[Cialug] ISU Sale Notes

[Nathan E. Pralle]

A few notes to those who have never been to the ISU Surplus Sale but would 
like to go.

It's a great place to pick up computers and parts and random schtuff. 
Here's a few pointers:

1. Everything is first-come-first-serve. If you want the best pickings, be 
there at 11:30am on Wed or earlier. There will already be a line at 11:30, 
I guarantee.

2. They operate on a tag system. There is a tag on each item, it is 
perforated in half. When you find something you want, you tear off the 
bottom half and leave the top half. Then when you are ready to check out, 
you take all the bottom halves to the counter, pay for your stuff, and get 
one of the guys at the door to help you load it all. They check over your 
reciept to make sure you're only taking the stuff you bought.

3. When the doors open, rush quickly in with the rest of the people. Head 
for the section that interests you most and if you find a deal, tear it. 
Don't tarry long thinking about things if you're pretty sure you want them, 
just tear. Mind you, if you tear, you bought it. After you've made the 
rounds all the way around, THEN go back and browse over things and think 
about the other items.

4. Everything is a flat, round rate, tax is already included. Take so much 
and spend only that. I usually tend to drop <$100 but often close to 
that.  No refunds or anything like that.  If you buy something large, you 
have to have it out of the building by 3pm Friday of that week.

5. Whether or not you'll find a deal depends on the day. I have made great 
deals and not-so-great ones. Laptops are expensive as a rule. Monitors are 
always a crap-shoot, they tend to be the ones they don't want much (which 
usually mean they're flawed.) Boxen are all right, they usually have some 
nice Vectras and such for good *nix boxen from $10 to $50 or more, 
depending on features. They're reasonably priced for what you get. Keybrds 
and mice and such are kinda pricey but it depends on what you want. Random 
cards and peripherals are usually too picked over to be reliable.

6. There is a lot of scientific stuff there, too. Incubators, testing 
equipment, electronics...so it's not all computer stuff. Furniture, chairs, 
benches, etc. are also plentiful.

7. The really random crap is where you find your deals. There was a SCSI 
DAT tape changer that went for like $15 with 6 tapes. I coulda killed the 
guy. :) Random INDY machines and other such things come on the sale from 
time to time. No, there's no way to tell what's going to be on the auction 
unless you are personal friends with one of the operators of it or 
something.  If you are discrete, you can sometimes take things over to a 
wall plug and plug them in to see if they work.

That's about the gist of it. It's a good time all in all, and you can get 
in some mighty interesting conversations and meet some great people who are 
picking over things.

Nathan