Keeping up with modern gadgetry is the problem; a local electronics recovery company is trying to provide the solution.
2nd Solutions gathers new and used computers and other electronics from businesses across the country, clears the data and resells the gear.
Headquartered on Rosedale Avenue in Richmond, the company acquires equipment from corporations, government agencies, hospitals, nonprofits and schools. The products it collects come in all conditions, and 2nd Solutions assesses their value and sells them to other dealers, computer stores or businesses looking to save money.
“We extract value from perceived obsolete devices,” said Michael Feibelman, founder and CEO of 2nd Solutions.
For example, the company buys laptops, desktops, cell phones, wireless cards, TVs, printers, office phones and other items. They recycle all or parts of the devices and pay the companies in return for their used goods if it’s something they can use.
“Most companies specialize in one device — either computers or cell phones,” said Feibelman. “What makes us different is we deal with all end-of-life electronic equipment on the market.”
2nd Solutions started in 2005 as a one-man show with Feibelman selling cell phones out of his home. Feibelman had been working as a consultant for a handful of local companies, helping them save money on wireless phones.
“I was working with large companies in Virginia that didn’t know what to do with their old electronics,” he said.
He soon realized he had stumbled onto a business idea.
“It wasn’t planned. I wasn’t looking to do this, but the companies just kept asking about what they could do with these phones,” said Feibelman.
“I researched it and found it to be a very viable business.”
2nd Solutions has grown to 26 employees, and Feibelman said he hopes to triple that headcount by the end of 2012.
It has also grown out of its location on Dickens Road and moved to a 60,000-square-foot warehouse in October.
On average, 2nd Solutions works with 20 to 35 companies a month from around the world and 20 in Richmond from the health-care, financial, telecommunications, education and legal industries.
The company is the beneficiary of the constant evolution of electronics in the business world.
Michael Pittman, vice president of sales at 2nd Solutions, said they receive electronics a couple of times a month from businesses upgrading to the newer technology.
“Corporate life of electronics is only around one or two years,” said Pittman.
The companies that are throwing out their old electronics to make room for new equipment have benefited the businesses that still need high-quality electronics but can’t pay as much.
“Local start-up companies buy secondhand electronics because they don’t need the latest and greatest and have limited funds,” said Brian Loden, 2nd Solutions’ sales manager. “They are buying the same computers to run their business that bigger companies are discarding to get new stuff.”
Loden said businesses that buy repurposed computers are getting them at about half of regular retail prices.
All the electronics that come through the warehouse are tested and undergo seven “wipes” to clear data before they are resold.
“We wipe all of the devices to Department of Defense standards and pay the clients upon inspection,” said Loden.
Companies that sell their electronics to 2nd Solutions are paid depending on the condition and age of the device and the demand on the secondary market for the item.
Any electronics that are not marketable or are completely broken are put to use as well.
Materials such as aluminum, memory, motherboards and plastic are all recycled.
“No electronics end up in landfills,” Loden said.
Keeping up with modern gadgetry is the problem; a local electronics recovery company is trying to provide the solution.
2nd Solutions gathers new and used computers and other electronics from businesses across the country, clears the data and resells the gear.
Headquartered on Rosedale Avenue in Richmond, the company acquires equipment from corporations, government agencies, hospitals, nonprofits and schools. The products it collects come in all conditions, and 2nd Solutions assesses their value and sells them to other dealers, computer stores or businesses looking to save money.
“We extract value from perceived obsolete devices,” said Michael Feibelman, founder and CEO of 2nd Solutions.
For example, the company buys laptops, desktops, cell phones, wireless cards, TVs, printers, office phones and other items. They recycle all or parts of the devices and pay the companies in return for their used goods if it’s something they can use.
“Most companies specialize in one device — either computers or cell phones,” said Feibelman. “What makes us different is we deal with all end-of-life electronic equipment on the market.”
2nd Solutions started in 2005 as a one-man show with Feibelman selling cell phones out of his home. Feibelman had been working as a consultant for a handful of local companies, helping them save money on wireless phones.
“I was working with large companies in Virginia that didn’t know what to do with their old electronics,” he said.
He soon realized he had stumbled onto a business idea.
“It wasn’t planned. I wasn’t looking to do this, but the companies just kept asking about what they could do with these phones,” said Feibelman.
“I researched it and found it to be a very viable business.”
2nd Solutions has grown to 26 employees, and Feibelman said he hopes to triple that headcount by the end of 2012.
It has also grown out of its location on Dickens Road and moved to a 60,000-square-foot warehouse in October.
On average, 2nd Solutions works with 20 to 35 companies a month from around the world and 20 in Richmond from the health-care, financial, telecommunications, education and legal industries.
The company is the beneficiary of the constant evolution of electronics in the business world.
Michael Pittman, vice president of sales at 2nd Solutions, said they receive electronics a couple of times a month from businesses upgrading to the newer technology.
“Corporate life of electronics is only around one or two years,” said Pittman.
The companies that are throwing out their old electronics to make room for new equipment have benefited the businesses that still need high-quality electronics but can’t pay as much.
“Local start-up companies buy secondhand electronics because they don’t need the latest and greatest and have limited funds,” said Brian Loden, 2nd Solutions’ sales manager. “They are buying the same computers to run their business that bigger companies are discarding to get new stuff.”
Loden said businesses that buy repurposed computers are getting them at about half of regular retail prices.
All the electronics that come through the warehouse are tested and undergo seven “wipes” to clear data before they are resold.
“We wipe all of the devices to Department of Defense standards and pay the clients upon inspection,” said Loden.
Companies that sell their electronics to 2nd Solutions are paid depending on the condition and age of the device and the demand on the secondary market for the item.
Any electronics that are not marketable or are completely broken are put to use as well.
Materials such as aluminum, memory, motherboards and plastic are all recycled.
“No electronics end up in landfills,” Loden said.
Great article. To follow-up, most home users simply do not need the latest and greatest $1200 desktop solution to surf the Internet, check their email, and run Microsoft Office and iTunes. These applications collectively account for about 90% (if not more) of what I witness home users actually doing with their PCs. Ten and fifteen years ago personal computers were much slower and the performance leaps from year to year were so dramatic that a computer might be obsolete in three years. That dynamic has changed for home users, the gains are smaller and the software not as demanding. The… Read more »
I got a chance to take a tour of 2nd Solutions late last year and the place is amazing. Although their focus is on larger deals, while I was there several people had come by for smaller purchases as well. I was able to get a very inexpensive laptop bag that has served me well. I wish I had known about them when I started my business as I could have avoided paying Dell an arm and a leg for dozen computers, monitors, printers, phones, etc…As Chris mentions there is not a whole lot of difference between a 2 year… Read more »