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City of Madison Finance | Photo Credit: Archie Nicolette

City of Madison Purchasing Services

Public Surplus

Purchasing is conducting a test project to sell city surplus items and equipment.

The Public Surplus system allows the City to organize and automate its entire surplus property procedures from the time an item is declared surplus to its ultimate disposition.

Public Surplus also allows the item to be INTERNALLY REALLOCATED for city agency use first before being made available to the general public. If the items are not claimed by city agencies, (usually after 7 days), they go to PUBLIC AUCTION status. Once the items have gone to PUBLIC AUCTION status, everyone, including city employees, may bid on the items. You must first register and agree to abide by the City of Madison's Terms and Conditions.

Register as a City Agency to Claim Surplus

The City of Madison's staff gain access to eSA's reallocation feature by going to the employee URL and following the registration steps. Both the employee URL and Registration Code (listed below) are for use by City employees to request reallocation of an item. The item(s) reallocated are not for private use.
  1. Go to the City of Madison's Employee Public Surplus
  2. Enter Registration Code: Call Purchasing at (608) 266-4521 for the Registration Code.
  3. Fill out the required information, and your desired login name and password.
You need to register only once to access information on eSA that will include items for City internal reallocation. In the future, you will need only to click on LOGIN (upper right corner of screen) and enter your login name and password in order to view or make a purchase or reallocation request.

Register as a User for Public Auction

  1. To buy for private use, go to Public Surplus
  2. Register as a new user.
  3. After registering, you may view and bid on any of the auctions on the site.
  4. All bidders must agree to the “Terms and Conditions of Sale.” If you have any questions, please contact Monette McGuire at (608) 267-4969 or via email

Terms, Conditions and Instructions to Bidders

General: Items are offered for sale by the City of Madison. In making the offer, a third-party web site provider is utilized (eSurplus Auction Inc.). Individual(s) submitting bid offers are identified herein as "buyer(s)".

Disclaimer: All equipment will be sold "as is," "where is," and "with all faults, if any." The City disclaims all warranties or guarantees, expressed or implied, as to the condition, quality, completeness or fitness for any particular or general purpose or compliance to safety regulations of the equipment being sold.

Indemnification: Buyer agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Sellers for any and all damages, claims, or liability of any nature or kind in the sale of or the buyer's use of the property.

Additional Fees: An 8% surcharge and 5.5% sales tax will be added to all purchases made. The surcharge is the cost to the City of Madison for the utilization of the third-party web site provider. The buyer shall add and include these additional fees when making payment to the City of Madison.

Contact Information: For questions, inspection of equipment and/or pick-up/shipping arrangements, contact the designated agency representative for the item listed.

Shipping: Successful bidder will be responsible for pick-up or shipping arrangements and all costs associated with either method.

Ownership: Winning bidders must pay and pick up items within 10 business days of the close of auction or the City reserves the right to relist the item or award to the second highest bidder.

Notification of Award: Award will be made to the highest responsive, responsible bidder. Notification will be provided by eSurplus Auction Inc. via e-mail to the selected buyer.

Payment Information: Payment is required within seven (7) days of the close of auction.

Method of payment accepted: Cash, Cashier's check or money order. Payment must be mailed to or received by the City of Madison Purchasing Services prior to pick-up or shipping arrangements.
Payable to: City of Madison Treasurer
Mail to: City of Madison Purchasing Services
210 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Rm 513
Madison, WI 53703

Eligibility: Minimum 18 years old and legally able to form binding contracts as a buyer.

Website Liability: Items are offered for sale using the services and web site of eSurplus Auction Inc. (www.publicsurplus.com/). Under no circumstances will City of Madison be liable to any person or business entity for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, or other damages or losses based on or caused by any use of the auction web site or any other web site to which the site is linked, the content of such web sites, or any viruses or other harmful components derived from any such web sites, including, without limitation, any lost profits, revenue, or use, business interruption, or loss of computer programs or information.

Links to other web sites or internet locations from this web site have been provided for your convenience only. The City of Madison does not endorse, sponsor, or approve any of the content of such web sites or locations. If you access any other web site or internet locations through this web site, you do so at your own risk.

Collusion: The buyer certifies by entering his/her bid price that the bid is made without prior understanding or agreement with another person submitting a bid for the same item and that this bid is in all respects a bona fide, fair and not the result of any act of fraud or collusion with another person.

Award: The City of Madison reserves the right to award by item, groups of items, or total bid; to reject any and all bids in whole or in part, and to waive any informality or technical defects, if in its judgment, the best interests of the city will be served.

Contract: Each bid is received with the understanding that the acceptance by LCCC of the offer to purchase any or all of the items described therein shall constitute a contract between the buyer and LCCC.

Governing Law:Any contract resulting from this solicitation shall be governed by the laws of the State of Wisconsin.