GovAuctions lets you browse government auctions at once

Name: GovAuctions lets you browse government auctions at once
Availability: InStock
Author: player_piano

by player_piano·Apr 6, 2026·319 points·91 comments

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AI Analysis

●MidSolve My Problem

Finally one search bar for fragmented government auction sites instead of dozen tabs.

Strengths

•Aggregates notoriously fragmented government platforms into unified search interface.
•Clean UI replaces janky government sites with modern filtering and watchlists.
•No middleman—clicks through to original platform so no bid packs or credits needed.

Weaknesses

•Aggregator pattern is common—similar to flight deal or job board aggregators.
•No evidence of better data or novel routing beyond scraping existing platforms.

Post Description

I've long been into finding deals on government auction sites (seizures, surplus sales etc.) - right now for example San Diego DHS is selling 26 tons of lead shot, with bidding starting at $1,000 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It has historically been extremely tedious though: scanning dozens of janky sites which have interminable page loading times; back buttons take you all the way back to the homepage etc.

The site I built - GovAuctions - lets you search every government surplus auction at once. You can filter by location, category, and price, save items to a watchlist, and get alerts when new auctions match what you're looking for.

Let me know what you think, if you have any suggestions, and if you find any deals in your area!