Government agencies of all sizes have surplus assets which they seek to dispose of.
Prior to eBay, their methods for disposal of assets were pretty limited.
Agencies could run auctions, contact liquidators, or simply dispose of the assets as waste.

Auctions would often deliver the highest dollar return but faced the issue of lack of buyer interest. Most government auctions are attended by a small group of buyers. Many
of them don’t have the financial purchasing power that would enable auctioned assets to receive high bids.

The other buyers could be professional resellers, purchasing agents, or store owners looking to pay pennies on the dollar.

Since they need to make money on the purchased assets, they can only purchase items at far below their actual value.

At the end of most government auctions many lots remain behind and must be disposed of at the government’s expense.

Liquidators on the other hand will buy the majority of the agency’s assets, but will pay an even smaller percentage of the retail value. The liquidator must be assured that he can quickly turn over the assets at a small profit, so he must pay as low as possible.

Lastly, simply treating unwanted assets as trash guarantees that the government agency will receive no money for them. It will actually cost the agency money to properly throw out its unused goods.

eBay has changed all of this by connecting agencies with millions of retail buyers.

Retail buyers are the key ingredient in insuring that the government agency maximizes its revenues on its unwanted assets.

Retail customers are end users and buy based on necessity, curiosity, and price savings.
Since they are not looking to resell the merchandise they will pay more for it.

As long as they are still saving money they will be happy to buy the assets.

While the government will not be able to dispose of all of its assets through this fashion, it will be able to make more money on those items it does sell through eBay.

eBay enables government agencies to connect with buyers throughout the United States and abroad, thus greatly increasing its selling potential.