Dang it! I hate it when I get a good idea, but due to my laziness I don’t ever do anything about it. Someone will actually ACT on something I also thought up and then I feel like a stoopid-head for not implementing it myself. Happens all the time.
This time, my idea for a government-only auction site has made headlines in the N&O. A site called GovDeals.com has recently signed up many municipalities, stolen my thunder, and rained on my parade, to boot.
Both of my faithful MarkTurner.net readers know I’m a junkie for government auctions. I can be found about once a month over at the N.C. State Surplus Property Warehouse on Chapel Hill Road, looking for (and usually finding) bargains on computer parts and whatnot. While I’m always happy to walk away with a $5000 printer for fifty bucks, I can’t help but feel that there must be a better way for the state to get better prices for its surplus equipment. That’s where my idea of a auction site began.
When most folks and businesses need to unload stuff, they head to EBay. Governments can’t do that because of the stigma associated with EBay. Yet an EBay-type site provides just what government auction needs: a larger number of bidders than their current auctions can provide. This equates to higher bid prices, which means the government gets more of its money (and more specifically, YOUR money) back.
I’m glad GovDeals.com is in the game. I’ll be watching them closely to see how they implement this. I only wish I had gotten off my keister and done it myself.
One day I’ll learn the difference between “creating an idea” and “creating the thing the idea represents.”