Tech Data Canada resellers have been given new weapons to help persuade companies holding off buying new equipment to start spending.
The distributor has struck a partnership with SecondarySource.com Inc., a Markham, Ont.-based reseller of used, off-lease and manufacturer over-run gear, to buy
used hardware from Tech Data customers for credit on new purchases.
A separate trade-in program with Kingston Technology Co., called Cash In Your Chips, offers to take back used computer and printer memory for credit on new RAM purchases.
“Resellers have always wanted to go into customers and take old product, but they’ve never had a way to get rid of it,” said David Spindler, Tech Data Canada’s director of e-Solutions and business development. “Now they can offer a solution.”
But Andrew Lindzon, president of Ashlin Computer Systems, a Toronto reseller noted some VARs, such as his, already deal with companies like SecondarySource.
Still, he said the program may be helpful. “If we get a credit from Tech Data versus waiting for a cheque from SecondarySource, that might be a value-add.”
SecondarySource has created a page on the Tech Data Canada Web site for resellers to upload a spreadsheet of used customer equipment. It will send back a tentative offer to the reseller for use as a credit with Tech Data on a new purchase. After a deal is struck and the hardware shipped to SecondarySource it will make a final offer within seven business days based on a complete inventory of the gear. If necessary, it has staff in every province to make on-site inspections.
Either the reseller or the customer will be responsible for packaging the hardware for shipment. There will be no minimum or maximum limit on used gear.
Mark Yeomans, SecondarySource president, said he approached Tech Data with the idea six months ago. “They have a large customer base and sales force,” he said. “We need products to survive. All of a sudden we increase our database of potential customers. It’s a perfect union for us.”
SecondarySource.com is a two-year-old division of Micro Alternative Solutions, a network design and implementation reseller with a staff of 20 and annual sales of $6 million.
With an office in Memphis, Yeomans hopes the deal here will be a template for a similar one with Tech Data in the U.S.
The RAM trade-in program comes from an arrangement with Kingston Technology. Resellers can get credit for used customer memory chips from desktops, notebooks and printers on system upgrades.
Spindler believes the program will let resellers bid more aggressively on large bids.
