John,
Here is some information about the DRMS that I put together a while back.
Hope it helps. You should also check the GSA at http://www.fss.gsa.gov/.
Rob Kiser
'52 M37 w/LU4 Braden Winch in little pieces
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Organization: Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS)
Location: http://www.drms.dla.mil/
The Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) is the government
organization formed to dispose of military surplus. This includes everything
from computers and VCR's to lab equipment and flea collars. Most
importantly, it includes surplus military vehicles and parts.
The DRMS sells equipment in various ways. For the individual interested in
buying surplus military vehicles, the best bet is the regional auctions held
at Defense Reutilization and Marketing Offices (DRMO) located on military
installations. To get the number of the nearest DRMO and obtain information
on upcoming sales, call 1-800-GOVT-BUY (1-800-468-8289).
The DRMS has site on the WWW, but it can be somewhat difficult to navigate at
first. To see what items are for sale, click on List of Catalogs under
Public Sales/Information at the DRMS home page. If you have any questions
about downloading, unzipping(uncompressing), and viewing the auction
catalogs, click on WWW Tips in the upper-right-hand corner and review the
available information before proceeding.
Select either Dynamic Listings or Local or Zone Catalogs. (As far as I can
tell, these two different options lead to the same destination and show the
exact same information.)
Selecting to view the catalogs sorted by either Store Location or Bid Opening
Date will present a list of catalogs sorted in the desired order. Each
auction catalog is listed with the location, bid number, bid opening date,
and sale type. Each auction has four catalogs that can be downloaded. The
Official Catalog in normal and zipped format and the Dynamic Catalog in
normal and zipped format. I recommend downloading the zipped Dynamic Catalog
as it has more detailed descriptions of the auction items and is in a format
that is much easier to read than the Official Catalog. If you download the
zipped version, you will need to unzip the catalog as described in the WWW
Tips section.
If you know what you are looking for, you can search the database by Product
Catagories, Federal Supply Class(FSC), National Stock Number (NSN), or Name.
I would recommend searching by NSN if possible as the Name field varies too
much from item to item to be used as a reliable search field.
If you find something you would like to purchase, you can submit on-line bids
by selecting Bidding On-Line under Public Sales/Information from the DRMS
home page and entering the requested information. Results of sealed bids are
also available for review, although I have not been able to locate them
on-line.
Notes:
· The Bid Opening Date is when the sealed bids are opened, not when bidding
begins.
· Sealed bids generally have a minimum bid of $50.
· You can request to be put on the DRMS mailing by calling 1-888-352-9333.
Once you are on the mailing list, you will get sporadically receive flyers
in the mail. You should be sure to submit a minimum bid periodically on an
item in order to prevent your name from being dropped from the DRMS mailing
list due to inactivity. (Be careful with this as I heard of a guy who bid
$50 on 9 deuce-and-a half's and got all of them. This doesn't happen very
frequently, and I don't want to propagate the "$50.00 jeep in a crate" myth,
but trucks do sometimes go for the minimum bid. )
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