The Great California Garage Sale!

If you enjoy spending weekends hunting bargains at garage sales, this Friday and Saturday could be heaven on earth. The Great California Garage Sale is being held in Sacramento at the Department of General Services (DGS) Surplus Property Warehouse. The event was conceived last month as part of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s renewed push to fill the gaping hole in the state budget. Interested shoppers can visit the DGS garage sale Web site, http://www.dgs.ca.gov/GarageSale.htm, to find the list of items to be sold.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is hoping that the “Great California Garage Sale” will turn government clutter like surplus prison uniforms and office furniture into cash to bulk up the state’s depleted finances. On offer as the state clears out clutter are nearly 600 state-owned vehicles and thousands of pieces of office furniture, computers, electronics, jewelry, pianos, even a surf board, a food saver and an Xbox 360 gaming system.

The Great California Garage Sale also marks the first time the state is reaching out to potential customers who live beyond the Sacramento metropolitan area. Earlier this week officials announced the first of many items for sale on craigslist.org, including desktops, laptops, BlackBerrys, chairs and desks. The DGS also began auctioning a selection of vehicles on eBay. The vehicles, which include a range of sedans, SUVs and vans, have all been autographed by Schwarzenegger. As of this writing, every vehicle on eBay had multiple bids, with a high-mileage Ford Taurus at around $1,500 on the low end and a 2003 Honda Civic drawing the highest bid at $6,000.

For hundreds of other vehicles not autographed by the governor, including several California Highway Patrol motorcycles, a traditional auction will take place Aug. 28.

State officials estimate the giant two-day yard sale being held at a state warehouse will bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars. In addition to clearing out office products, the state is also selling unclaimed property from state parks and items confiscated by law enforcement, said California Department of General Services spokesman Eric Lamoureux.

The prison department contributed dental chairs and surplus prison shirts and jeans. “This is a win-win for the state and for shoppers,” Schwarzenegger said in a statement Tuesday announcing that a selection of items also would be sold on eBay and Craigslist. “Together we are eliminating waste and providing great deals in this tough economy.”

The idea for a garage sale came from state employees and was put into motion by Schwarzenegger through an executive order earlier this year. At the time, the state was struggling with a projected $26 billion deficit.

After signing the order to reduce the state’s 40,000 government vehicles by 15 percent, Schwarzenegger posted a video message thanking his Twitter followers for their budget-balancing ideas, including one follower’s suggestion to autograph state-owned vehicles being put up for auction.

“You come up with the great ideas. Why not just sign the cars since you’re a celebrity governor? Sign the cars and sell it for more money,” the governor said in the video where he was seen sitting at his desk in the state Capitol admiring a 2-foot-long folding knife before addressing viewers. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

On Wednesday, he returned to the Web, telling viewers in an online conversation with the founders of Twitter at the company’s San Francisco headquarters that he believes autographing items would drive up prices because a signed leather jacket with the governor’s seal once fetched $30,000.

According to the Department of General Services, all the cars are in working condition and generally have over 100,000 miles. They include pickup trucks, sedans and former California Highway Patrol motorcycles and patrol cars.

State officials expect the discounts will draw thousands. The public was invited to preview cars for sale Thursday but the garage sale begins Friday at 8 a.m. The sale will shut down at midnight Saturday.

Schwarzenegger was scheduled to visit the sale Friday morning.