Surplus auctions and classic computers

Hi All, Anybody who is interested in surplus auctions, federal regulations concerning surplus (computers) auctions or reselling and who live nearby the University of Michigan, might be interested in attending the University Surplus Property Association annual meeting this upcoming weekend. This is a policy/association meeting...not an auction, but it is important for our hobby! http://surplus.msu.edu/uspa_docs/agenda.htm I frequently attend surplus property auctions at some of the local (and not so local) colleges and Universities in and around Arizona, as they almost always have various classic computers at great prices (even next to nothing/free). Several years ago I attended a conference here at the University of Arizona of the University Surplus Property Association. This is a fairly new association put together to help organizations, especially universities and colleges deal with property management and the sale and disposition of universiy property. This has become an issue with many major universities as the dealing with the sale and disposition of thousands of old computers can be a real pain in the ass, but not if it can generate a revenue stream. Many universities have taken the easy way out and just turned everything overt to liquidators at a set price and be done with it. Some universities like the University of Arizona have a surplus property department that sells thousands of items every month. The U of A's surplus auction have generated a positive cash flow for several years now and is model now for several universities. More importantly, the current surplus policy at the U of A and many other universities is one of reselling rather than refuse/elimination, especially if it generates revenue! SO it is a great way to acquire/save/buy many classic computers. Time to time we get a fair amount of classic computers go through the U of A that are only now being retired, as they may have been used as part of a lab and is only now being replaced. In the private sector these computers were replaced decades ago. I have a fairly large classic computer collection and 95 percent of it was acquired at the U of A. We recently had a concerned member on this list bemoan the fact that surplus auctions may be a thing of the past, dure to onerous new Federal Regulations. Well there is a special session at the USPA meeting that addresses this same problem. I am sure they have the correct information regarding these laws and it might be good for a member of this list to attend! Let me point out that this new association has already convinced several universities to open thier own "surplus property" offices to try and generate some revenue from old property instead of going through private sector liquidators/scrappers. Most likely there have been hundreds of classic computers that have landed in the hands of enthusiasts and hobbyist instead of the dump. The meeting also includes several other interesting items, such as selling on ebay and fair market valuation. Sellam Ismail has stated that the community need several data points to really establish fair values on antique computers. While this one would not be fair to sellers, it is certainly a valuble data point to buyers. All in all, as a former attendee, I encourage anybody who may be interested to attend! (They are fairly flexible on attendence/registration requirements) I went just as a member of the public! Cheers, Tom