How to find school bus auctions?

[sammy-SKO]

Hello - looking for a good place to purchase our bus, and I've heard numerous people say they procured theirs directly from a school. Are these auctioned off? How do I locate one of those auctions? Any idea if there's a particular time of year that happens?

So far, I've just been looking on craigslist, this forum, and then Western Bus Sales | Bus and Transportation Solutions in Oregon and Washington (because it's nearby). Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Would prefer a front-engine bus, and ideally, 40ft... we will be living/working out of the bus, so need as much space as possible!

 

[Crazy]

Let me google that for you

 

[sammy-SKO]

well.... thanks. I'd already done that... but there's a lot of results on that page, and other than govdeals, I have zero experience with those.Looked through several on there. I was hoping someone here would have some more solid recommendations... hopefully someone in Oregon. If not, I'll just dig in and do the research myself... but was hoping for some solid direction from someone here.

 

[nat_ster]

Welcome.

You need to head over to the build thread section and read as many build threads as you can. That is where the real info can be found.

Asking questions will only get you opinions, not true experience.

Read the ones with more than 20 pages first. They are the most likely builds to have gotten completed.

Many never get passed removing seats.

Others think the conversion can be done for less than the price of the bus. However, the bus is always the cheapest part of the build.

I buy mine right from the districts and the contractors who contract to the districts.

Around here, I can buy a bus, meet requirements, bid on contracts for routs, and become a contractor. Therfor we also have individuals that sell their buses when they hit 15 years old.

Just walk in and ask where the old buses go. That's what I do.

Nat

 

[OMGIBoughtABus]

publicsurplus.com is where I got mine from the Arlington school district in WA. CityRatt got his from the same auction.

Oregon
Public Surplus: School Bus

Washington
Public Surplus: School Bus

Inpsect the bus before you bid, and get your transport of the bus and a place to park it dialed in before you bid.

 

[sammy-SKO]

Thanks nat_ster - that's exactly what I've been doing (I've spent about 10hrs on here, but obviously a lot more I can read). Planning on spending $25-30k total—which seems like enough to really do this right. I'll take your advice and just ask where the old buses go.

 

[sammy-SKO]

Thanks OMGIBoughtABus - I'll check those out!

 

[The Nebuchadnezzar]

Got mine from First Student which is a national bus services provider:
First Student | Used School Bus Sales | Buy Yellow School Buses

 

[Crazy]

well.... thanks. I'd already done that... but there's a lot of results on that page, and other than govdeals, I have zero experience with those.Looked through several on there. I was hoping someone here would have some more solid recommendations... hopefully someone in Oregon. If not, I'll just dig in and do the research myself... but was hoping for some solid direction from someone here.

I have purchased buses from 3 of the sites listed on the first page and have purchased other items from a forth. If I didn't think what I gave you was a decent start, I would have given you more information. One of my bus purchases was in Oregon from the first listing on the first page.

This is one of the reasons I provide less and less information. It never seems to be good enough and people want to be spoon fed. Good luck with your purchase.

 

[sammy-SKO]

Sorry Crazycal - didn't mean to act like I needed spoon fed. I've spent over 14hrs on this site in the past 2 weeks, reading through stuff, trying to figure it out as best I could. I know how to use google. I just figured I should talk to people who had experience, who've already done what I'm trying to do. I don't think there was really a need to be sarcastic with me. If you don't like giving people info, then there was no need to respond at all... obviously, there are a few other people on here who were super helpful.

I've already bookmarked each of the sites they've suggested, and I'm checking them regularly. And have plans to approach several of the school districts around here. So I think my question got me great answers, that I didn't find on google, and didn't find with searches of this forum (although those answers were probably in here somewhere, just not easily searchable). This seems like a forum that's a fantastic resource for people who have questions and want to get info regarding skoolies, so I'm completely confused as to why I got a sarcastic answer to my first post on here.

 

[Crazy]

I wasn't being sarcastic. OMG gave you publicsurplus.com which is the first listing on my link. Govdeals is second. First Student isn't an auction and when I look at their list, the prices don't seem that great. Nat is in Canada and I think they do things a little different. Many states have a law that publicly owned surplus must be auctioned off.

 

[The Nebuchadnezzar]

True First Student is not an auction but they will negotiate price, I paid $800 less than what my bus was listed for. Good luck on your search.