Former Tech Data Exec Finds New Life In Used Equipment Market

Some solution providers have found a successful business model with Network Liquidators. D&D Consulting, Albany, N.Y., has partnered with Network Liquidators several times over the past six months to remove old equipment from customers’ facilities.

“We don’t buy from them, but we use them as an alternative to vendor trade-in programs. We get far more value there than we get from vendors,” said Christopher Labatt-Simon, president and CEO of D&D Consulting. “It gives our customers more purchasing power. They can turn equipment into cash that they can then use to purchase new equipment from us. It’s helped us turn what may be stagnant accounts into profitable accounts.”

Network Liquidators buys Cisco equpment for “pennies on the dollar” and Extreme equipment for about 7 percent to 10 percent of its original cost, but it’s better than nothing, Labatt-Simon said. “The alternative was to pay a disposal services company to cart the stuff away. We don’t just dispose it but generate cash for it,” he said.

Fortune 500 customers spend up to 20 percent of their IT budgets on used and refurbished equipment, Serra said. In most cases, it helps end users meet IT needs without blowing their budget, he said.

“You’re not building out an entire network with used equipment, but you’re filling gaps in your networking needs. I don’t believe [end users] get that much push back [from vendors]. If they were spending their entire budget, I think there would be some concern,” Serra said.

“The manufacturer realizes the value in what we do because we protect the brand,” he added. “In many cases, the end user purchases equipment that can be viewed as a placeholder for their brand. As end users grow, their requirements for new technology grow, and we’ve embedded a brand within that end user for future sales.”

So what do Serra’s former vendor friends think of his new job? He said he talked to several vendor executives about Network Liquidators and that those conversations led him to taking the job. “I may not get invited to partner conferences, but I still get invited to birthday parties,” Serra said.