GovDeals profit calculator
A winning bid is not your cost. Enter the numbers below to see your true landed cost (bid + buyer's premium + tax + shipping + repairs), your net resale profit after marketplace fees, your ROI — and the highest bid that still clears your target return. It all runs in your browser; nothing is saved or sent.
How the math works
GavelGap is built on one idea: on a government-surplus lot, your profit is the gap between real resale value and your all-in landed cost. The winning bid is only the first line of that cost.
The two costs that quietly kill deals are the buyer's premium (added on top of every bid, and set per seller) and logistics — freight or pickup on heavy lots, plus the marketplace fee on the resale side. Enter honest numbers and the verdict takes care of itself:
- Buy — profit is positive and ROI clears 20% of landed cost.
- Thin — profitable, but under a 20% return; one surprise wipes it out.
- Pass — you'd lose money after all costs.
Use real resale numbers, not retail. The single most common way to lose money on surplus is to enter an item's retail price as its resale value. Price it off what the item actually sold for recently on eBay or to a dealer — the real flip price — not its list price or MSRP.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate profit on a GovDeals lot?
Profit = expected resale − resale fees − resale shipping − landed cost, where landed cost is your bid plus the buyer's premium, sales tax, shipping/freight, and repairs. Positive after every cost = it can flip; negative = you're overpaying.
What is a buyer's premium on GovDeals?
A percentage added to your winning bid, set by the selling agency — commonly ~7.5%–12.5% on GovDeals, often lower (0%–10%) on Public Surplus. Always confirm it on the listing; it comes straight out of your margin.
What ROI should I target flipping surplus?
Many resellers aim for at least 20%–30% return on landed cost to cover their time and the risk of as-is condition. Use the max-bid box above to find the highest bid that still clears your target before you commit.
Is this calculator free?
Yes — free, no signup, and it stores nothing (everything runs in your browser). For automatic landed-cost and eBay sold-comp resale on every GovDeals listing, GavelGap also has a free Chrome extension.
Don't run this by hand on every lot.
GavelGap's free Chrome extension does this math automatically on every GovDeals listing — pulling eBay sold-comp resale, your landed cost, and the profit gap into a sidebar as you browse.
See how GavelGap works → Or read the full flipping framework →