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Pennsylvania government surplus auctions

Published November 8, 2026 · GavelGap · Original data

Pennsylvania sells all of its state surplus online on GovDeals, through the Department of General Services, including PennDOT's dump trucks and plows. We tracked 4,438 Pennsylvania auctions with a confirmed result from May 22 to October 31, 2026, for $15.3 million in winning bids, more than half of it from the state's two biggest accounts.

Pennsylvania DGS State Surplus Property

DGS says all state surplus property is now sold exclusively online through GovDeals. Some buyers are barred: Bureau of Supplies and Surplus employees can't buy, and state employees can't buy items valued at $500 or more. For questions, State Surplus lists 717-787-6159, ext. 3.

Local governments get the first chance at PennDOT equipment. The July 2026 PennDOT sale ran a municipal round, then a public round, at govdeals.com/penndot, with inspections by appointment at 5 Mountain Road in Grantville.

Pennsylvania on GovDeals: the numbers

Every GovDeals auction with a Pennsylvania pickup location that closed from May 22, 2026 to October 31, 2026 with a confirmed result:

MetricPennsylvania on GovDeals
Auctions with a confirmed result4,438
Sold4,078
Median bidders per sold lot13 (all GovDeals: 11)
Median winning bid$362 (all GovDeals: $175)
Total winning bids$15.3 million
Selling accounts149
Auctions from commercial sellers17.1%
Lots open on November 7718

Plow trucks, and knives by the pound

The money is in heavy equipment. The Pennsylvania State Surplus account sold 426 lots for $5.5 million, and PennDOT 401 for $3.3 million at a median $6,900, led by snow plow and dump trucks. Grantville, PennDOT's inspection site, had 347 auctions at a median $7,400. Dump trucks sold for $7,900 against $6,500 nationally.

Pennsylvania Federal Surplus sold 853 lots by the pound: "approximately 6 lbs. of assorted knives," multi-tools, earbuds and the like, at a median $155 with 17 bidders. So the knife, multi-tool and personal electronics rows below are prices for a box of several pounds, not one item. Cars were cheap: a median $1,005 with 10 bidders, against $2,200 and 28 nationally.

What sells

The busiest categories (at least 10 sales each), with the GovDeals-wide figure for comparison:

CategorySoldMedian biddersMedian winning bid
Other Consumer Goods24713 (all GovDeals: 6)$93 (all GovDeals: $52)
Knives18618 (all GovDeals: 13)$184 (all GovDeals: $101)
SUV18316 (all GovDeals: 30)$2,028 (all GovDeals: $3,000)
Dump Trucks12022 (all GovDeals: 33)$7,900 (all GovDeals: $6,500)
Jewelry5413.5 (all GovDeals: 4)$253 (all GovDeals: $100)
Electronics, Personal11317 (all GovDeals: 12)$150 (all GovDeals: $62)
Snow Plow Trucks11021 (all GovDeals: 25)$7,075 (all GovDeals: $7,100)
Automobiles/Cars10410 (all GovDeals: 28)$1,005 (all GovDeals: $2,200)
Laboratory Equipment, Miscellaneous957 (all GovDeals: 9)$72 (all GovDeals: $82)
Coin Collections701 (all GovDeals: 8)$20 (all GovDeals: $52)
Multi-Tools9022.5 (all GovDeals: 21)$253 (all GovDeals: $166)
Janitorial Equipment776 (all GovDeals: 7)$34 (all GovDeals: $61)
Tools, All Types8214 (all GovDeals: 10)$186 (all GovDeals: $53)

Computers, Parts, and Supplies is left out of this table: 165 of its 180 sales are multi-unit lots, up to 300 server memory modules in one. Computers: Laptops is left out of this table: about 3 in 4 of its sales are multi-unit lots, up to pallets of roughly 465 laptops.

Who sells

SellerTypeAuctionsSoldWinning bids
Pennsylvania Federal SurplusGovernment853853$194,601
Pennsylvania State SurplusGovernment442426$5,518,562
Pennsylvania Department of TransportationGovernment402401$3,275,902
PhiladelphiaGovernment314313$1,327,331
Penn State Lion SurplusGovernment295272$41,156
LeeRay PropertiesCommercial192101$3,649
KVS Computers Government RemarketingCommercial165160$58,284
University of Pittsburgh - Surplus PropertyGovernment139139$56,918
Account 26812—11285$281,546
UNICORGovernment109109$408,911

Where

CityAuctionsSoldMedian winning bid
Harrisburg1,1661,146$185
Philadelphia577525$1,576
Grantville347345$7,400
University Park280257$23
Pittsburgh240231$150
Wilkes Barre192101$23
Hughesville169164$243
Reading143123$130

By month

MonthSoldMedian winning bid
May 2026*292$703
June 2026585$338
July 2026609$155
August 20261,031$975
September 2026879$310
October 2026682$271

* Partial month: our tracking starts May 22, 2026.

What's open right now

677 Pennsylvania lots were open on GovDeals when this page was last updated (Nov 8, 11:23 PM ET). These 8 have the highest current bids among lots closing in the next few days. Bids move fast, so open the listing for the current bid, the pickup address and the removal deadline before you bid.

Listings and photos from GovDeals, refreshed every 6 hours. We don't publish resale estimates for individual lots.

The winning bid is your cost, not the item's value. Everything above is what buyers paid. Your profit is what the item resells for, minus the winning bid, the buyer's premium, tax, removal and shipping. See GovDeals fees explained and sold prices by item.

GavelGap puts the other half of the math on every GovDeals listing: what the lot resells for, what it costs you landed, and the pickup-only, title and condition problems that sink a deal, right in your browser.

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Methodology

Our GovDeals figures include every GovDeals auction with a Pennsylvania pickup location that ended from May 1, 2026 through October 31, 2026 and whose outcome GovDeals confirmed by status, bid history or bid count. Lots we couldn't confirm either way are left out, as are real estate and land sales and sellers that sell at a fixed price with no bidding (at least 90% of 20 or more sales with no recorded bid). "All GovDeals" figures use the same rules nationwide over the same dates. "Bidders" is the bid count on the sold lot, which can include several bids from one person, so read it as a measure of how contested a lot was. Category medians are per lot, so a multi-unit lot counts as one sale at its full price. Categories need at least 10 sales. Commercial sellers are businesses and remarketers selling on GovDeals rather than government bodies, using GovDeals' own seller type. We don't show sell-through: before September 2026 our tracking didn't record every unsold auction, so early months would overstate it. We don't publish per-lot resale estimates. Facts about Pennsylvania's own surplus program come from the official sources linked above; programs change, so confirm terms with the agency before you buy.

Frequently asked questions

Where does Pennsylvania sell state surplus?

Online only, on GovDeals, through the Department of General Services. PennDOT equipment is sold at govdeals.com/penndot, to local governments first and then the public.

Who can't buy Pennsylvania state surplus?

Bureau of Supplies and Surplus employees can't buy at all, property control officers can't buy what their agency declared surplus, and state employees can't buy items valued at $500 or more.

Why are Pennsylvania knives sold by the pound?

Pennsylvania Federal Surplus lists them as weight lots, like approximately 6 lbs. of assorted knives. It sold 853 lots from May 22 to October 31, 2026, at a median $155.

What do PennDOT trucks sell for?

PennDOT's 401 sold lots, led by snow plow and dump trucks, went for a median $6,900 with 25 bidders from May 22 to October 31, 2026.

Related: Dump truck sold prices · Equipment auctions near you · How to flip heavy equipment

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