Govdeals Reviews 80

I bought Nissan 17 from gov deal seller was exotic cars in Virginia. Website said runs n drive no issue but when I got the cars battery dead n put new battery and when start driving had issue took it to mechanic and was surprised that transmission is bad n intake manifold is bad costing me car over9k its only worth 5k. So do ur home work before u buy. I’m done with this govdeal bc it’s 2nd time they burnt me

I won a generator on Govdeals.com (auction ended monday) but for some reason the email advising me that i won got sent to my junk box and i did not see it until Friday- 4 days later. Upon finding the email i went on to Govdeals, signed in and tried to pay for the item. It would not let me pay. The only option to pay was wire transfer. I live remote in Alaska so doing wire transfer is not an easy task. I went in to town the following Monday during business hours and attempted to send the wire. I went on to Govdeals website to confirm the wire instructions and i was locked out of my account. I called customer service and the representative was not helpful and rude.
I asked if this was normal protocol to require someone to set up and process a wire transfer in 4 business days? I asked how I can avoid these types of auctions in the future. I was told that it says under the payment section of the listing. I went back and looked and i do not see anywhere on the listing that it requires wire transfer. I explained to customer service that it did not have anything in the payment section stating it would require a wire transfer, it actually said “Payment must be made online”. She told me i was wrong and basically hung up on me. Not really sure why you would want to mislead your customers, I assume this was an accident and customer service was trying to avoid it coming to light? I wish this would have had a different outcome. It makes sense that you want your customers on both the buying and selling side happy. It does not make sense to mislead your buyers, causing them to default on an item, resulting in a non sale. The whole point of the website is to sell items.

No one has been able to tell me how to identify a listing that will require wire transfer?
I have purchased many items and never had this issue. I understand large purchases over certain dollar amount may require wire transfer but that was not the case.

Dear Customer Support,

It is frustrating that the buyer is penalized for the seller’s mistakes. Your refusal to offer any meaningful solutions and the reliance on policies to justify this lack of assistance is disappointing. This approach is unhelpful and reflects poorly on your service.

I wish I could give ZERO stars. Maybe my misfortune can help someone else avoid the same problem. I bid on a car that I really wanted. I had been obsessively watching my bid (high bidder for almost 3 days). While surfing the site, I bid on 3 cheap, fun items. It accepted the 3 new bids then said i was on "probation" and could not make any new bids. It would let me increase my bid on the 3 cheap things that I just tried for fun, but it would not let me increase my bid on the car-- even though it was the first thing I bid on. So 2 items closed and I "won" (yay, me), and I immediately paid for them so I could return to bidding on the car. Relent, the car was the first bid I made. We'll, paying for the items is not enough-- you have to pick up the items. It would be tight bc the car closes in 17 hours, but it is possible. But wait... we had a major snow storm and my car is plowed in so I can't pick the 2 crap items up. The ones I already paid for. So I call to ask why I can increase my bid on items 2, 3, and 4, but not the first item. The rep said, "I don't see that you bid on the car yet." Yes, I did. I bid a very specific, odd number, and it clearly shows on the website that I was an early bidder. She said if I had bid on the car, I would not have been allowed to make the other bids (which makes sense-- except I DID bid on the car already... my first bid was on the car). So #1) be aware of the "probation" issue. 2) Know that winning and paying for the items does not count (which makes no sense, bc they HAVE my $$, you would think paying for the items would count for something). 3) Don't bid during a national snow emergency bc you will probably get screwed. IF the probation thing had been clearly indicated before they "probate" your account (it is not "locked"; it's just that you can't increase an existing bid or start a new bid while it is probated-- which is clearly very different from being locked) I would have never put my first bid, the thing I really wanted, in jeopardy. So in summation: 1) If you bid on 3 items at once, you are on probation. 2) Paying for 2 items that closed does not count as completing the transaction. 3)Don't bid during a snow emergency. 4) Just same yourself the trouble and frustration and don't bother visiting the site unless you are a full-fledged "buy stuff to resell for profit" kind of person, because there are so many rules, there is no way a casual buyer who wants something for actual ownership can keep up with all the rules. On the other hand, if you are someone who buys stuff you don't want or need but you want to resell it for a profit, this is the size for you. Be a professional buyer to make sure an average person can't get an occasional deal on their own. Puts them in the same category as ticket scalpers (legal, but keeps real fans from being able to go to concerts). Have fun. Happy bidding. Read all 30 screens of rules before thinking you can actually bid on anything worthwhile as a private citizen. I was, however, able to pick up cheap highlighters for my students, but those cost me the opportunity to keep bidding on the car that I really wanted. LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES. Yes, this is TMI, but I'm frustrated and disappointed; at least let me vent and warn others.

