If you’ve been daydreaming of loading up, on the cheap, on tons of random goodies that your state government simply doesn’t know what to do with, then the next few days might just come as an early Christmas present.

That’s because there’s an online auction going on at GovDeals.com; one organized by the Surplus Property Division of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), and it’s a virtual grab bag of surplus property, confiscated items, and other assets that still have plenty of value — just not while they’re taking up space in state storage.

From now until Wednesday, Sept. 8, members of the public can apply to become authorized bidders on everything from trucks and vans to laptops and power tools. There’re even miscellaneous, all-in-one lot buys; one-price purchases that net you all the items in a single bundled assortment.

Think all those forsaken personal bits left behind at baggage claim and you’ll have the right idea. “In addition to property no longer needed by state and federal agencies, ADECA acquires items abandoned voluntarily at several airports in the Southeast,” the agency explains in a press release.

This week’s auction is one of the few times each year when the government’s leftovers are made available to the public. “ADECA conducts online public auctions periodically each year,” the agency notes, “but surplus items are available at any time to municipal and county governments, state agencies and qualified nonprofit organizations. In addition to the surplus property program, ADECA administers an array of grant programs for law enforcement and traffic safety, economic development, energy conservation, water resource management and recreation development.”

In other words, public agencies have already gotten first dibs on everything that’s on sale at the auction, so there’s no ethical worry here that surplus state property isn’t being put to its best use.

The bidding runs until 6 p.m. on Sept. 8, and everything on sale can be previewed at www.GovDeals.com/AlabamaSurplus. For information on how to become an authorized bidder, visit www.adeca.alabama.gov/online-auctions.