Used Gear Resellers Growing Channel Threat

With the recession causing businesses looking for the best deal, resellers of used gear pose greater competition for the channels of large gearmakers than ever before.

Vendors have publicly attached used equipment sellers as fly-by-night or illegitimate. But the United Network Equipment Dealer Association (UNEDA), an alliance of more than 300 used networking equipment resellers, was out enforce at INTEROP to combat the perception that its membership is associated with the gray market (used products sold as new) and counterfeit distribution networks.

That may help to prove these are upstanding businesses, but it’s no consolation to the vendors and their channels that are losing deals to the secondary market. According to UNEDA’s own membership survey, used gear resellers are winning over larger and larger companies.