I have two huge issues with govdeals.com -
1. They charged me sales taxes on internet purchases that were shipped to my home in a non-sales tax state, and they failed to respond to my requests for refunds on two purchases in which I was illegally charged a sales tax
2. I discovered that in some cases, municipalities have a govdeals.com employee take the photos of the vehicles being sold by a municipality. I was advises this by the contact person on a vehicle I bid on. Why is this a problem? It is NOT in they buyers' interest for the auction site to be taking and uploading the photos for any item for sale, where the photographer can take more favorable views of an item, potentially hiding issues that may otherwise result in items either not being bid on, or having lower bids. In my case, I won a bid on a car which looked pristine - upon arrival to pick the car up, the car was so far from how it appeared on the ad, I thought they brought out the wrong car. I suggest that NO ONE bid on any car with govdeals.com that can't be seen in advance.

Will NEVER do business with govdeals.com again.

I’m writing this review because I genuinely believed this was a legitimate government surplus auction platform. While some listings may come from government entities, many vehicles are posted by private sellers, and that is not made clear upfront. Sellers use official-sounding names like “government surplus,” list public-looking addresses, and only after payment do you find out you’re dealing with a private individual who asks you to meet at a house, parking lot, or random location.

There is little to no transparency, no seller ratings or reviews, and no meaningful checks and balances. Vehicles are often misrepresented in the listing (for example: claiming no warning lights or mechanical issues), and once payment is made, buyers are told the sale is “as-is” and are left without support, even in cases of clear misrepresentation.

This platform protects sellers, not buyers. If you are considering purchasing a high-ticket item like a vehicle, please do extreme due diligence and understand that private sellers can list here with minimal oversight. Buyer beware — what looks like a reputable government site can turn into a very costly mistake.

A friend of mine told me about this site he has been purchasing vehicles here for years so I looked it up and found some interesting deals ended up buying a beautiful ford explorer thousands less then what I saw when I was shopping around in my area. I just received my car and it was just as described I would definitely shop here again. Thank you gov deals

My brother got a great deal on a used car and recommended I check it out. I also found the car i wanted

Picked up a jeep wrangler recently. Saved thousands from what it would have cost me. I would use govdeals again

Looking for a good deal on a car for my daughter friend told me about govdeals.com spent a couple of weeks searching out some cars and got a great deal on a little Mini Cooper saved a couple of grand and the transaction went very smooth

I have been watching the auctions on this site for many years and recently was interested in bidding on a Honda Civic (VIN 19XFB2F87CE022442) that is listed on their site. I ran a VIN check and discovered the odometer has been rolled back on the vehicle and the title is branded (per the state DMV). Numerous other potential bidders have since posted in the Q&A about the same issues. The seller is Liquidity Services which is GovDeals own liquidation arm. They have replied that they didn't know about the rollback or branding, but even after it was pointed out, repeatedly, the listing was never corrected. The vehicle has now been re-listed about a half dozen times and the listing still says accurate odometer and clean title - neither of which is true. Buyer beware.

The use of a 3rd party to handle payments is nothing more than an avenue for Govdeals to deflect accountability for the slow, painstaking process that buyers must endure for all purchases over $5k.

Purchased a caterpillar rock truck from them. In the pictures it had very good tires. When I received the truck they had removed 4 of the 6 tires post auction and replaced them with junk tires. These tires cost almost 10k a piece to replace. I've tried to work with govdeals on getting some reimbursement but they will not even communicate. Maybe they will talk to my lawyer and the judge since they committed fraud and theft.

I bought a trailer from a municipality and as normal paid for it before I could get it. I drove 7 hours to get it and it was junk, frame twisted, flat tire on 1 wheel, loaded with scrap metal stuff and this was just the part I could see. I refused it and called the municipality, and the guy was great, said he was not aware of the condition and I could refuse it. I drove back home empty handed. I contacted Gov Deals by email and they said they would assist me with the refund. I was directed to Flywire (the new payment department representing Gov Deals) and started my claim for refund. After 10 emails, sending my payment verification papers 4 times and over 5 weeks later, as of this email I've still got nothing. The amount I paid was $1,265.65. I've bought from Gov Deals for over 10 years and probably spent upwards of $100K on "stuff" but never had an issue with them in the past. NOW I'm getting screwed and Gov Deals just keeps referring me to Flywire. I just read some reviews on this site and from what I read, it's all to about business and not about customer service. it's time to stop doing business with them. Hate to do this but I'm adding my review. I paid with a wire transfer and once it's sent from my bank to them, it's gone, cannot get it reversed! The date is 10/27/2025, my claim started 09/22/2025 and still nothing. It's buyer BEWARE!!!!

