Cisco equipment legal to sell?

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deadlift1

[H]ard|Gawd
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May 8, 2009
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Question for the pros. I just got a bunch of Cisco equipment from a company employee who is looking to sell it. I have agreed to help him but he says he can get in some hot water if the equipment is not legal to sell. Not sure what he is talking about but if anyone has any experience or ever heard of anything like this please let me know. He gave me the following:

Cisco Security MARS 25 series x 1
Cisco 2811 x 2
Cisco IPS 4255 x 1
Cisco Catalyst 3560 PoE-24

Most of the equipment has a Cisco Tradeshow sticker on the front with various phone numbers and serial numbers.

Any insights would be much appreciated. Thanks.
 
It's only illegal to sell if you're trying to fence stolen property.
 
Yes, it's illegal to sell it. Contact me and I will dispose of it properly for you.



J/K :p What shade said- not stolen, not a problem
 
deadlift1 said:
I just got a bunch of Cisco equipment from a company employee who is looking to sell it. I have agreed to help him but he says he can get in some hot water if the equipment is not legal to sell.
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Wow, talk about red flags. How is the payment supposed to happen? Cash? A check made out to the company? Either just back away from the whole thing entirely or call the company and find out from them what's what.

If the company is approving of the dumping of this equipment, there's something else to check on. I vaguely recall seeing some chatter in the news a few months ago about counterfeit Cisco equipment. If you can get model and serial numbers and check with Cisco before the purchase, do so.
 
Sounds fishy to me. As long as its not counterfeit or stolen, you can sell it. I'd run the serials by cisco though first.
 
Technically most things arn't allowed to be sold after being bought, it even says "not for resale" on lot of products. I can't speak specificity for Cisco though. But either way, it's not something I'd worry about especially if it's being sold as used. People do it all the time. I don't think this is really something that gets policed, unless you have some sketchy thing going on like have a discount with Cisco and buying stuff just to sell it at full price or something.
 
IIRC selling gear that is coming from a non-profit that was sold to said bushiness at a reduced cost is not allowed. The non-profit agrees to these terms upon purchase of a reduced price product.
 
First Sale Doctrine- you bought it, it's yours to use/dispose of as you wish. If items were purchased as a non-profit, then sold, at worst the non-profit risks losing participation in the vendor's program.
Depending on how the equipment was depreciated, it would actually make sense to give it away rather than sell it. Fully depreciated equipment that is sold generates an income, which must be reported to the IRS. Fully depreciated equipment that is disposed of at a loss or no gain can be expensed and reduce tax obligations, or simply not affect taxes. The equipment could also not be donated for tax credit, as the value has been fully depreciated.
At any rate, the purchaser just needs to avoid purchasing stolen itmes. Counterfeit goods may be a concern, but it is not illegal to buy counterfeit items, just illegal to sell them (IIRC). Counterfeit items may be undesirable for other reasons, obviously.
 
bds1904 said:
IIRC selling gear that is coming from a non-profit that was sold to said bushiness at a reduced cost is not allowed. The non-profit agrees to these terms upon purchase of a reduced price product.
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This could be it. With the tradeshow stickers, maybe it was a gift, or donation?

Or he reported that they broke, had the company buy new ones, and now wants a little extra cash.
 
Langly said:
Sounds fishy to me. As long as its not counterfeit or stolen, you can sell it. I'd run the serials by cisco though first.
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Cisco won't help you with serial #'s. I have tried calling in or emailing in serial #s to make sure they weren't reported stolen/hot, etc. They refuse to help and generally don't care.
 
Thanks for all the responses. Most of this gear is end of life or no longer in production at all. I think I am ok selling it considering it is all used and according to my friend he has had it for quite awhile and just wants it out of his garage.
 
First sale doctrine, After initial sale it can be resold a million times over. Cisco doesn't like it. Companies in general hate this. Generally you can just buy smartnet licenses to get some support.
 
Should be fine, just make sure that they actually own the cisco equipment and not leased it. It is fairly common in buisness (especially if they don't have their own dedicated IT department) to have a 3rd party manage their network. I work for one of these companys and we hear all the time of people terminating their contract with us and selling off our cisco kit, only for them to get hit by a £1000+ bill. Not much can be done beyound that however besides legal action, we've yet to do that since the customer has usually paid a lot more than that over the life of the contract anyway.
 
Thanks for all the feedback and advice.

Ok, another question. What is this stuff worth on the used market?

3 x 2811 various serial ad in cards and VOIP cards
2 x 3560 PoE-24
1 x 3825
1 x 3845
1 x 1841
1 x 2650 XM
1 x IPS 4255
1 x CS-mars 25

I had a guy offer me $720 for the three 2811, the 1841 and one of the 3650 PoE switches. This sound fair?
 
Yes, that is fair on the pricing. No, you "technically" aren't allowed to resell it with an IOS installed. That said, EVERYONE does and Cisco doesn't seem to care.
 
Well..it's not just about "first sale doctrine" but also will Cisco support it. Cisco has a lot of gear for trade shows, lease returns, demo depot, etc. That stuff is flagged and if someone buys it and tries to put it under Smartnet they won't do it..and they may also start asking questions about where it came from.
 
klank said:
Cisco won't help you with serial #'s. I have tried calling in or emailing in serial #s to make sure they weren't reported stolen/hot, etc. They refuse to help and generally don't care.
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If you're trying to get entitlement for support and its flagged in the system, they damned well do care. I've had a mess of a stolen device that a grey reseller sold to us. That was a huge hassle as it was a cheaper device for a non critical site.

Basically OP, if you sell it to someone looking for lab equipment then you will be fine IMO
 
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