UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry

Background

The University of Texas Dental School at San Antonio was founded in 1969 in response to the lack of available dentists in the state. By 1970 classes begun at the UT Medical School location and five years later a dedicated space for the program was constructed. In 2015 the School of Dentistry opened the Center for Oral Health Care and Research, a state-of-the-art facility that included all brand-new equipment.

Challenge & Approach

Since the new School of Dentistry location came with the newest equipment, it was necessary for the old facility’s assets to be liquidated. Hundreds of pieces of like-new dental equipment were available, including the industry’s best dental chairs, lighting systems, x-rays, medical supplies, office furniture, and more. The Surplus Marketplace team, then working under a former partnership, were tasked with organizing, lotting, marketing, and auctioning more than 900 lots. At the time, this was the biggest auction the team had performed, but with decades of dental and medical expertise, we were able to deploy an effective strategy. First the field services manager, now owner of Surplus Marketplace, and representatives assessed the assets available for value and lotted those based on the maximum return that it was expected to bring.

Given the equipment was in a like-new – a majority in brand-new – condition, the Surplus Marketplace’s marketing manager was able to leverage a large medical-based audience throughout North America. Given the high-value equipment and the valued reputation of the UT Health system, more than 14,000 dentists, doctors, and other like businesses were identified and promoted to through physical and digital targeted marketing campaigns.

Results

With over 900 lots of equipment, it was determined that the online auction would benefit the most with two separate close dates, rather than the standard one day. The strategy paid off with the auction closing at more than one million dollars and 100 unique winning bidders from ten states, and several countries. All lots were sold and removed within the preset timeframe. This was and remains one of the largest dental equipment auctions in the United States and the Surplus Marketplace team is proud to have set the precedent for how these type of auctions are to be performed.

References

Duncancl. “50 Years of Excellence: An Introduction to School's History.” Magazines of the Schools at UT Health San Antonio, 1 Dec. 2020, https://magazines.uthscsa.edu/schools/2020/12/01/50-years-of-excellence-an-introduction-to-schools-history/.

O’Hare, Peggy. “Ut Dental School Dedicates New Oral Health Care Center.” MySA, Express-News, 11 Sept. 2015, https://www.mysanantonio.com/business/health-care/article/UT-dental-school-dedicates-new-oral-health-care-6496882.php.