Gov deals is so shady if the vehicle is bad bad rusted out I'm talking bad they will hide them pictures of all the bad stuff especially if it's got low miles on it because I know that they don't show that bad stuff and all the rusted frames and everything on them with low miles that will get top dollar they got me good real good sad about hundreds of thousand dollars with the vehicles up from these people there's got to be the worst they've ever done me that's because it had real low miles on it and they knew they could scam somebody this place should be looked into for deceiving people I don't think it's right should be against the law I'm checking into a lawyer right now to see if I can do anything to them about this cuz I paid so much for the vehicle and I got I flat out got ripped off sick the truck was not even useable it should have been taken to the scrap yard because of the rest was so bad severe on the vehicle they should not even been selling this thing like they did they did it basically just to rip people off lied about the pictures it all the bad stuff shady shady people don't buy from them

The vehicle I purchased had a flat tire when I picked it up which was not pictured nor disclosed when I arranged to pick it up, Also the center main screen was totally inoperable which was also not disclosed. I was quoted $1600 by Ford to replace the screen. Without it the stereo, bluetooth and rearview camera do not work.

After running Automotive lots and buying for dealerships, I have never been lied to as much as gov deals. The cars were not described correctly, in writing, gov deals will not refund my money for 1 example a rusted completely Toyota FJ body frame and all. Gov deals is a generator for traffic and sales with NO intent to take care of buyers… please stay away from this so called auction company
Take it from a guy that spent my life in the automotive business.

Govdeals is a private for profit company. It was a good place to get surplus government equipment at one time (back in 2010). Now, now is a different story. They have private companies selling items that are misrepresented. The descriptions are vague and lacking any meaningful information. You can not get anything from there now and make a profit from it. I have spent $30k in the last month on GovDeals. Recently won an auction for what I thought was 48 laptops, turns out to be 10 laptops that retail for like $30 each. I won the auction for $450 + 12.5% buyer premium. Contacted GovDeals to cancel my bid due to the misleading description and title. I was told by GovDeals to contact the seller. I contacted the seller and they said to pay for the auction and they would include the other 38 laptops if I Zelled them extra money. What?
Basically, GovDeals now lets just anyone sell on their platform. GovDeals collects 12.5% of the final price and does nothing to help the buyer if there is a problem. Sellers want retail prices for items that they can't even take the time to create a detailed list, condition of, or good pictures of the items they are selling.

I've bought a few items through Govdeals and have NEVER had any problems in the past...that all change on 8/25/25. bid on and won a siren/control box from Southwest Towing and Recovery in Missouri for $135.00 plus shipping cost. Emailed seller to please send me the total cost so I can pay the bill within minutes of winning the bid...received an email from Govdeals on 8/26/25 stating that the seller is not going to honor the sale...I'll called Govdeals and what I got back from the girl that answered was they (THE SELLER) cancelled the sale to me and that's within their rights to do so, I tried to get some more information...but that's when she got really RUDE and told me there was nothing they could do about it and the sale was off. So if a buyer doesn't go though with the sale you block them, but apparently if the seller doesn't go through with the sale...it's oh well. I've never had this happen to me at live on site auctions nor internet auctions and never had a problem with these folks until now. I will never use these RUDE and OBNOXIOUS people any longer...The bad thing is...THEY DON'T EVEN GIVE A CARE ABOUT THE BUYER...ONLY THE SELLER AND THEIR $$$$$$$$$$$$$

I won a small boat from Govdeals and received the "Certificate" which I was told that I had to have to pick up the boat. I drove 125 miles pulling a trailer and had my navigation guide to the location. Once there I saw a tow storage area and across the street was a 40x50 metal building but nothing had any signage identifying the site as a govt facility. I looked at the certificate to get a phone number but there was no number. I then emailed the seller and waited about 15 minutes but never got a response. I then called Govdeals customer Service and they said they were sorry and they would try to reach someone and would call me back..I waited two hours and never received any calls or emails from Govdeals. I drove for 3 hours back home and sent an email requesting that the transaction be cancelled. They responded that the pickup location was the Tow Storage and that there was a telephone number on their gate to call. They asked when I would return to pick up the boat and I said to cancel the transaction. The next email said that the item had been cancelled and that I would have to pay a fine of $108 and I was locked out of all future bidding.
The issue is that Govdeals appears to think they have no responsibility for these flagrant mistakes. Why don't they verify the sellers telephone and email information?