[Tfug] Mower stuph fur sail

[Bexley Hall]

Hi, John,

--- johngalt1 <johngalt1 at uswest.net> wrote:

> From: "Bexley Hall" <bexley401>
> 
> > --- Steven Bowers <steveb7> wrote:
> >
> >> .....but the really good stuff is in the back
> room
> >> ;-) (Cisco switches, routers, Wireless APs, VoIP
> >> phones, Compaq servers from 1U to 4u, etc).
> >
> > Note that this is not "by design" but, rather, a
> > simple consequence of the fact that most of the
> > folks who drop into the store are not interested
> in
> > those types of things.
> 
> It's a good thing Steven brought this up or I (and
> perhaps others) may have never known.
> 
> Suppose someone is looking for a type of equipment
> there that is not on display? How does one find out
> what might be available?

WC doesn't have an "inventory" like a "real store".
What's in the "back room" changes day to day.  We
try *not* to hang onto things unless we are pretty
sure they can be reused or sold, etc.  We just
don't have the room or the manpower to be "hording"
things.

In addition to the store, there is a gentleman who
routinely puts items up on eBay.  Another gentleman
peddles items through business contacts, etc.

The store tends to receive mainstream things like
PC's that "walk-ins" might be interested in.  Ditto
for laptops.

The more esoteric stuff Steven mentioned tends to get
sold through these other channels.

We don't have the staff or the time available to
walk each person through The Back Room in the *hope*
that he/she might be interested in something.  And,
many of these items we are unable to test.  So,
we can't realistically deal with people that need
a lot of "hand-holding" -- if it works, great; if
it doesn't, there's not much we can do about it
(and we don't want to waste time taking things
*back*).  That's why these other outlets are used
(they require a different kind of relationship
with the "customer" than that of the walk-in store)

Since space is at a premium, if an item looks like it
will have to sit around for a while (weeks?), it
tends to get moved to the "recycle" pile instead.

People are always asking us to "keep an eye open
for...".  But, it's real easy for someone to *say*
that.  Yet, the follow-through often doesn't happen.
I, for example, don't spend any effort watching for
items for people.  :<  In my mind, if they are
serious about it, they can "place an order" and put
some earnest money down to offset the effort we
have to make watching for these things (hey, if it
was something we *knew* we could resell/reuse, there
would be no need to *watch* for it -- it would already
be on the shelf in the store!  :> )

As I said (below), that's one of the motivations for
me to spend my time describing items that WC has -- to
see if there *is* an interest.  If not, there is no
sense wasting time on these sorts of things  :<

> > One aspect of my posts here re: WorldCare
> offerings
> > is to see if there *is* any demand for these sorts
> > of items -- so we don't waste time trying to clean
> > them up and repair them (if no one will want
> them!)
> 
> You mentioned refurbishing. What is done? Clean it
> up and apply Armor All?

See my (lengthy :< ) following post.  The short answer
is to get some rough idea that it works (we don't
have time for exhaustive testing -- most things
work or don't work, period), repair or replace
any obvious shortcomings (e.g., a missing disk
drive, memory, etc.), clean it up on the outside
and vacuum the inside (dust bunnies).

We don't have the resources to "refurbish" a flakey
floppy disk drive, for example.  Instead, we'd just
swap it out for one pulled from another machine.

I think Dennis spends considerably more time
babysitting the servers that he builds/configures
than we do with the "PC's".  Part of that is the
nature of the beast -- they aren't the same sort
of "commodity product" that the PC's have become.
So, there is more research required to sort out
their peculiarities, etc.

> I remember seeing systems complete with OS OS
> installed. Do people ask for that?

Most walk-ins are Joe Average Consumer.  They tend
to want a "Windows Machine" or a "Macintosh Machine".
They don't want to mess with installing the OS.

Often, we offer machines with *no* software and
they tend to sit on the shelves for a long time.  :<
I.e., this *appears* to be a wasted effort (?)

> I had an impression of thrift store during my visit.

Yes.  That's the overall feel.

> What I'm hearing sounds like more than that of a
> thrift store.

The store is geared towards people who are likely
to walk in.  For example, the "servers" I've mentioned
have been sitting there for *several* months.  What
this says to us is "people aren't interested in these
types of machines".  :<

> What's the mission? Selling systems and functional
> units or send the units to the breakup yard?

The mission -- WC's charter -- is to recycle and
reuse.  Reuse is through humanitarian organizations
(local charities, disaster relief, etc.) as well as
reSALE (to entities that are willing to give a new
home to something that might otherwise have ended
up in the dump).

The extent of our success/failure can be measured
by the amount of stuff that ends up *in* the trash
(there are some things that we just *can't* recycle)
vs. the things that we manage to successful *divert*
from that fate.

Items sold serve dual purpose -- people tend to
*use* things that they just *bought* (thereby
diverting them from the landfill) and WC gets
some income to offset its operating expenses.

See my followup post(s) if you have the patience.
They'll give a better feel for the normal work
flow at WC.

Thanks!
--don


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