Surplus team finds the best solution for excess property

Weekly sales at its Airport Road facility might be the face of ISU Surplus, but the unending effort to redistribute used university equipment and furniture demands more than one strategy. Surplus' own online sale, entries on a government auction website and salvage contracts -- for example, scrap metal (627,000 pounds last year) or precious metals such as nickel and copper extracted from computers -- are other revenue-generating options.

Re-use, through the state's Iowa Waste Exchange program, is a way to locate homes for items that still have shelf life if less shelf appeal. (Several hundred captain's beds and twin mattresses from a scheduled replacement in the residence department landed last fall with Spencer families whose home contents were lost when multiple rivers flooded.) Other removal contracts cost money, for example e-waste (electronics with no remaining resale value; on average, 35,000 pounds annually). The last option is the landfill, but the surplus team works hard to avoid this option, for reasons beyond just cost.

Manager Curtis Hardman joined the surplus team in April 2024, two months before longtime leader Mark Ludwig's retirement, for a smoother transition. He previously worked for five years in back-of-house logistics at the ISU Book Store.

Midweek sales

The six-person surplus team's priority, Hardman said, remains to serve university departments. A good share of surplus furniture actually comes back to campus during the weekly Tuesday sale (10 a.m.-noon) restricted to ISU units and other state of Iowa agencies. And Hardman encourages department leaders to call him directly (294-7300) the rest of the week if they're looking for a specific something. In addition to what's on the sales floor, quantities of pieces are kept in an adjacent overflow building.

The follow-up sale on Wednesdays (9 a.m.-3 p.m.) is open to the public. Systems analyst Logan Gaedke, a 12-year veteran of ISU Surplus, said 35-40% of the inventory turns over each week. An online inventory of what's on the sales floor is updated twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, for purpose-filled shoppers.

Gaedke noted their weekly sales lack the predictability of a retail operation.

"We can't control what we sell or when it's available to sell. Departments do," he said.

While the sales area always features aisles of computer equipment, not all of it works -- and is marked as such, Gaedke said. Pieces still have value for their components, and many a shopper is thrilled to pay a few dollars for the "perfect" 2008 Dell tower with a part that can rejuvenate a system at home.

Online shopping audience

ISU Surplus places larger items -- vehicles, laboratory and kitchen equipment or a whole pallet of a single item, for example -- on GovDeals.com. It's a national auction site, and the potential audience is large while control of the sale price is low. Hardman said it's also a good option when a department has a short window to sell something so they can use the proceeds for a needed purchase.

Several years ago, Gaedke started surplus' own online sale site for items with wide appeal that expand the surplus audience to those who don't live near Ames. It frequently features items from the athletics department (shoes, gear, last year's Hilton floor sections), university museums (retired pieces from the collection or items from an estate gift that don't become part of the art holdings), recreation services (kayaks, canoes and other equipment), residence department (hall furniture) and others. Prices are set and not subject to an auction process.

Self-support unit

ISU Surplus is a self-supported unit with sales covering its operational costs. But it doesn't keep all of the proceeds. On high-price items, the department that released it receives a share; the higher the sale price, the higher the  percentage returned to the department. Last year, that amounted to more than $1 million, about 75% of which was returned to transportation services for fleet vehicle sales.

Hardman said surplus team members make 25-30 trips to campus every week, at no cost to departments, to pick up excess property. Pick-ups occur within two weeks of units submitting the appropriate excess property form. He said his team prefers to process small batches of excess equipment and encourages departments to not accumulate a large inventory before contacting the surplus team. They're able to process and label for sale 350-400 items each week.

Questions can be sent to surplus@iastate.edu.

Last stop for campus lost and found

After 30 days in a local lost and found, unclaimed items from across campus can make their way to the surplus facility. After another requisite 90 days, these items can be added to the sales floor, priced from 25 cents to $3 -- enough abandoned water bottles and caps and sweatpants to equip a few dozen people.