40 U.S.C. § 503 — Exchange or sale of similar items

(a) Authority of Executive Agencies. When acquiring personal property, an executive agency may exchange or sell similar items it already owns, and apply the trade-in allowance or sale proceeds — in whole or in part — toward paying for the property being acquired. (b) Applicable Regulation and Law. (1) Such a transaction must be carried out under regulations the Administrator of General Services prescribes, which are themselves subject to regulations the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy prescribes under most of division B, subtitle I of title 41 (except sections 1704 and 2303). (2) The transaction must be documented in writing. (3) Section 6101(b) to (d) of title 41 — the general rules for selling government property — applies to a sale of property under subsection (a), except that fixed-price sales may be conducted the same way, and under the same conditions, as sales of property under section 545(d) of this title.