You’ve upgraded, you’ve closed your doors, you’ve downsized, you’ve retired. For whatever reason, you no longer have a need for your network hardware and would love to not only get it out of the way, but recuperate some of the money you spent on it. There are a few ways to go about this, but it all depends on how old your equipment is and whether or not it’s obsolete.
If it’s relatively new, then there’s probably a demand for it. You can try to sell it yourself either on a craigslist type of site, or ebay, or by placing an ad in a trade magazine. It’s risky though. Sure, you’ll keep all the money you make on the sale, but the chances of your buyer finding the ad or searching ebay at the time you’re hardware is posted, is slim. And even then, buyers are reluctant to purchase this type of expensive equipment without a warranty from a reputable company and the ability to exchange the product if it arrives damaged. The better plan is to find a reputable alternative seller that specializes in buying back surplus equipment, refurbishing it, and reselling it. Their pool of customers is wide and they spend thousands of dollars marketing and advertising to attract those customers. They’ll often buy hardware equipment that’s not working because they, unlike the user, have the knowledge and ability to fix those components before reselling them. You won’t make as much as you would if you sold it yourself, but it’s a lot less hassle.
What do you do if an alternate seller won’t take the equipment because it’s obsolete? Try to find one that will! There are a good number of these companies out there and chances are, at least one has a customer asking for the exact thing you’re trying to get rid of. But lets say you check everywhere and no one wants it. Then what? If the networking system still works, contact the I.T. department of a local non-profit organization to see if you can donate the system and take the tax write-off.