Retired equipment is still worth money
A rack that has to be emptied is a disposal job for most organisations. It is that, and there is an amount in it that is almost always higher than the scrap value being offered. We buy that equipment, and this page says how we arrive at a figure and what to check before you say yes to anyone.
From list to payment
Five steps. The first decides how sharp the offer is, the third decides how sure you are that it is right.
You send a list
Part number or type designation, quantity, age and whether it still runs. A list with part numbers gets a sharper offer than a list with descriptions, because then nothing has to be estimated.
We come back with an offer
Per line, not as one figure at the bottom. That way you see which equipment is worth money and which is only along for the disposal, and that gap is often wider than expected.
Collection and count
The equipment is collected and registered per unit by serial number. That list is later the proof that a device genuinely left the building, and it is the document an audit turns on.
Wiping with a certificate
Every data carrier is wiped to a recognised method, or physically destroyed where wiping is no longer possible. Each carrier gets a certificate with its serial number on it.
Payment
After the count and the wipe, based on what was actually found. If the count differs from the list, you hear what was different before anything is settled.
Four things that set the price
None of the four is the purchase price, and in most organisations that is exactly the misunderstanding.
- What demand is leftThe second-hand market does not follow the new price but the demand for that one model. A generation with years of support left holds value; a generation that has just fallen off support drops away within a quarter.
- The configuration, not the chassisThe money sits in what is inside: processors, memory, drives, controllers and licences. An empty chassis is worth almost nothing and a fully populated machine sometimes a multiple of what people expect.
- CompletenessRails, caddies, power supplies, cables and the original bezel decide whether something can go on as a working system or only as parts. Throwing out rails separately is the most common way to throw away value without noticing.
- TimingThe value sits in the first months after write-off. Equipment that stands in a storeroom for a year has not been kept but written off, and then you are back to paying for disposal.
Three things to check in any offer
They are rarely in the offer and they decide what you are left with below the line.
- Who carries the transportAn offer that does not mention collection is an offer with the freight still to come off it. On half a rack that is a line item which comfortably exceeds the gap between two bids.
- Do you get a certificate per deviceUnder the GDPR your organisation stays responsible for the data, including after the device has been sold. Without a certificate per serial number you have no proof, and then it is your problem if something surfaces.
- What happens to what is worth nothingEvery batch contains equipment nobody will pay for. That should go along and be processed, not stay behind with you as a remainder you still have to dispose of yourself.
What we make an offer on
Branded equipment holds its value best. Four groups, and per group what to watch when drawing up the list.
- ServersDell, HPE, IBM, Lenovo, Fujitsu, Supermicro and Cisco. The offer follows from the configuration and not from the chassis, so note processors, memory and drives per machine.
- StorageNetApp, Dell, HPE, IBM, Hitachi Vantara and Quantum, plus the NAS systems from Synology and QNAP. Controllers and licences count and rarely appear on an export; list them separately.
- NetworkingCisco, Juniper, Arista, HPE Aruba, Extreme Networks, Brocade, Fortinet and NETGEAR. Transceivers and power supplies trade separately, so put them on the list rather than in the box.
- ComponentsMemory and drives from Micron, Kingston, Samsung, Seagate and Western Digital, processors from Intel and AMD and cards from NVIDIA. Selling them loose often returns more than leaving them in an empty machine.
What goes with this
Selling is one exit; there are two.
Questions we get about this
The ones that come up most, answered briefly.
Do you also buy small batches?
Yes, but the sum changes. With a handful of devices the transport weighs heavily and little of a small offer survives. It is then often wiser to let it travel with a disposal job and settle the residual value, rather than making a separate sale of it.
How do I know for certain that the data is gone?
Because you get it on paper, per serial number. Every data carrier is wiped to a recognised method or physically destroyed where wiping is no longer possible, and each carrier produces a certificate. Without that certificate per device you have no proof, and under the GDPR the responsibility stays with you.
Is payment made before or after collection?
After the count and the wipe, because only then is it settled what was actually found. If the count differs from the list you sent in, you hear what was different before anything is settled.
Find out what is in that rack
Send the list with part numbers and quantities. You get an offer back per line, with the equipment nobody will pay for listed separately underneath.
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