Guide: How To Sell Your Used IT Equipment

Are you thinking of selling your used IT equipment? Don’t know what to do with your used hardware? This guide will tell you what you need to know and how to make the process as easy as possible!

Step One: Assess The IT Assets You Want To Sell

First, you should start your selling process by knowing exactly what you’re selling and documenting that in a concise way. To make the process easier on yourself, you should make a spreadsheet. You need to include different information for different pieces of equipment, which is why you should create different sections for each.

This guide covers what information you should include for servers, processors, memory, networking, hard drives, and storage systems.

First, you should always list the amount for which you are ready to sell your used IT equipment you have for each category, so it’s easier to keep track. I will be using examples to help you identify the criteria.

Servers

• Quantity
• Server Manufacturer: Common brands include Dell, Supermicro, HP, Cisco, etc.
• Condition: New or Used
• Server model Number: This is what comes after the brand name. Ex. Dell [Poweredge 1400SC]
• CPU (processor):  model number
• Memory configurations: 16GB 32GB 64GB PC3 PC4 ,
• Hard drive(s): SSD, SATA, SAS
• For Dell servers, you can note service tags. Here’s where to locate your Dell service tag

Processors

Processors have a diverse array of features to include on your spreadsheet. StarPC Excess has a great guide to Intel Processors to help you assess spec number, frequency, socket, and part numbers if you want to include them on your spreadsheet.

• Quantity
• Manufacturer: ex. Intel or AMD
• Model Number: Intel [Xeon E5-16xx]
• Condition: New or Used
• spec Number
• Frequency
• Socket
• Part Number

Memory

• Quantity
• Density: How much storage it has. Some examples could be 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB & 128GB.
• Product Type: This refers to the data rate. Your RAM could be one of the following types: DRAM, DDR1, DDR2, DDR3, SODIMM, SIMM, DIMM, or RDRAM
• Use: Desktop Memory or Server Memory
• Condition: New or Used

Networking Equipment

• Quantity

• Manufacturer: Popular networking manufacturers include Dell, Cisco, Juniper, HP, and Mellanox.

• Type of Networking equipment: routers, gateways, switches, modems, etc.

• Networking Equipment model #: It’s common for networking equipment to be classified into Series. Ex. Network switch Cisco [Catalyst 9300 Series]

• Again, if you have Dell Networking equipment, you can add a column for service tags.
• Condition: New / used.

Hard Drive

• Quantity
• Hard Drive Manufacturer: Dell, HP, Hitachi, SanDisk, Toshiba, etc.
• Type of Hard Drive for sale: Is it an SSD Hard Drive, SATA Hard Drive, or a SAS Hard Drive?
• Capacity – This is typically measured in GB but can also span to TB.
• Condition – New / Used

Storage

• Quantity
• Manufacturer: Dell, EMC, IBM, HP
• Model#: Dell [MD3200] ,EMC [VNX5400]
• Type of Hard Drive In the storage system: Ex. SSD Hard Drive, SATA Hard Drive, or SAS Hard Drive.
• Condition: New or Used.

Once you have your spreadsheet filled in, you’re ready to start selling your used IT equipment in an organized way.

Step Two: Figure Out The Audience For Selling Your Used IT Equipment

Individuals and businesses have very different needs when it comes to selling your used IT equipment, so there are a few things to consider when looking for buyers.

For individuals selling a small amount of equipment, you should shop around for products similar to yours to get an idea of your equipment market. Once you have a good idea, you can sell on sites like eBay and craigslist, or even try your luck on local markets like craigslist or Facebook Marketplace.

Some helpful tips for sites like these would be including the information you gathered on your spreadsheet and any relevant information like what kind of computer it works with, or anything else that would make your product stand out.

For businesses and anyone selling a large amount of equipment, you want to focus on selling your used IT equipment to IT asset liquidation companies. This is where the spreadsheet comes in handy. Since you already have all the information that buyers want to know, you want to get the best price for IT equipment and the most convenient ones.

Since the used IT equipment has lots of customer or personal data, companies that buy used IT equipment are more reputable when it comes to data destruction. Since the IT recovery company relies on having clean equipment to sell to the next buyer, they want your data destroyed as much as you do.

If your business is located in a place like Silicon Valley, you should look for a place that will pick up your equipment rather than have you ship it. Shipping is a process you want to avoid for a few reasons. Because many liquidation companies pay you after they receive your equipment, it makes the selling process drag on longer than necessary.

You have to pay for packaging to make sure that none of your equipment gets damaged, or else you risk losing money for broken equipment. Even if the company pays for shipping the equipment, you still lose money on packaging supplies and package insurance. Workers tasked with the shipping process lose time on boxing the equipment and taking it to the post office.

The best option to avoid this is finding an asset recovery provider that offers a pickup service. Some companies include a fee to cover this expense, but maintaining workplace productivity and avoiding those big package lines is worth maintaining.

With the best companies, you can get paid upfront while your assets are being collected, which gets you off the hook for shipping damages. It also allows you a seamless transition from selling old IT equipment to buying new equipment right away with the money you earned.

Step Three: Sell Your Used IT Equipment to StarPC Excess!

StarPC Excess offers free pickup and upfront payment after you accept the purchase offer. Even if your business is nowhere near the Bay, our team can pick up your equipment from anywhere in the country, so you never have to pay for shipping!

Our three-step process allows you the smoothest transition with the least effort. You can upload your spreadsheet in our form, and we can even do an in-person audit of your equipment if necessary.

StarPC Excess is the best in the IT asset recovery game because we believe that it shouldn’t be a hassle to sell your used equipment. We want the process to be quick and painless so that you can invest in new equipment for your company’s future.

Relevant Resources:

Why Reselling I.T Equipment Is More Sustainable Than Recycling

Best Places To Sell Your Used Computer Ram