Michigan’s surplus sale: deals on pans, thermometers, more in time for holidays

• Michigan will run an in-person surplus sale at its Lansing warehouse in December
• The annual holiday sale will offer lots of new items, most priced at $5 or less.
• The surplus division generates $2 million per year and is a self-sustaining office in state government

LANSING — Bargain shoppers may enjoy Black Friday deals. Hometown shoppers often make the most of Small Business Saturday. And price cuts on Cyber Monday will lure millions more to online shopping.

None of them, perhaps, compare to the extreme deal-making of the annual holiday sale from 8 a.m. to noon on Friday at the State of Michigan surplus warehouse, 3111 W. St Joseph St., building 600, in Lansing.

The store sells stuff left at airports, confiscated by park rangers and police and left over from the state, everything from umbrellas, clothes and sunglasses to tools and toys. The office offers four in-person sales per year, along with year-round online auctions.

“The idea behind the store is to give taxpayers an opportunity to come in and take advantage of (low prices),” Ron Turner, surplus services supervisor, told Bridge Michigan.

Items come from state departments that no longer need it, as well as Michigan’s largest airports and the Michigan State Police. 

The store will be competing for a small slice of spending on winter gift-giving. The National Retail Federal estimates that Americans will spend at record levels in November and December, up as much as 3.5% to $989 billion.

In the sale corner of the Lansing warehouse, a banquet table is filled with unworn clothing, including Michigan State University gear and a Nautica golf shirt. Most clothing gets donated to nonprofits, Turner said.

Tables of toys, sunglasses, kitchen utensils (including more than one rolling pin that didn’t get to fly with original owners), and laptop bags await purchase. So do suitcases and strollers. 

And in a sign of the post-COVID times, boxes of once-ubiquitous medical gear also are available: forehead thermometers, exam gloves and respirators also will be sold.

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Inventory also is as basic as items no longer needed by state workers: “Chairs, tables, file cabinets, anything that is of use within the offices,” Turner said. 

The team doesn’t publicize prices, but confidently says that shoppers will find very few items priced over $10. 

Most, in fact, will be $5 or less.

And many — including the dozens of desk chairs lined up and ready for a buyer (perhaps with a home office) — will be priced at $1.

This sale won’t feature computers and electronics, unless Michigan State Police arrives soon “with a big haul of TVs,” Turner said. The store also no longer sells knives. 

The state surplus program is self-sustaining, Turner said, with no annual funding from the state. It typically generates about $2 million annually, with most of the revenue coming from online auctions. The biggest-ticket items tend to be cars and trucks, he said.

Some items, like batches of sunglasses with some name brands, will sell well online, too. So do lots of matching office furniture. 

But other items are held for the in-person sales, Turner said: 

Shoppers should know that the sale is first-come, first served, Turner said, and he’ll limit entry to 35 people at a time. 

Holding the sales can be fun for the staff, Turner said. 

“It’s like running my own business,” he said of the retail aspects of surplus disposal. 

The mission remains utilizing items for their best purpose to save taxpayer dollars, Turner added. Sometimes, that means turning furniture back over to a state office so it doesn’t have to buy new. There are times when items have to be trashed, particularly if there’s no donor that will take them.

Early arrivals should stand in line or take numbers to keep entry orderly, Turner said. The only other rule is not to ask for a discount. 

“Some people come in wanting this stuff to be given away (with a lower price)” Turner said, “and I'm already literally giving it to you.”