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TACO6513@aol.com wrote:
> I went to DRMS.COM and put that I was an individual for the first choice.
> Then clicked on "Property Search". Then search by "Geographic Zone". The
> search number for "Federal Supply Class (FSC)" the number I entered was 2320
> for the M35A2 series trucks. The bottom of this page you choose the
> geographic location. These I entered "OKLAHOMA CITY OK" in the choices from
OK so far, though I prefer the "experimental prototype search form".
> the left column and "RCP OKLAHOMA CITY OK" from the choices in the
> right column.
Don't bother with "RCP" sites. Those are Recycling Control Points, and
I believe they only correspond to sales of bulk scrap.
> I called Oklahoma City DRMO office and was told that these trucks
> were not for sale to the general public! I was told that I needed a
> "IFB #" to bid on the truck. Is the DRMO in OKC giving me the run a
> round?
No run-around, that's how it works. Items are listed in the inventory
for a long time before they're offered for sale, to give other
government entities chances to snatch them up. If that fails, then
they're offered for sale to the public as a last resort. The public
doesn't get to inspect them (officially, that is) or buy them. Once
the items are listed in an official sale catalog, called an Invitation
For Bid (IFB), you can inspect them and bid on them as described in
the catalog. There's a limited time window for inspection, which can
vary from site to site and item to item, and you must often make an
appointment in advance. Even if the IFB catalog doesn't say you need
to, call the site you're visiting at least a day in advance to make
sure that the items are there, and that *they* are there. Once, I
showed up at a DRMO 150 miles away at a time that the catalog said was
OK, only to find that everybody was out for training and the place was
locked up!
Once you pick one or more items that you want, you generally bid on
one or more of them by sending your bid to the DRMS headquarters, as
specified in the instructions. The bid must be *received* by them by
the stated time, with no exceptions. Then, they open up the bids and
choose winners in order to maximize their profit. Note that it is
possible to have the highest bid on an item, but not win it: If there
are three trucks up for bid, call them A, B, and C, you bid $1000 on
A, another guy bids $750 each on A B and C on an all-or-none basis,
and there are no other bids, he'll probably win the bid ($2250 vs.
$1000). I don't think that happens too often.
Also, note that items can be withdrawn from sale at any time up to bid
opening, if another govt. entity decides they want them.
Some items come with strings attached, such as "must be smashed into
pieces before delivery, and you don't get all of the pieces". These
terms are described in the catalog.
All of these terms of sale are described on the web page, and in the
catalogs. Notice that I deliberately left out the word "clearly" in
that sentence. :-) It's very confusing at first, but once you've been
through it once, it's not so bad.
Here are some pointers:
* NEVER bid on an item without inspecting it personally. The condition
codes have very little correlation with the actual conditions of the
items.
* You are COMMITTED to buying ALL items for which you have winning
bids. If you put in 10 bids, hoping to get 1 of the 10 trucks, and you
win all 10 bids, you WILL pay for all 10 trucks, and you WILL remove
them within the required time, or they'll put the hurt on you.
* Smile a lot and be friendly. You're visiting a military base, and
they can deny you access for any reason (heightened alert status,
etc). The guy at the gate has a gun, and you don't want to find out if
he has bullets, too. :-) You will need to present a driver's license
and proof of insurance at the gate before being admitted to the base.
* Before you bid, make sure you can get the item home. You may need to
have it towed. Towing a deuce isn't something that the average tow
truck can handle!
> They told me they hardly ever sell a truck to the public in there
> office.
That may well be true, if their trucks happen to end up going to other
govt. organizations most of the time, for whatever reasons. Military
surplus gets redistributed within the government first, and we get the
dregs.
I hope that helps!
-- Mark J. Blair, KE6MYK <mblair1@home.net> PGP 2.6.2 public key available from http://pgp.ai.mit.edu/ Web page: http://www.qsl.net/ke6myk/ DO NOT SEND ANY UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL EMAIL TO THIS SITE
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