Selling through live auctions can be time consuming, costly, and harmful to the environment. Read about how one Ohio city decided to optimize their process and embrace the future of sustainability.
“Live auctions can be very limiting.” – Brenda Short, City of Circleville
How an agency disposes of its surplus vehicles and equipment should be considered not only from a financial standpoint, but from an environmental one as well. Traditional methods of handling surplus goods, namely live auctions and landfill disposal, can have lasting negative effects on the environment.
GovDeals’ virtual sales model offers its sellers the opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint and easily adapt to the ever-changing digital age.
Out with the Old
The City of Circleville, OH, a new seller to the GovDeals platform, hosted their own live auctions for several years before joining the site. In February of 2020, the city made the change to eliminate live auctions altogether and sell all their declared surplus online through GovDeals. According to Brenda Short, an administrative assistant for the city, this was partly due to the finite reach of the former method: “Live auctions can be very limiting.”
In with the New
With the live auctions, Circleville faced the demanding nature of coordinating and hosting the events, collecting and processing all payments, and promoting and advertising to their constituents. All the extra work with very little return on revenue contributed to the city’s decision to stop hosting live auctions altogether. As a result of signing on with GovDeals, Circleville now has a simplified auction process, saving them time and money.
Sustainability of Online Auctions
To further reduce their carbon footprint, Circleville has elected to use GovDeals’ online billing system, which obviates the need to print and send paper checks or invoices. Similarly, printer cartridges are produced by using natural resources such as oil and iron ore that contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can cause damage to both humans and the natural environment according to Capital Business Systems, a printing service company serving the Northwest U.S.
In the U.S., discarded paper accounts for over 12,500 tons of waste annually.
GovDeals Platform
Like Circleville, potential sellers looking for a process to make their businesses “greener” could reduce their carbon footprint by utilizing the GovDeals platform and switching to online auctions, as well as opting for electronic payment collection methods. Currently, waste management is one of the greatest environmental issues on the globe. By switching to GovDeals, businesses can reduce their carbon footprint and help our environment thrive.
Utilizing the GovDeals platform gives sellers the advantage of selling their vehicles in place upon declaring the items surplus, whereas live auctions often require the vehicles to be transferred to another location for sale, resulting in additional CO2 emissions emitted during travel. Additionally, forgoing live auctions allows sellers to sell at any time and avoid extended storing periods, which often results in depreciation of the assets. Oil and other fluids often leak from vehicles when they are stored for extended periods of time as well, so selling quickly also reduces the vehicles’ carbon footprint.
Beyond Vehicle Auctions
Furthermore, online auctions are not limited to vehicles; a plethora of surplus assets can be sold on our websites and kept out of landfills, where they would serve no further purpose. By utilizing GovDeals and selling online, businesses can offer these items to a larger audience than they would find with a local auction. Selling virtually is mutually beneficial for cities like Circleville and their local environment.
GovDeals values the environment and is committed to aiding our sellers in doing their part to operate more sustainably and responsibly. Making the switch to online auctions gives our sellers the ability to avoid the environmental impact of non-degradable waste, leading us all to be good stewards of the environment.
Learn more about how you can help your business and the environment through online auctions here.