By Logan B. Anderson

SMYRNA — If in 2022 you are looking to start a new restaurant, a business, a new hobby, find a new vehicle, or convert a former school bus into a party wagon — you should start the new year with a trip to the state of Delaware’s surplus property store.

When you look around your house and find a lot of things you don’t use anymore, you may hold a yard sale or post items for sale online. The state of Delaware does the same thing, but they have a special department to take care of those surplus items.

Delaware Surplus Services recently relocated from Delaware City to northern Smyrna and opened a new showroom and sales lot filled with items once used by many of the state’s agencies that now need a new home.

If you are looking for a folding table, some office equipment, a car, a kayak or a French horn, you should visit the store at 5408 DuPont Parkway in Smyrna.

“We’ve got couches, desks, chairs, file cabinets, vehicles, kitchen equipment. We get a lot of school cafeteria equipment. When they get new, then we get the old and we sell it to restaurants or people,” said Normajane Davall, surplus property program manager.

“People buy all kinds of stuff from us. We’ve sold countless little coffee pots, microwaves ... They come in, they purchase something, we load it on their truck and they take it.”

Ms. Davall has been in the surplus sales business for many years. She has worked with the state of Delaware for 25 years and before that she worked for the federal government for 27 years selling its surplus.

“I love surplus,” she said, laughing. “You name it. I’ve sold it.”

“I sold the I-95 rest area. All the stuff inside it before they tore it down to put the new one in. I’ve sold helicopters, state of Delaware planes.”

In her career she’s sold the president’s yacht, the governor’s SUV, even live and dead animals.

“A gentleman and his wife came in recently. His daughter needed a folding table for her sewing. They got two. Everything is pretty reasonable,” Ms. Davall said.

Office chairs are usually priced between $5 and $10. Filing cabinets, depending on their condition, may sell for $25.

Recently, Ms. Davall sold 22 DART buses. The purchaser plans to recycle and reuse the former public transportation vehicles, Ms. Davall said.

“The guy said to me, ‘That is going to be your next washer and dryer.’ He’s going to crush them.”

Many shoppers visit the state’s surplus store looking for items to resell. Old furniture is often purchased to fill antique shops or taken to places like New York City to be sold in trendy street markets.

Visitors to the store are not just from Delaware.

“We have a guy who comes from California to buy school buses. He brings like five guys. They start them up. They drive them to California from here. I don’t know what they do with them,” Ms. Davall said.

Property doesn’t mean land

“By Delaware code, property that’s disposed of, that’s no longer necessary or useful by the state, is intended to be disposed of by surplus property, but that excludes real property. So, land is disposed of in an alternative manner, but capital goods that still have useful life and value are intended to be recycled in a fiscally responsible way. And that would be through this section,” said Peter G. Korolyk, deputy director of Delaware’s Government Support Services.

The surplus property program, which is part of the Government Support Services division, falls under the umbrella of the state’s Office of Management and Budget. Its work is mandated by Delaware code.

With the money it generates from sales and auctions, the agency pays for itself and supports other OMB programs. The rest goes to support the state’s general fund.

“Part of the money is used as a fee associated with the cost, either for acquisition and disposal … everything else goes back to the general fund, or to an individual agency and their program as required by law, policy or regulation,” Mr. Korolyk said.

An example of how the cycle works is how Delaware manages its fleet of vehicles. The fleet services program operates about 2,700 vehicles that are used by other state departments and agencies. Once a vehicle in that fleet has reached the end of its useful life, it is sent to Ms. Davall’s team to be sold, typically through an auction.

Once the vehicle is sold, the expenses generated by the sale are paid and the rest is reinvested into new vehicles for the fleet.

“That guarantees that we don’t have to ask for continuing appropriations. And they’ve been maintaining and expending their money in a thoughtful way. That way they will also reap the benefits. So, this is a fiscally responsible and prudent way to advance their obligations,” Mr. Korolyk said.

Annually, Delaware Surplus Services generates about $4 million for the state’s general fund. In 2019, according to Gov. John Carney’s fiscal year 2021 budget, surplus sales generated $3.6 million. The governor’s budget projects that program will raise about $3.8 million this year.

Not everything the program sells began as the state’s property. The Delaware State Police disposes of confiscated items through the surplus store. Ms. Davall is currently preparing an auction at the Indian River Marina south of Dewey Beach of boats that have been confiscated or abandoned at the marina by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

Cash and carry

Delaware Surplus Services is open to the public on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Shoppers can look around the store’s front room which could have anything from calculators to clarinets and silverware to staplers. Then enter the larger showroom, which could have anything from stoves to sofas and refrigerators to rulers.

Many items there can be purchased that day.

Next, shoppers can visit the store’s website. There they can sign up for alerts. Then once the store organizes an auction, notices are sent and shopping can commence. The auctions are like eBay, Ms. Davall said.

“It’s very transparent. The program notifies you if you bid $5,000 and then somebody comes behind you with $5,500. It will tell you that you’re no longer the highest bidder,” Ms. Davall said.

The online auctions are handled by third-party contractors, like www.usgovbid.com.

Auction buyers are allowed to come to the surplus store lot to inspect the vehicles before they buy them, Ms. Davall said. Shoppers are just not allowed to drive the vehicles.

No matter how a person buys, the state does not accept credit cards or checks. It’s cash or certified funds only.

“We are cash and carry,” Ms. Davall said.

New location now open

This summer, Delaware Surplus Services relocated to a new facility in Smyrna north of the state’s rest area on U.S. 13.

The site was the home of the Mid-Del Auto Parts junkyard.

The program was previously housed in Delaware City.

“The building that we were in was a pre-Revolutionary War building. It had its challenges. So, having an opportunity to move to a facility where nothing leaks that’s spread out and acreage that potentially could provide us with opportunities in the future is a fantastic place to be,” Mr. Korolyk said.

The facility doesn’t have a sign out front yet, but shoppers will know when it’s open because the large red-wacky-waving-inflatable-arm-flailing tube man will be there beckoning shoppers in.

For more information about Delaware Surplus Services, call 302-836-7640 or visit the website.