Most companies assume old computers are a cost to get rid of. For anything under about five years old, the opposite is usually true: the fleet is an asset that still has a market, and the only question is who captures that value and whether you ever see it. Here is exactly how the money moves at GreenByte, in the order it happens.
First: nothing is sold before the data is gone
No device is offered to any buyer until its data carrier has been wiped with certified tooling and verified, or physically destroyed. That order is not negotiable, because a sale is what puts a device in a stranger's hands.
Practically, this means the payout conversation always comes after the security one. You get the intake list and destruction certificates first; the value conversation runs on devices that are already safe to move.
What actually has value, and what does not
Business laptops and desktops from roughly the last five years hold real market value, especially well-specced models that were maintained. Recent business phones and tablets do too. Server chassis without drives usually still sell.
What does not: CRT and very old monitors, most printers, towers older than about eight years, and anything with a failed board. These are cost items, handled through WEEE-aligned recycling. We tell you which is which before the van arrives, so nobody discovers the split is zero after the fact.
How the price is negotiated
Every device is graded after testing: working condition, specification, cosmetic state, battery health. Grading is what turns a pile into a priced list, and it is also what stops a buyer from paying bulk-scrap rates for good hardware.
The graded list then goes to our buyer network rather than to a single outlet. Competing offers on the same batch are the whole point: one buyer's price for fifty ThinkPads is not the market's price for fifty ThinkPads. We take the best achievable offer, not the fastest one.
The split, and why it is stated before pickup
Once the hardware is sold, Tier A clients typically receive about 50% of net B2B resale after wipe and logistics — wipe and certificate included — paid within a week of sale. Mixed fleets (B) usually see residual offset the project fee. That arrangement is confirmed in the quote before we collect anything, so you can check it against the final report.
For high volume with thin residual (C), free pickup + certified wipe may apply, or about €50 per device when wipe and logistics exceed residual. Destroy-all (D) usually means €0 residual plus a destroy fee. We tell you which rung applies before the van arrives, so nobody discovers a zero after the fact.
When the money lands
Your share is paid less than a week after the sale. For a typical fleet that means the value from the old machines arrives while the invoice for the new ones is still open, which is the whole reason to run disposal inside the refresh project rather than after it.
For mixed fleets, the residual value usually offsets a large part of the project cost, sometimes all of it. For genuinely end-of-life inventory, there is nothing to sell and we say so in the quote instead of implying a credit that never materialises.
Why waiting costs you the payout
Business laptops lose most of their residual value within two to three years, and the decline does not pause while the boxes sit in a storage room. A fleet worth real money today is e-waste in three years, and the data liability runs the entire time.
The practical rule: decide in the same quarter the machines come out of service. That single habit is worth more than any negotiation tactic afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
How much do we get for old company laptops?
It depends on model, age, specification and condition, so the honest answer comes from a device list rather than a rate card. As a rule of thumb, business laptops under five years old carry meaningful value, and that value often covers a large part or all of the disposal project. Send an approximate list and you get a concrete number within one business day.
When exactly are we paid?
Less than a week after the hardware is sold. On Tier A you typically receive about 50% of net B2B after wipe and logistics; we wipe and grade first, sell through our buyer network, then transfer your share within that week. The final report shows what each device earned.
How do we know the split is fair?
Because the A–D rung and the ~50% net B2B share on Tier A (or fee offset on B) are written into the quote before pickup, and the final report lists what each serial earned. That is checkable — not a vague promise after the fact.
What if our equipment turns out to be worth nothing?
Then we say so before the van arrives, in the quote. Genuinely end-of-life inventory is a cost item handled through responsible recycling, and pretending otherwise would only postpone the disappointment.
Rather talk it through?