UW Surplus Store brimming with bargains

SEATTLE -- Many shoppers think buying online will get them the best deals, but they probably haven't been to the University of Washington Surplus Store.

Like a Disneyland for bargain hunters, the surplus store is filled with a sea of unusual and varied items packed into a 15,000-square-foot building.

"Anything that ever existed in a department, whether it's a stapler or a super computer, whether it's lab equipment, lab glass to art, chairs and historical memorabilia," said Eric Wahl of the surplus store.

The store had been around for 30 years, and every year it receives thousands of items from different areas of the university.

"Our chief goal is to keep things out of a landfill and find new uses and new buyers for everything that comes in,' Wahl said.

More than 50,000 items pass through the store every year, making it look less like a warehouse and more like a small city.

"I'm re-doing my closet and I have found some amazing bookshelves that are going to go in there very nicely," said shopper Gabby Potts.

The unique thing about the surplus program is that it's self sustaining, which the university says helps cut down on hefty disposal fees, but also makes sorting an adventure.

"We find a lot of things that people just left in their offices, left in their drawers," Wahl said. "We get a lot of umbrellas, a lot of coffee mugs."

And while some of the items can baffle the mind, one person's trash is another's treasure. And that's music to ears of bargain hunters everywhere.

The UW Surplus Store is open to the public every Tuesday from noon to 6 p.m.