Like ebay... but for governments
 

I stumbled on this the other week and thought I'd share.
Governments around the country acquire bikes by various means; confiscated, lost, recovered, old patrol bikes, etc....
When they get rid of them, you find them here:
http://www.publicsurplus.com

Most are sold in lots for dirt cheap.
Various degrees of condition.
Great for fix-me-ups or parts or just to beat into the ground.

I don't know how many people on bikeforums.net have experience with this. Almost every bike from a cop auction I have ever seen has been a waste of money. Even the $10 bikes are a waste. Usually the $10 bikes need at least $100 worth of work to restore them to a safe ridable bike, and most of them were $89 Walmart/Target/Zellers bikes to begin with. Many are trashed beyond repair and hopefully the buyer sees that before spending any more. As you said, this may be a source for parts for other junkers, but certainly no-one should assume they can make a ridable bike out of one.

Ditto. No way to tell from skimpy descriptions and awful photos what's in pile of bikes -- unless you can visit the mess personally. Shipping a pile of tubular trash will kill you.

Cool idea. All the auctions listed are in Phoenix, ending in a few hours though.