MAGNOLIA, Texas — One man's trash is another man's treasure. Or perfectly usable desktop PC. Or coin counter. Or $40,000 Unisys check printer that was only used a couple of times before a bank buyout left it gathering dust.
That's the idea behind FindUEX, an online auction site for used equipment that focuses on the credit union industry. Up and running since October, FindUEX (www.finduex.com) has been signing up 20 to 50 credit unions a month, says Gary Mattingly, the president and CEO of the Houston-area operation. "The response has been good. We have six sales people out talking to credit unions about this and we haven't had anyone say they wouldn't want to do it," Mattingly says. "There's no yearly fee, it doesn't cost anything for a basic listing, and you get one free picture, and we did it that way because sometimes these items can be obscure and sit out there for six months or a year," Mattingly says. "But eventually someone will see it and buy it. Because it's just what they need."
Extending the life of legacy systems is a particular sweet spot for FindUEX users, according to Mattingly, who used to work for IBM, Open Solutions, Summit Information Systems and Bankers Systems.
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"There are many credit unions out there with networks full of servers and routers that aren't made any more, and when it comes time to do something with that network, the hard-pressed IT guy at that small credit union doesn't know where to turn," Mattingly says.
"Well, this online auction site offers that guy a chance to buy equipment that perfectly matches his entire setup that he put in only four or five years ago."
Another hot seller: Okidata pin printers.
"You'd be surprised how many credit unions are still using those," Mattingly says. "You put some of those on our site, and I guarantee they'll be gone in no time. Someone out there is going to need them."
That goes for larger items, too.
"We had a couple Unisys check printers that were bought new for $40,000 each by a bank that used them for four months before it was bought out. We sold them for $5,000 each. The seller was tickled to death and the buyers thought they had robbed Fort Knox," Mattingly says.
Buyers come from around the world, with Holland being a current hot spot. Developing markets, meanwhile, are a good source for buyers of equipment like old IBM 36 mainframe processors.
"They're old, dead and gone with in the United States, but we have people in China who love to get there hands on these. They're like a piece of gold to them, but just something down in the basement with a blue tarp over it to the people who had it," Mattingly says.
Andy Phypers, a Vermont-based sales rep for FindUEX in the northeast United States, says a lot of the equipment he sees snapped up is gear that growing institutions leave behind but smaller ones value greatly.
"For instance, someone opens a grocery store branch and their employees don't have much if anything in the way of equipment," he says. "Well, now we get one credit union selling another one an old coin counter for $20. It works perfectly. "I've also seen some large pieces of equipment that were headed for salvage, someone willing to pay someone just to come haul it away, that they instead got a few grand for. One was a $100,000 sorter that was fully depreciated," he says.
FindUEX also offers repossession sales and a free conference calling service to clients to use themselves and to offer to members. Payments are handled through eBay's PayPal service.
The company is targeting credit unions right now in its marketing, but its selling base includes CUs, thrifts and even some large banks.
"I first got the idea for this back when the Internet was still pretty new and I was working with IBM at a community credit union in Simpson, Missouri, and their IT fellow was trying to connect with other credit unions like his to buy some routers and hubs and other pieces," Mattingly says.
"He really only knew a couple of folks in IT at just a few other credit unions. I remember thinking how it was a shame people like this were trying to connect and couldn't.
"Now they can. No matter where they are." –[email protected]
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