If your IT department generates valuable surplus computer equipment whether through a regular refresh project, office relocation, staff reduction or merger it will be helpful to understand how to bid out an IT asset disposal project to computer liquidators.
We suggest contracting a prime source for ongoing IT asset disposal services, but from time to time it may be required to get a fixed bid on excess IT assets. In this post we will be providing a few tips on how to solicit offers in a way that will fairly evaluate capable vendors.
1. Qualify a list of bidders before distributing a Request for Proposal. Do not waste time taking offers from vendors that do not meet your company’s security, environmental compliance, or risk assessment requirements. When researching vendors and compiling a list of potential bidders weed out any vendors that do not meet your internal requirements. We suggest only bidding projects to vendors with third party certifications such as ISO 14001, Responsible Recycling (R2), and e-Stewards certification.
2. Create a spec sheet for the equipment that you will be bidding out, including an accurate estimate of the quantity of machines by locations. As an example for a desktop, note the make, model, processor model, RAM configurations, hard drive type and size, and form factor. Sometimes providing a service tag or part number will be enough, but to avoid potential issues from discrepancies it is best to have all bidders on the same page at day one of bidding. For a vendor to include all shipping and packaging costs in an offer they will need to know how many units and where the units are located.
3. Create a fixed timeline to receive accurate pricing. Provide bidders with a deadline for bids and what day the equipment will be released and ready for pickup. Most vendors will have an expiration date for competitive offers. A long timeline for a sale puts the vendor and your organization at risk of a bid expiring and the depreciation of the market effecting value returns for all parties. Reduce your company’s exposure by providing accurate timelines and rebidding if the timelines are not met.
4. Make sure all service level requirements are specified at the time of bid. Clearly outline any packaging services, de-racking, wiring, on-site data destruction, or any other services that will come at a cost to your company or vendor at the time of the bid. In order to fairly evaluate vendors one needs to avoid selecting a vendor and then finding out that there are additional costs and reductions to the value back because the requirements of the equipment sale were not clearly specified at the bidding.
Following these guidelines will help you seamlessly sell surplus IT equipment.