EBay, the online buying and selling marketplace, recently recognized the city of Salisbury for its successful participation in the eBay Government Surplus Sales Program. The city began utilizing eBay in March 2004 and has successfully listed and sold more than 500 items during the past two years. Funds generated through online sales are deposited into the city's general fund. Jason Parks, the city's Webmaster and Access 16 station manager, handles the online surplus sales. "We are honored to be listed and recognized on eBay's Web site for our strong success with this program," Parks said. "Salisbury's auction model has been used as a starting point for other municipalities interested in auctioning surplus equipment. Parks said Salisbury has drawn attention from cities and counties in North Carolina and as far away as California. He said he sometimes helps other communities with the initial setup of their surplus program on eBay. Parks and Mike Crowell, the city's information technology services manager, came up with the idea to link Salisbury with eBay. "We decided to give it a try," Crowell said, "and with our auction bids starting at 1 cent, all of our items are sold as is and offer no returns. "Most of our auctions are for both working and broken electronic items, such as pagers, cameras, computers, laptops and printers." The city also has purchased items on eBay. Crowell and Parks say their next eBay venture may be to try to sell a suplus city vehicle online. The majority of online purchases come from local citizens and employees, with payment and pickup available at the City Office Building, 132 N. Main St. To view the city's current available online auctions, visit www.salisburync .gov/auctions or click the online auctions link at the bottom of the city's Web site.
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