Terrapin Trader’s Treasures Revealed

A short drive from campus, tucked along a row of loading docks, a head-bobbing garden decoy owl beckons visitors to giant red double doors. Inside, red shoeprints form a trail down one hallway after another, finally stopping at a giant American flag made of spray-painted computer mice and keyboards—giving just a hint of the secondhand treasures at Terrapin Trader.

This week, the University of Maryland’s official surplus store is welcoming Terps with a grand reopening sale, offering not only its typical selection of office furniture, exercise equipment and computers, but also surprises like an “M”-branded pool table as well as heavily discounted, new Under Armour shoes and apparel, just in time for Homecoming. (Size 17 bright-red sneakers, anyone?).

“Everything you see here was once in someone’s office, someone’s lab. This is the final stop for all items purchased on campus,” said Sean Wynn, director of logistical services for Facilities Management (FM). “A lot of folks only knew our old location (on Campus Drive) or had no idea we were here at all. It’s a real missed opportunity, so we wanted to invite the community here to partake.” 

Originally opened in 1994, Terrapin Trader moved to the Severn Building in 2015, off Greenbelt Road. Stepping into the warehouse, customers will see rows of computers—the Macs go quickly, Wynn noted—fully wiped and ready for new users, as well as various cords, keyboards and monitors to go with them. A sea of multicolored filing cabinets and bookshelves, as well as desks and chairs, fills out the rest of the floor. 

Terrapin Trader picks up items at UMD units’ request, so the merchandise is constantly changing. One week, visitors might find a fleet of vacuum cleaners and floor scrubbers after FM upgrades its cleaning equipment, along with a dozen elliptical machines and stationary bikes formerly used in a RecWell gym. Another week, there might be a collection of art prints or watches, or one-offs like a hand-made wooden desk and hutch from a retiring professor’s office. 

“Once something’s gone, you may not see it again for a couple of years,” he said. 

More expensive equipment, such as items originally purchased for at least $5,000, are sold via GovDeals, an auction site. That ranges from farm machinery to cars to mobile leaf collectors, as well as weather drones and lab equipment like incubators. 

A few times a year, Terrapin Trader gets new surplus items from the University Bookstore, such as hoodies, sweats, jerseys and sneakers, with prices from around $30 to $70. While most of its customers are external, this week, only UMD community members can shop, giving Terps first dibs on red, black and gold gear. 

Though there’s currently no public online inventory, going forward, Wynn plans to increase marketing via social media and emails as various items come in. 

Selling the secondhand items contributes to the university’s sustainability goals by keeping usable items out of landfills. Terrapin Trader typically makes between $300,000-$500,000 per year, which goes back into the unit’s operating costs. 

Gina Federer, FM program director for communications, hopes the reopening event inspires more people to stop by regularly to find a few gems. “It is just such a cool place. There’s so much stuff there and it’s so inexpensive.”