# BidProwl

> BidProwl is a free aggregator of live government surplus auctions. It pulls listings from 27 federal, state, and local sources into one searchable feed, with free email alerts and price history. Every source is fully refreshed nightly, the busiest platforms every 30 minutes during US daytime, and closing auctions re-checked every 10 minutes. Pro members see live bids on closing lots on the page itself. BidProwl is not a government agency and does not run auctions; every lot links back to the original source platform.

## What BidProwl is
- An independent search index over 27 government auction sources: federal (GSA Auctions, GSA Fleet, DLA, IRS, US Marshals), platforms (GovDeals, GovPlanet, PublicSurplus, Municibid), aggregators (HiBid, Proxibid, Purple Wave), and government real estate (HUD, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac).
- Free to use: search, state and category hubs, email alerts, watchlist, and a 0-100 deal score on every lot.
- BidProwl Pro ($9/month or $79/year) adds instant alerts, live bids on closing auctions, sold-price comps from 275,000+ closed auctions, and AI-assisted search. Details at https://bidprowl.com/pricing.

## What BidProwl is NOT
- NOT affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by GSA, GovDeals, GovPlanet, PublicSurplus, HiBid, or any government agency or auction platform.
- NOT an auction house. BidProwl does not host auctions, accept bids, or process payments for any lot.
- Bidding always happens on the original source site; every BidProwl listing links there.
- More at https://bidprowl.com/is-bidprowl-legit.

## Live listing counts by source (as of 2026-09-28)
- Proxibid: 31,148 live listings
- GovDeals: 23,393 live listings
- SRI Tax Sales: 9,020 live listings
- Purple Wave: 4,933 live listings
- PublicSurplus: 4,698 live listings
- HiBid: 3,859 live listings
- CivilView Sheriff Sales: 3,811 live listings
- Ritchie Bros: 2,697 live listings
- Hubzu: 2,550 live listings
- GSA Fleet Vehicle Sales: 2,100 live listings
- Fannie Mae HomePath: 1,398 live listings
- HUD Home Store: 893 live listings
- GSA Auctions: 739 live listings
- GovPlanet: 674 live listings
- Municibid: 508 live listings
- Freddie Mac HomeSteps: 475 live listings
- USPS Surplus: 447 live listings
- Wisconsin Surplus: 396 live listings
- PropertyRoom: 231 live listings
- MNBID Minnesota Surplus: 217 live listings
- Auction.com: 131 live listings
- DLA Disposition Services: 89 live listings
- State Surplus: 50 live listings
- Auction Network: 46 live listings
- US Marshals Service: 39 live listings
- Treasury Auctions: 12 live listings
- IRS Seized Property: 2 live listings
- GovLiquidation: 1 live listings

## Live listing counts by category (as of 2026-09-28)
- [Vehicles](https://bidprowl.com/categories/vehicles): 22,746 live listings
- [Heavy Equipment](https://bidprowl.com/categories/heavy-equipment): 20,973 live listings
- [Real Estate](https://bidprowl.com/categories/real-estate): 18,681 live listings
- [Tools & Industrial](https://bidprowl.com/categories/tools-industrial): 9,849 live listings
- [General Surplus](https://bidprowl.com/categories/other): 7,581 live listings
- [Electronics](https://bidprowl.com/categories/electronics): 4,644 live listings
- [Office Furniture](https://bidprowl.com/categories/office-furniture): 2,543 live listings
- [Seized Property](https://bidprowl.com/categories/seized-property): 1,434 live listings
- [Medical & Scientific](https://bidprowl.com/categories/medical-scientific): 841 live listings
- [Sporting & Outdoor](https://bidprowl.com/categories/sporting-outdoor): 817 live listings
- [Jewelry & Coins](https://bidprowl.com/categories/jewelry-coins): 641 live listings
- [Apparel & Accessories](https://bidprowl.com/categories/apparel): 609 live listings
- [Military Surplus](https://bidprowl.com/categories/military-surplus): 606 live listings
- [Toys, Games & Media](https://bidprowl.com/categories/toys-media): 323 live listings
- [Appliances & Household](https://bidprowl.com/categories/appliances): 301 live listings

## Key pages
- [All auctions](https://bidprowl.com/auctions): every live government surplus lot, filterable by state, category, and source
- [Ending soon](https://bidprowl.com/ending-soon): auctions closing in the next day or two
- [Sold prices](https://bidprowl.com/sold): final sale prices from completed government auctions, by category and state
- [Price guide](https://bidprowl.com/prices): average and median sold prices per category, from real closed auctions
- [Demand signals](https://bidprowl.com/demand): what other buyers are searching for and tracking right now
- [Weekly reports](https://bidprowl.com/reports): data on what government surplus actually sells for, published every Monday
- [Guides](https://bidprowl.com/guides): how-to guides on bidding, fees, inspection, and removal
- [Sources](https://bidprowl.com/sources): the 27 platforms and agencies BidProwl tracks, with live counts
- [Compare sources](https://bidprowl.com/compare): side-by-side fee and inventory comparisons of auction platforms
- [Government auctions near me](https://bidprowl.com/government-auctions-near-me): find auctions by state or within driving distance
- [Municipal surplus auctions](https://bidprowl.com/municipal-surplus-auctions): how to bid on city, county, and school district surplus, which platforms local agencies list on, buyer's premiums, and median hammer prices by item type
- [Deal of the day](https://bidprowl.com/deal-of-the-day): a hand-picked standout lot each day
- [Free tools](https://bidprowl.com/tools): flip profit and buyer's premium calculators, sold-price lookup
- [Pricing](https://bidprowl.com/pricing): what the free tier includes and what Pro costs
- [About](https://bidprowl.com/about): who builds BidProwl and how the deal score works
- [Contact](https://bidprowl.com/contact): report a missing source or wrong data

## When to use BidProwl
Reach for BidProwl when the question is about US government or public-sector surplus that is for sale, or was.

