Forget eBay. Have you discovered Dovebid yet? I just did, prompted by a notice that Hewlett-Packard is clearing out some of its surplus computer products, electronics, office furniture and other equipment. Next Monday and Tuesday, November 5 and 6, 2007, you can bid on a wide range of goods from HP’s various sites around the U.S. (If you miss this scheduled date, there’s another one in January.)
Find this online auction by going to http://www.dovebid.com/ and scroll the Global Auction Calendar in the center of the page. Items for auction are listed a week in advance of the sale so that you can peruse the stuff and make plans for your bid. I took a brief look at what HP is offering, and there are some blade servers, PCs, server racks, switches, processor/memory boards and a bunch of other stuff. There’s also lots of office equipment and furniture that might be good for a startup company looking for a conference table and chairs, white boards, copiers, etc.
Of course, HP isn’t the only company having a garage sale on Dovebid. There’s an IT exchange auction with a “Large Quantity of Computers, Telecommunications, and Office Equipment” that might interest you. It appears that many industrial companies schedule these auctions every couple of weeks or months to clear out the backrooms and warehouses.
Check it out. You just might find that “have to have it” widget you’ve been wanting.
Musthaler is a principal analyst at Essential Solutions Corporation. She also writes Cache Advance and the Tech Exec newsletter.