What government surplus actually sells for: 13,415 GovDeals auctions in one week

We track government-surplus auctions as they close. In the week of August 18–25, 2026, 13,415 tracked lots reached their close date — 9,933 sold (a 74% sell-through) for a combined $33.5 million in final bids. The median winning bid was just $210, the average $3,374, and the top sale hit $5.75 million. Here's what that says about the surplus market — and about finding deals in it.

The week in numbers

Two takeaways jump out. First, most surplus is cheap — a $210 median means half of everything sold for under $210. Second, the value is wildly concentrated: the average is ~16× the median, dragged up by a long tail of vehicles and heavy equipment — topped this week by a pair of new data-center power units at $5.75 million each. Surplus auctions are a market of many small lots and a few very large ones.

Vehicles run the market

If you want both volume and dollars, it's vehicles. They post the highest median prices and draw the most bidders — pickup trucks averaged 41 bids per lot, more than any other category:

The spread is the story. A pickup truck sells for a $3,850 median against 41 bidders; a furniture lot sells for $15 against 6. But note the top sale column: even "cheap" categories throw the occasional outlier — an $84,100 laptop lot, a $67,000 computer-parts lot, a $17,200 desktop lot, a $13,000 jewelry lot. Bulk lots and rare items hide in low-median categories.

Competition is real — the opening bid is bait

Government listings open deliberately low to attract bidders, and they work: lots averaged 18 bids each, and vehicles 26–41. A $100 starting bid on a truck is not a $100 truck. The low opener is the single biggest reason new buyers overpay — they anchor on the start price instead of where the bidding will actually land.

Where the lots are

Surplus is everywhere — 56 states and territories — but volume clustered in the Southeast and Midwest. Georgia led with 822 lots sold, followed by Ohio, Florida, Tennessee, and California. On dollars the picture flips: California topped $12M (lifted by two $5.75M data-center power-unit lots), while Florida punched above its weight on everyday big-ticket iron ($2.4M from 538 lots).

What it means if you're flipping

The data lands on one point: price discovery is the whole game. Sell-through is high and competition is stiff, so you won't win by hoping for a sleeper — you win by knowing, before you bid, what a lot actually resells for and what it'll cost you landed. The gap between those two numbers is your profit, and it's invisible if you're staring at a $100 opening bid.

Methodology

Figures come from GavelGap's automated tracking of public GovDeals listings: when a watched lot closes, we record its final hammer bid, bid count, and sold/unsold status. This analysis covers the 13,415 tracked lots that closed between 2026-08-18 and 2026-08-25. "Sold" means the lot met its reserve and recorded a winning bid. Prices are the final hammer bid and exclude the buyer's premium, taxes, and shipping a buyer also pays. This is a large tracked sample, not the entirety of GovDeals, so treat it as a representative snapshot rather than a platform-wide total.

Related: How to flip GovDeals items for profit · Best things to flip from government auctions · GovDeals fees explained