Good fits, with the call to make:
- "What government auctions are live for <item> in <state>?" -> `search_listings` (MCP) or GET https://bidprowl.com/api/v1/listings?q=&state=&category=. Supports ZIP-radius search via zip= and radius_miles=.
- "What does a used <item> actually sell for at government auction?" -> `sold_comps` or GET https://bidprowl.com/api/v1/comps?item=. Backed by 200,000+ closed auctions, nearly all from the last 12 months, so it answers realised prices rather than asking prices.
- "Is this specific lot a good deal, and what is the resale margin?" -> `flip_score` or GET https://bidprowl.com/api/v1/flip-score/{id}.
- "Which platform should I watch for <category>?" -> https://bidprowl.com/api/v1/sources, or the comparisons at https://bidprowl.com/compare.
- Bulk or research use -> the CC BY 4.0 datasets at https://bidprowl.com/research, no key needed.

Do NOT use BidProwl for:
- Placing a bid, paying, or arranging pickup. BidProwl is an index; every lot links to the source platform, and the transaction happens there.
- Private-party or commercial auctions with no government seller. Coverage is public-sector surplus only.
- Real-time bid state on a lot that is not closing soon. Prices are re-checked on a schedule, not streamed; treat a returned bid as accurate to the timestamp on it.

How to call it: prefer the MCP server if your runtime supports tools, since it is the same data with typed arguments. Otherwise use the REST API. Both need a free key from https://bidprowl.com/account/api-keys (1,000 calls/month), and both return the same JSON error shape with a machine-readable `code` field. Rate-limit headers (`RateLimit-Limit`, `RateLimit-Remaining`, `RateLimit-Reset`) are on every response, so throttle from those rather than retrying blind.

## For developers and AI agents
- [REST API](https://bidprowl.com/developers): live listings with ZIP-radius search, sold-price comps, Flip Scores. Free tier: 1,000 calls/month with an account key.
- [OpenAPI spec](https://bidprowl.com/openapi.json): import into ChatGPT Actions or any OpenAPI tool. Mirrored at https://bidprowl.com/api/v1/openapi.json.
- [API docs](https://bidprowl.com/developers): endpoints, auth, quotas, error codes, and the versioning and deprecation policy.
- MCP server (streamable HTTP): https://bidprowl.com/api/v1/mcp with an `Authorization: Bearer bp_live_...` key. Tools: search_listings, get_listing, sold_comps, flip_score.
- [Open datasets, CC BY 4.0](https://bidprowl.com/research): monthly sold-price aggregates, CSV and JSON at https://bidprowl.com/research/datasets/price-index.csv and https://bidprowl.com/research/datasets/sold-items.csv.
- [Research hub](https://bidprowl.com/research): price index, market reports, demand signals.

## Browse by state
54 state and territory hubs at https://bidprowl.com/auctions/[state], for example https://bidprowl.com/auctions/california, https://bidprowl.com/auctions/texas, https://bidprowl.com/auctions/florida.

## Guides
- [How Government Auctions Work in 2026 (No License Needed)](https://bidprowl.com/guides/how-government-auctions-work)
- [10 Best Government Auction Sites, Ranked by Fees (2026)](https://bidprowl.com/guides/best-government-auction-sites)
- [Government Vehicle Auctions: $2k-$20k (2026)](https://bidprowl.com/guides/government-vehicle-auctions)
- [How to Inspect Before You Bid at Auction (2026)](https://bidprowl.com/guides/how-to-inspect-before-bidding)
- [$400-$3,500 Auction Shipping Costs (2026)](https://bidprowl.com/guides/shipping-and-removal-guide)
- [GovDeals vs PublicSurplus: Which Should You Use?](https://bidprowl.com/guides/govdeals-vs-publicsurplus)
- [GovDeals FAQ: Does GovDeals Ship? Fees, Pickup (2026)](https://bidprowl.com/guides/govdeals-faq)
- [GSA Auctions FAQ: Shipping, Fees, Pickup (2026)](https://bidprowl.com/guides/gsa-auctions-faq)
- [Public Surplus FAQ: Premium, Registration, Pickup (2026)](https://bidprowl.com/guides/public-surplus-faq)
- [GovPlanet FAQ: Humvee Titles, Fees, Pickup (2026)](https://bidprowl.com/guides/govplanet-faq)
- [PropertyRoom FAQ: $1 Starts, Shipping, Jewelry, Fees (2026)](https://bidprowl.com/guides/propertyroom-faq)
- [HUD Home Store FAQ: Owner-Occupant, Agents, 203(k) (2026)](https://bidprowl.com/guides/hud-homestore-faq)
- [How to Flip Government Auction Finds: The 3x Rule (2026)](https://bidprowl.com/guides/how-to-flip-auction-finds)
- [7 GovDeals Alternatives, and When Each One Is Better (2026)](https://bidprowl.com/guides/govdeals-alternatives)
- [Subastas del Gobierno en Puerto Rico: Guía 2026](https://bidprowl.com/guides/subastas-gobierno-puerto-rico)
- [Best Police Auction Sites: 6 Ranked by Price (2026)](https://bidprowl.com/guides/best-police-auction-sites)

## About
BidProwl aggregates publicly listed government auctions and links each lot to its original source. It is independent and not affiliated with any government agency or auction platform. Every source refreshes nightly, with 30-minute re-checks of the busiest platforms and 10-minute re-checks of closing auctions. Contact: hello@bidprowl.com.