6 replies to this topic

[Derwent Motorsport]

When I was a kid there was lots of Government suplus for sale either through "Army & Navy Stores" or by various firms in Exchange & Mart. I remember by father buying all sorts of things for his garage and for car and radio related projects. Even when I was first in our local motor club we were buying radio masts, shelters, trailers etc from a firm called Proops who advertised in E&M.

I think E&M was killed off by Ebay and the like but presumably there is still government surplus, new and used, so what happens to it? I am sure there is stuff useful for garages, clubs etc.

[Vitesse2]

Some of it goes through official government auctions. There are also some specialist dealers/auctioneers like Ramco, Johnsons and MOD Sales:

 

http://www.ramco.co.uk/sales/

 

http://www.johnsonsofleeds.co.uk/

 

http://www.mod-sales.com/direct/

[ron54]

In Bath was a place called Tommy Best's itself housed in an old Nissan Hut.As an apprentice I used to visit regularly
on a Saturday to expand my growing tool collection.Ex W.D.items were sought after because of their superior quality, the
older blokes on the job having told what brands to look, for having used that make years before during their time in the army.

Tank crew overalls I recall were a favourite(I was big for my age!) plenty of pockets to put things in.

[Bloggsworth]

Proops were very useful having, as they did, a shop in Tottenham Court Road which, when the business rates got too high, moved to the underground car park of a block of flats in Kentish Town, an outlet which soon disappeared. They still exist as an on-line entity www.proopsbrothers.com, though I have no idea where, and as I won't deal with online companies not showing an address, I haven't dealt with them since the 80s. Henrys and many others set up shop in the Edgware Road but of those, only Henrys remain. There was also another major outlet in Chapel Street just off the Edgware Road who used to sell all sorts of ex-MOD gear; aerial cameras and the like - Happy days...

[RS2000]

This is a subject everyone should be lobbying their MPs about. Government Departments are effectively only selling kit in bulk, ostensibly to reduce auction costs (ie. what they pay the auctioneers for running the actions), rather than allowing individual members of the public to bid for individual items.
I doubt any Government Dept can produce figures to show they could not have made more profit for the taxpayer by selling individual items to members of the public, rather than packaging their disposals in such a way that only dealers get a chance, dealers who then make profit from the individual taxpayers.
Try attempting to buy one car from a Government source.

[Vitesse2]

Proops were very useful having, as they did, a shop in Tottenham Court Road which, when the business rates got too high, moved to the underground car park of a block of flats in Kentish Town, an outlet which soon disappeared. They still exist as an on-line entity www.proopsbrothers.com, though I have no idea where, and as I won't deal with online companies not showing an address, I haven't dealt with them since the 80s. Henrys and many others set up shop in the Edgware Road but of those, only Henrys remain. There was also another major outlet in Chapel Street just off the Edgware Road who used to sell all sorts of ex-MOD gear; aerial cameras and the like - Happy days...

 

Proops Brothers' address is on the Terms & Conditions page - they're in Leicester.

[Marc Sproule]

Next time you're headed to Laguna Seca you might want to take a little detour to Moss Landing and the surplus store there. It's about half an hour from the track.

 

I've included a link to their website. Below that are some amusing reviews of the place.

 

Happy shopping.

 

   

 

http://www.surplusinc.com/

 

http://www.yelp.com/...re-moss-landing