Put the parameters into the url so searches can be bookmarked, like zip codes, terms, filters, and other aspects can be shared easily as well.
Description search both include (like i7, 16GB) which is good for electronics and exclude for example exclude "repair" or "needs repair" which is helpful for many things.
Category specific filters, vehicle millage range, year
Keywords classification filters like pickup, delivery, payment methods, how many days you have to pay if known, etc.
You are probably already thinking along these lines for some of them, just an encouragement to implement. Yes categorization/filters can be fuzzy(commas, which word or plurals used, etc), so feel free to put the [beta] or [experimental] tag until a recipe that gets most of the stuff works.
Thanks for building this, I bookmarked it and already shared it with a few friends.
RSS Feeds of searches would be great, I know alerts exist, but for this community being able to get data through alternative methods, especially RSS is very appreciated.
it's not so much for agents as for getting fresh deals right in your browser sidebar (Zen Browser live folders, for example) or a dedicated RSS reader app (like Newsflash)
I only read HN through Zen Browser sidebar and, rarely, Telegram at this point. everything else - friends' blogs, Codeberg/Tangled/GitHub activity - only as new tabs on the left side of the screen.
Very kind of you - sharing this has definitely highlighted some of the rough edges :) Search / Alert accuracy is one big thing I need to make better, and I will take note of these suggestions.
Hi, yes, my apologies. One thing I'm currently fixing is the workflow for bringing in many of the listings that sites like GovDeals cover but are not part of the available APIs. Scraping sites like GovDeals is kind of shady and not something I want to do, so I am ingesting and cleaning a lot of data from state/government websites myself. While I fix that, I've removed those references from the site.
This is a real public service. More people can find better deals, this increases the pool of bidders, taxpayers will get more money for the auction. Discoverability is hugely important to these auctions.
Government auctions are interesting. Not a lot of information on pricing.
My dad bid on multiple LCVPs, guessing on a reasonable price for them based on what the engines were worth.
Fortunately he only won one of them. If all 4 had shown up at our house, my mom would have killed him.
Interesting aside, the casting date on the transmission housing was 1945 - but the hulls were built in 1967. Those Detroit Diesel 6-71s engines / transmissions last a long time!
Pretty cool. But a lot of it doesn't really work once you click into a particular state. For example, from this page, if you click on "All auctions in Georgia", it lists all auctions in the country. Or if you click on "electronics", it doesn't show just electronics in Georgia.
Very interesting project! Can anyone comment on what the buying process is like? Specifically if there are any weird hoops to jump through or if it's a normal account signup and payment process. Is delivery available or do these need to be picked up in person?
Just keep in mind if you're providing value the scrapers will soon appear to claim it for themselves... look at what Craigslist does to protect their data though you want all traffic as you get off the ground.
Let me filter and alert based on a distance, not just sort. e.g. "Lathe" within 100 miles of Baltimore. GovDeals lets you do this, but their distance filter is very inaccurate.
I like the project! Echoing that I'm seeing issues with anything from GovDeals surfacing in my area, I know there's a couple hundred auctions and only GSA Auctions came up.
Additionally, there's definitely some funkiness when it comes to how it handles current price/bid, I don't know if I saw any that were actually reporting the correct price it was currently at, always was under reported.
Thanks for sharing though, going to keep an eye on this!
Feature request: I'd love to be able to share a search results page with a friend. If you update the url to include the location or zip code I am searching for (ex: https://www.govauctions.app/feed/12345) this would be possible.
The point about govdeals missing is real, but in practice most of these sites block scraping aggressively for good reason. The operational cost of maintaining scrapers against hostile targets is non-trivial. Curious what the OP's plan is when they start rate-limiting or serving honeypot data.
The pickup-only thing varies more than people realize. We bought some decommissioned server hardware through a state surplus once, and they actually arranged freight. Depends heavily on the agency and what they're moving.
The GovDeals gap is real but honestly the core idea is solid. Bought a monitor arm through state surplus last year and the discoverability problem is brutal. Even half the sites aggregated saves hours.
JSYK nearly all Wisconsin municipal auctions are operated by a private company, wisconsinsurplus.com. Doesn't seem like your site is pulling results from them. Very cool nonetheless.
Once an item clicked back button returns you to a reset listing, so you cannot click and item go back and retain the last position you were looking at (tested on iPhone)
91 comments
Put the parameters into the url so searches can be bookmarked, like zip codes, terms, filters, and other aspects can be shared easily as well.
Description search both include (like i7, 16GB) which is good for electronics and exclude for example exclude "repair" or "needs repair" which is helpful for many things.
Category specific filters, vehicle millage range, year
Keywords classification filters like pickup, delivery, payment methods, how many days you have to pay if known, etc.
You are probably already thinking along these lines for some of them, just an encouragement to implement. Yes categorization/filters can be fuzzy(commas, which word or plurals used, etc), so feel free to put the [beta] or [experimental] tag until a recipe that gets most of the stuff works.
Thanks for building this, I bookmarked it and already shared it with a few friends.
Update: search params are now passed into the URL
I only read HN through Zen Browser sidebar and, rarely, Telegram at this point. everything else - friends' blogs, Codeberg/Tangled/GitHub activity - only as new tabs on the left side of the screen.
My dad bid on multiple LCVPs, guessing on a reasonable price for them based on what the engines were worth.
Fortunately he only won one of them. If all 4 had shown up at our house, my mom would have killed him.
Interesting aside, the casting date on the transmission housing was 1945 - but the hulls were built in 1967. Those Detroit Diesel 6-71s engines / transmissions last a long time!
https://www.govauctions.app/auctions/georgia
Let me filter and alert based on a distance, not just sort. e.g. "Lathe" within 100 miles of Baltimore. GovDeals lets you do this, but their distance filter is very inaccurate.
Additionally, there's definitely some funkiness when it comes to how it handles current price/bid, I don't know if I saw any that were actually reporting the correct price it was currently at, always was under reported.
Thanks for sharing though, going to keep an eye on this!
Feature request: I'd love to be able to share a search results page with a friend. If you update the url to include the location or zip code I am searching for (ex: https://www.govauctions.app/feed/12345) this would be possible.
https://www.govauctions.app/auction/gsa-4-1-QSC-I-26-240-001
https://www.govauctions.app/auction/gsa-1-1-QSC-I-26-148-031
Once an item clicked back button returns you to a reset listing, so you cannot click and item go back and retain the last position you were looking at (tested on iPhone)
I searched "volkswagen" on govdeals and found a lot of vehicles listed but nothing on this site.
> right now for example San Diego DHS is selling 26 tons of lead shot, with bidding starting at $1,000
If that's not enough for you then there's another auction too! https://www.govauctions.app/auction/gsa-4-1-QSC-I-26-226-002
If you're going to share a local website on a global site like HN at least mention the locality!?