Refurbished IT Equipment

SkidMarkKing

SkidMarkKing

SkidMarkKing

Associate
Joined
25 Jul 2009
Posts
1,597
Location
England
Hi there,

there are many businesses out there who refurbish computers, laptops, phones etc and then sell them on.

Wondering how these companies obtain the equipment? Is it all liquidation, auctions etc or simply buying from the public and reselling on? (not sure this would provide them with enough stock though?)

Thanks
 
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these are ex corporate laptops usually.. they only keep them for about 2 or 3 years. once the warranty has gone they get offloaded. we sometimes have trollys go out with 100s on. Im not sure what happens after they leave, i imagine HP them sell them off in bulk to recycling companys hence 1000s of them on ebay for sale.

consumer laptops arent usually worth it, they are made cheap not easily serviceable, and not sold off in big enough volumes
 
SkidMarkKing said:
Hi there,

there are many businesses out there who refurbish computers, laptops, phones etc and then sell them on.

Wondering how these companies obtain the equipment? Is it all liquidation, auctions etc or simply buying from the public and reselling on? (not sure this would provide them with enough stock though?)

Thanks
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Some places i.E colleges, schools, uni will give them away for free but you have to comply with weee regulations, have a proper business and make sure you have large transport with correct moving equipment I.E storage units, boxes etc.

I used to work for one picking up kit and refurbing it to sell online.
 
Companies generally need to dispose of their kit responsibly i.e. data security and so on. This costs £10 per item to "recycle" (i.e. throw away!) tech. So I think it's quite appealing when a firm will take stuff away to refurbish it.

I diverted quite a lot from waste at my company by collecting it and storing under my desk, then in the quiet December weeks I'd wipe it all and ship it home. Then I would set it up and distribute it to charities, schools, community groups and stuff.
 
LuckyBenski said:
Companies generally need to dispose of their kit responsibly i.e. data security and so on. This costs £10 per item to "recycle" (i.e. throw away!) tech. So I think it's quite appealing when a firm will take stuff away to refurbish it.

I diverted quite a lot from waste at my company by collecting it and storing under my desk, then in the quiet December weeks I'd wipe it all and ship it home. Then I would set it up and distribute it to charities, schools, community groups and stuff.
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Might be a case of me reaching out to some larger, local business then? (Obviously all items will have NEW hard drives / solid state drives installed before being sold on)
 
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SkidMarkKing said:
I wanted to expand my business to do this as well as to provide to my local clients.
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It's a big thing. As long as you are willing to take away everything that's technology even if it's broken. They won't just let you pick and choose. It takes time to referb stuff as well and you need the work force to cope with the demand.

I was picking up 100s and hundreds of laptops and desktops digital/analog phones a week, you have to have correct, safe storage units for them all as well.
 
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SkidMarkKing said:
Might be a case of me reaching out to some larger, local business then? (Obviously all items will have NEW hard drives / solid state drives installed before being sold on)
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Absolutely, it might start with a good informal relationship. As GaryTheSnail says there's probably some paperwork to be done to prove you're a trustworthy place to send sensitive storage devices. Alternatively you might be able to remove the storage on site or similar. All comes down to what the organisation will agree to, so perhaps a medium rather than large org. Large organizations tend to have systems in place for their hardware lifecycle including disposal.
 
SkidMarkKing said:
Might be a case of me reaching out to some larger, local business then? (Obviously all items will have NEW hard drives / solid state drives installed before being sold on)
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You can't just really reach out until you have the back bone in place. They need to be able to contact you to dispose of assets as well and you will NEED to keep an asset register. All forms must be signed by both parties and policies and procedures must be in place.

You need a certificate as well to say you can do all of this.

You would be classed as a reseller/redistributor so you may need the correct Microsoft approval and support for OEM licences on systems (unless you put back on what was on the system in the first place). Can't remember off the top of my head but you will get away with OEM licences for a bit until Microsoft finds you for any reason.

This may or may not still apply, I was in this role about 6 years ago.
 
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GaryTheSnail said:
You can't just really reach out until you have the back bone in place. They need to be able to contact you to dispose of assets as well and you will NEED to keep an asset register. All forms must be signed by both parties and policies and procedures must be in place.

You need a certificate as well to say you can do all of this.

You would be classed as a reseller so you may need the Microsoft approval and support for OEM licences on systems (unless you put back on what was on the system in the first place).
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Many thanks guys.

Any idea on the name of the certificate?

I worked in IT for almost 15 years and setup my own company providing IT support 3 years ago. (I have managed to build up some excellent google reviews for my area as well).

I know of a place near me who dispose of hard drives/data and give you a certificate once done.
 
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SkidMarkKing said:
For the cost of new drives now I wouldn't be using the original drives.

Brand new would be installed and the old ones destroyed.
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You won't have a choice. Some companies will have systems with them already in the devices so you will have to wipe them correctly.

Every single drive has to have the care and attention so no data can be retrieved no matter who's hands it goes through.

When you say destroyed - which method? You could put them through a crusher then sell on the metal.
 
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GaryTheSnail said:
You won't have a choice. Some companies will have systems with them already in the devices so you will have to wipe them correctly.

Every single drive has to have the care and attention so no data can be retrieved no matter who's hands it goes through.

When you say destroyed - which method?
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Do you mean like EMMC storage where it's on the motherboard and not swappable?
 
SkidMarkKing said:
For the cost of new drives now I wouldn't be using the original drives.

Brand new would be installed and the old ones destroyed.
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Part of the appeal in buying refurbished equipment is in the cost reduction through used items - installing new drives will negate that.

Especially in the server market, whereby I can buy 4 or 5 "refurbished and warrantied" drives from a reseller I use, for the same price as 1 new drive from HP or Dell.
 
GaryTheSnail said:
Any device with customer data on it weather it be solid state or mechanical.
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Yup, sorry the way I read it when you said I wouldn't have any other option through me.

Armageus said:
Part of the appeal in buying refurbished equipment is in the cost reduction through used items - installing new drives will negate that.

Especially in the server market, whereby I can buy 4 or 5 "refurbished and warrantied" drives from a reseller I use, for the same price as 1 new drive from HP or Dell.
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A brand new 240GB solid state drive can be had for £20 now
 
SkidMarkKing said:
A brand new 240GB solid state drive can be had for £20 now
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You will need to up the cost if you add a new drive. Can't take that loss.

Investigate wiping and recovery options, you don't always need to put a new drive in some systems as long as you make 100% sure the data can't be retrieved. Bare in mind a lot of systems WILL come with SSD drives in them ;)
 
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GaryTheSnail said:
You will need to up the cost if you add a new drive. Can't take that loss.

Investigate wiping and recovery options, you don't always need to put a new drive in some systems as long as you make 100% sure the data can't be retrieved.
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Ok, I am aware you can get dedicated formating software. Just a format through windows isn't good enough as you can use data recovery software to recover files so by new drives I was playing it super safe.

When I currently do work now the client always get the original drive back and I explain to them store it safely or completely smash it up.

Now to compose an email to send out
 
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