Can you buy 2nd hand equipment for professional usage?
Image by Jan Alexander from Pixabay
I recently built an extra home office at my parents’ house with a fully equipped workstation with thunderbolt docking station, two 1440p screens mounted on a premium gas arm, keyboard, mouse and everything you need. The total price was below 2000 SEK. A brand-new setup with equal performance is likely to cost at least 10000 SEK. With some patience and a clear focus, 2nd hand deals are abundant. There is a lot of money to be saved on this road. For the past years, I have learned to shop at auction sites. Mostly electronics, but the principle holds equally well in other areas too. The limiting factor is time.
If you are in a hurry, there is rarely any better option than to go for new stock. But if urgency is not a factor, I can highly recommend the 2nd hand route, especially for company purchases. Enterprise grade electronics like computer screens, peripherals, docking stations, networking, computers etc are plentiful and abundant. There are many companies that specialize in buying up large lots from companies who are either shutting down, downsizing or upgrading. There can also be insurance buyouts from fire, where the packaging can be sooty, but the contents are just fine. There can be equipment that has been returned by customers and cannot be sold as new. The list goes on… Anyway, why should you pay 3000 SEK for a brand-new docking station when the same kit can be had for around 500 SEK? Several of my purchases from auction houses have arrived brand new in original packaging. Some examples here; I bought a whole box of brand-new Logitech computer mice for 150 SEK. Seven office keyboards for 7 SEK. Four 1440p displays for 960 SEK. Stuff like this is perfect when you just need to setup a new workstation somewhere. And the prices above are ridiculously good for the functionality you get.
I think that my next company laptop, whenever that will be, can possibly be a 2nd hand Ultrabook. The enterprise-grade equipment is built to a completely different standard compared to consumer grade laptops. If I find a fine specimen with low mileage of let’s say a 3–4-year-old HP workstation, they could easily cost around 50000-80000 SEK new back in 2021, and they can be had for around 10000 SEK today. It is still a very powerful machine. And at that price, they are built like a tank compared to the plastic crap that they sell to gamers and home users. However, this route is perhaps a little bit riskier because if anything breaks down, you are usually out of warranty after three years. Personally, I enjoy fixing these things, so it is not an issue at all, I enjoy it. But if we are talking conference cameras, computer screens, docking stations and peripherals, the risk of no warranty or breakdown is negligible. In all my years as a computer enthusiast, I can only remember two screens that died on me and that was after like 15 years of use. So, if you are interested in the re-use option for professional use, I suggest you start with this easy low risk stuff. And if you only shop from sellers with five-star reviews, the deals are very serious and fast, and all the parts are included. Often it feels as fast as going to a shop for new stuff.
Reuse and sustainability are common buzzwords, and I am honestly a bit sick of them. But why should we put all these words in our fancy business plans if we do not act on them? I am sure most companies talk the talk, but do they put their money where their mouth is? I suspect the urgency factor is the primary determinant here, and who can blame a business owner for wanting to get the employees productive ASAP? That is always the best option. But not all purchases are urgent. If we know that a requirement is on the horizon, one could do some auction house bidding in the months leading up to that and before long a whole workstation will be ready. Usually, dirt cheap.