State looks to the net to sell surplus 

by Erik Carlson
For The Post

Though the state of Ohio has auctioned off surplus items for years, it has started using a high-tech way of hocking the unneeded goods.

In November, the state started posting items ranging from office supplies to used state highway patrol cars on the Internet auction site eBay, said Ben Piscitelli, spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Administrative Services.

He said the department started a small-scale test to post copiers and printers to see if people would buy them, as they have been doing in other states.

eBay, which has been online since 1995, charges $40 to post a car for auction and charges about a 10 percent surcharge for items sold for more than $1,000.

When an item is sold, DAS takes $100 for processing fees, and the rest of the money goes into the individual state agency’s account, Piscitelli said.

Most of the items sold, such as copiers and state highway patrol cars, are used.

The patrol cars usually are retired after logging 85,000 to100,000 miles. They are sold for $6,000 to $7,000, said Joe Price, the patrol’s fleet manager.

The cars, which are not available new to the general public, are the Police Interceptor version of Ford’s Crown Victoria. Mark Schirmer, a Ford spokesperson, said the cars have an altered engine to put out more power as well as different brakes and tires to handle the extra speed.

The state also has sold items such as computer monitors, copiers and plate makers for printing presses.

Piscitelli said although the online auctions are working, the state would not stop having its live auctions, usually in Columbus, about a dozen times a year. These auctions brought in $2.7 million in the last fiscal year.

When it comes to deciding what should be sold on eBay and what should go on the block at traditional auctions, Piscitelli said the department chooses to put online some of the bigger items that would fetch a higher price with a larger audience.

In its fourth month, the state has not compiled any figures on how much money the online sales have brought in, but the department has sold 13 items on the site, including one police cruiser for $6,800.