GAUK Auctions

Public-sector disposal in Britain and Ireland is scattered across dozens of separate bodies — police forces, councils, the Ministry of Defence, HM Revenue & Customs, insolvency practitioners — each with its own auctioneer and its own calendar. GAUK exists to gather that into one index so a buyer does not have to know which force uses which saleroom.

What you can buy

• Police and seized property — vehicles, bicycles, jewellery, electronics.
• Government and MoD surplus.
• Council and public body disposals.
• Customs seizures.
• Bankruptcy and liquidation stock.

How the bidding works

The site indexes and explains rather than sells: it points you at which auctioneer is handling a given category of public-sector sale and how that route works. Bidding, registration and payment all happen with the operator running the sale, under their terms.

What to check before you bid

Verify the sale at source before travelling. An index is only as current as its last update, and public-sector auction contracts change hands between salerooms more often than the listings reflect. Treat this as a map of where to look, then confirm the date, the venue and the terms on the auctioneer's own site.