Don't sniff at used network gear, dealers say

While many among the 400 exhibitors at Interop this week trotted out new network gear, members of UNEDA would rather talk about the old stuff. The United Network Equipment Dealer's Association, a group of used-equipment resellers, held its second annual conference in Las Vegas the weekend before Interop. UNEDA board members, including its president, Network Hardware Resale CEO Mike Sheldon, Gillian Canty-Ross, co-owner of Subspace Communications, John Stafford, president, Network Liquidators, and Omar Beyhum, manager of Smith & Associates, spoke with Network World editors Phil Hochmuth and Michael Cooney about the state of the market for used network gear, and how UNEDA is looking to change perceptions about the aftermarket for Cisco and other network hardware products.

Read our story about Cisco  countering used-gear competitors.

What are some top issues facing UNEDA and its members?

Canty-Ross: Right now we're focusing a lot on counterfeiting [of network equipment]. Because it affects the market and it affects us all. It affects end users, the dealers, it screws up the market. We've started a counterfeit task force which is aimed at helping our members help themselves in detecting counterfeit equipment. [The program] will have pictures, equipment descriptions, bad solder points — basic information and education. It's not just for UNEDA members, but for customers, for Cisco's [value-added resellers].

Sheldon:[Counterfeiting] is the main issue that Cisco has painted [used equipment resellers] with recently. It's the one they're trying to use against us. Counterfeits were a much bigger issue in 2003 than they are now. But Cisco is using it now against us, so we have to play a little bit of defense now.

Beyhum: Three years ago, people weren't as educated as now and they didn't really know there were that many counterfeits. Because of the story in the press lately … they're watching out for it. Some UNEDA members [do] work with law enforcement.

Sheldon: We have a pretty good relationships with REACT [Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team Task Force — a San Jose-based partnership of 16 local, state and federal agencies focused on computer-related crimes such as theft, counterfeiting and trademark violations.… They help us a lot with stolen goods. They're also an interface for us with Cisco. Cisco, today, is not terribly willing to interface with us, even on the issues of counterfeiting. So we'll go through REACT and ask questions, and they've been very responsive. We've done a lot of stolen-goods recovery with them, hundreds and hundreds of pieces. They recognize our power, because the Cisco community is a pretty tight-knit group.

Is theft and counterfeiting a problem with used equipment from other vendors?

Stafford: Theft is a problem for everybody, but there is not a big market for non-Cisco products, especially the random stuff you might pull out of a warehouse. Cisco is the 800-pound gorilla. … So if you are an organized crime ring — which there are in all kinds of theft — it becomes pretty obvious when you steal a bunch of boxes of Riverstone, and no one will buy them. Whereas you steal a bunch of boxes of Cisco and there's people paying good dollars for it.