School surplus offered online

• By CHARLES LUSSIER
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: May 12, 2008 - Page: 1B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Want a biscuit cutter starting at $40? How about some vintage rolling pins now at $25? Or maybe a large food chopper for $300?

Until recently, you would have heard about such sales for obsolete school food service equipment only at a government auction. But increasingly, these auctions are migrating to the Internet.

On Wednesday, the East Baton Rouge Parish school system tried its first experiment with eBay-style online auctions by placing dozens of old school cafeteria tools and utensils on the Web site, http://www.publicsurplus.com. These items will remain up for bid for two weeks.

Gary Reese, director of procurement and warehousing services for the school system, said he’s not sure what to expect, but he likes what he’s seen so far.

“Within the first four hours, we had about 12 bids,” he said.

Publicsurplus.com is an online auction site formed in 1999 by a school purchasing director in Utah. Shoppers can place bids on government surplus items across the country, as well as from other governments in Louisiana, including Jefferson and St. James  parishes.

The site promises to increase the school system’s normal take on these auctions between 30 percent and 200 percent. In return, the site takes a cut — in East Baton Rouge’s case, about 8 percent.

Unlike eBay, though, successful bidders will either have to come pick up the items themselves from the school system’s Sharp Station Warehouse off North Sherwood Forest Boulevard, or pay to have them shipped. And only money orders or cashier’s checks are accepted.

All the items up for auction are either no longer used by the school system or they need more repairs than the school system is willing to deal with, Reese said.

Gail Johnson, assistant superintendent for auxiliary services, said she’s hoping for more bidders willing to spend more money than at a traditional live auction.

“We would have an auction on a Saturday, and if it rained we would just get three people showing up,” Johnson said.

Johnson, who oversees school food service, is experimenting with old cafeteria items first to gauge how much money online auctions can generate. If Johnson likes the results, she’ll put more surplus items up for online auction.

Many of the items were once common when the schools made more homemade foods, such as making bread from scratch. Now, though, schools rely on mostly pre-prepared food to keep labor costs down, Johnson said.