Online auction taking place for items once owned by Triangle Tech
After 80 years of training trade professionals across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Triangle Tech has closed its doors, and certain items that belonged to the school are now available via online auction.
In June 2024, Triangle Tech announced they were shuttering campuses in Pittsburgh, Greensburg, DuBois, Sunbury, Chambersburg, and Bethlehem. School officials cited complications due to the COVID-19 pandemic, declining enrollment, and "strenuous government regulations."
Hostetter Auctioneers, based in Beaver Falls, has been contracted to auction off certain assets to the public. Items range from raw building materials to power tools to laptop computers, all available with just a few clicks.
"There's plenty of material here," said Luis Cheng, Hostetter's Lead Auction Coordinator. "There's good lumber, there's insulation behind me, all sorts of materials. Up top, there's PVC for plumbing, whatever you need. There's a wide array of all sorts of materials."
The company's website lists items for auction in three separate auctions from Triangle Tech properties this month. The first two will auction off items from the North Side campus located off Perrysville Avenue, while the third will feature items from the DuBois campus.
Cheng says the process for logging on and making a bid is simple: sign up with an email address, link a credit card for potential payment for a successful bid, and then search the various auction dates and events to find items. There's even a keyword search on the website to simplify the search.
Potential buyers could be anyone from contractors to company offices to individual buyers looking to purchase things for their homes. But it's important to keep track of your bids since they're happening online 24 hours a day.
"They're trying to accumulate tools and stuff to better themselves and their company," Cheng said. "They can come to auctions like this and benefit through buying used but still very good tools. On the other hand, there's individuals who are just trying to do simple work at home: fix up your balcony, your deck, or stuff like that, so it kind of affects a broad spectrum of buyers."
Cheng said an online auction typically runs for two weeks, given the nature of the items available. The 12th day of the process is the "preview" period, where potential buyers can come to a specific location and physically see the items for auction up close.
"We help answer questions, we show people around, we make sure people are looking at the right lots that they're bidding on," he said. "Shortly after that, the auction ends on Day 14. We come back with the paperwork, John Doe comes in, and he signs his invoice. We give half the copy to him. We show him, say, he bought 'Lot 55,' and a couple of other tools. We help him load, and then he's on his way."
