Need Office Furnishings? Check Duke Surplus

Get supplies at no charge for remote or on-site work

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Duke Surplus Warehouse
Melissa Neeley sits in a desk chair she found through Duke Surplus. Photo by Jack Frederick.

Duke’s surplus donation program provides office furniture and furnishings for Duke’s schools, departments, and units at no charge. To obtain surplus – whether for on-site or remote office use – staff and faculty with prior approval from their department provide an interdepartmental request (IR) form, which includes the department cost center for tracking purposes, when they visit the donation site.

Staff and faculty with a Duke Card ID can visit Duke Surplus to access a 2,000-square-foot space that houses bookshelves, desks, rugs, chairs, binders, notepads, toner cartridges, and more. The donation site is open two days a week to Duke community members, who are able to take items with them, tag the items for pick up or coordinate delivery at the department’s expense.  Registered area non-profits can also take advantage of the Duke Surplus Donation Site.  

“Essentially, we’re giving Duke’s excess a second chance,” said Mary B. Crawford, senior director for Duke Procurement and Supply Chain. “It’s a mechanism that simultaneously reduces our carbon footprint and avoids costly expenses to purchase new.”

Items are made available to departments as Duke requires that all surplus property no longer in need such as chairs, desks and computers, go through Surplus for processing. Materials deemed unusable are recycled through Duke Surplus. 

Crawford said the warehouse has been busy, with staff from units and departments visiting since COVID-19 disrupted on-site workspaces. With some employees in hybrid or fully remote arrangements, surplus office furnishings can be used for remote work purposes with departmental approval.

Duke Surplus finds like this photograph helped Matthew Eggleston re-decorate spaces for the Department of Economics. Photo by Jack Frederick.

Matthew Eggleston, staff assistant with the Department of Economics, has visited the surplus warehouse to pick up equipment for faculty and staff to use in their offices on West Campus.

He’s found desks and filing cabinets, as well as framed photos of Duke’s campus, including images of Duke University Chapel and other landmarks. After filling out paperwork, he packed framed photos in his car and brought them to campus to decorate the walls of the Social Sciences Building.

“I was able to completely redecorate the hallways on the second and third floors,” Eggleston said. “It should be something pretty to look at and enjoy.”

To receive a current schedule of donation dates, send an email to surplus@duke.edu.

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