great commercial off the shelf comparable).

Twirrim 6mo ago

If you ever want knives, you can get a fascinating set of them by looking out for the TSA/Airport confiscated items auctions. Hawaii's one is at https://auctions.ehawaii.gov/dot/welcome.html https://auctions.ehawaii.gov/dot/welcome.html. I had a boss when I lived in Hawaii that would bid on them, occasionally brought boxes of the random "sharps" (as they were called at the time) that had been confiscated from people by TSA. Some of it is somewhat surprising that people still had on them when they got to TSA, like high quality 18" long machetes.

protocolture 6mo ago
My backpack is a bit of a black hole. I used to get pulled up due to carrying my grandfathers pocket knife all the time. Then as things got worse, these days its screwdrivers, wrenches etc. Seems like soon even my ethernet cables are going to be taken from me.
scarsam 6mo ago
[dead]