About BidProwl

Why this exists

Government agencies sell off a steady stream of surplus property: vehicles, equipment, electronics, real estate, seized assets. The supply is huge and the prices are often well below retail, but you have to know where to look. The federal government uses GSA Auctions. The General Services Administration also runs GSA Fleet. State and city fleets list on GovDeals, PublicSurplus, or Municibid. Sheriffs use HiBid or PropertyRoom. Real estate moves through HUD HomeStore, Fannie Mae HomePath, Bid4Assets county tax sales, and US Marshals forfeiture pages.

That fragmentation is the problem. BidProwl pulls live listings from 27 sources into a single search box: a full refresh of every source each night, the busiest platforms (GovDeals, GSA Auctions, GovPlanet) re-checked every 30 minutes during US daytime, and closing auctions re-checked every 10 minutes. On top of that sit state and category hubs, an email-alert system, and a deal score that flags lots priced well below comparable sold history.

Who built it

BidProwl is built by Sam Ojling. The guides, the search ranking, and the deal score are all written and tuned by hand based on what actually closes well on each platform.

Where the data comes from

Every listing on BidProwl comes from a public government auction source. We scrape and normalize the data so you can compare lots side by side. Right now that is 92,712 surplus lots (vehicles, equipment, electronics) and 19,335 government real-estate listings (REO homes, HUD properties, sheriff foreclosure sales), so real estate is 17% of what is actually up for bid. Separately we carry 0 Fannie Mae HomePath homes, which are listed at a fixed asking price rather than auctioned, so they are browsable here but counted on their own. We publish the split rather than round it, because a headline count that quietly leans on one category is the thing buyers get burned by. Sources currently covered:

• Federal: GSA Auctions, GSA Fleet, DLA Disposition, IRS, US Marshals, HUD HomeStore, USPS Surplus, Treasury Auctions
• Platforms: GovDeals, GovPlanet, PublicSurplus, Municibid, PropertyRoom, GovLiquidation
• Aggregators: HiBid, Proxibid, Purple Wave, Ritchie Bros, JJ Kane
• Real estate: Fannie Mae HomePath, Freddie Mac HomeSteps, Hubzu, Auction.com, CivilView sheriff sales, Auction Network

See the full source list with live counts on /sources.

How the deal score works

Every lot gets a 0 to 100 deal score based on how its current bid compares to the median sold price for similar items in the same category and state over the past 90 days. A score of 80 means the lot is priced in the top tier of recent comparable sales. We rebuild the score for each lot every time the bid changes, so it stays accurate through the close.

The score is a hint, not a verdict. Condition, location, and pickup logistics all matter and aren't captured in price comparison alone. Use the score to filter down candidates, then read the lot description before bidding.

What we don't do

• We don't host or run auctions. Every listing links back to the source platform where the actual bidding happens.
• We don't take commissions on sales.
• We don't sell your email or share search history.
• We don't have an affiliation with GSA or any government agency. The footer says so on every page.

Update cadence

Every source gets a full scrape each night. The busiest platforms (GovDeals, GSA Auctions, GovPlanet) are re-checked every 30 minutes during US daytime, and bids on closing auctions are re-checked every 10 minutes. Sold price archives update daily. Guides get reviewed quarterly or whenever a source changes its fee structure or platform.

Get in touch

Spotted a missing source, wrong fee, or stale guide? Tell us on the contact page or send a note via /feedback.