Frequently asked questions

27 answers

The questions buyers ask before their first order. If yours is not here, ask us directly — we answer straight.

General

Do you sell sealed, never-opened factory-sealed units?: Rarely. Almost everything we sell is pulled from decommissioned production equipment rather than factory-sealed. We never describe pulled stock as sealed. If you specifically need sealed units, tell us — availability is limited and priced differently.
Can you source a part that is not listed on your site?: Yes, usually within two weeks. Send the part number and quantity. We buy by the lot, so parts we do not currently hold are frequently available from a partner lot arriving soon.
Do you supply new hardware as well?: We are a refurbished specialist. We do not compete with new-distribution pricing, and we will tell you plainly when buying new is the better call for your workload.
Will you test a configuration to my specification before shipping?: Yes. Tell us the CPU, memory, storage and backplane you need and we will build it exactly as specified and run a 72-hour burn-in under load. If a listed configuration is not quite what you need, a custom build usually costs less than you would expect and often costs nothing at all — we routinely find two units that combine into the configuration you asked for. Message us with the spec sheet and we will tell you honestly whether it is possible.
How do I know the stock figure on a listing is real?: Stock is counted from serial-number-tracked inventory, not from an estimate. The quantity shown is what we hold against that SKU right now, and it moves during a working day. If you are buying in volume, do not rely on the website figure alone — message us with your requirement and we will confirm or reserve stock against your quote, which holds it for seven days.
Do you sell single units or only wholesale?: Both. Most listings carry a minimum order quantity of one or two, and we are perfectly happy to supply a single drive or a single switch. The volume tiers are there if you are buying in quantity, not as a requirement. Plenty of our customers start with one server and come back with thirty.

Grading & condition

What does 'Brand New Pulled' mean?: Pulled from a decommissioned production server and never powered as a sale unit. Power-on hours read zero, reallocated sectors read zero, capacity is full. It reads as new — the provenance is what makes it valuable. It is not factory-sealed.
Will you share the SMART report?: Yes, for every drive. The SMART payload is retained per serial number and released with the quotation. On the product page we publish the aggregate health and power-on figures for the lot.
Are failed units included in a lot at a lower price?: No. A unit that fails our bench is graded down into the spares channel or scrapped. It never enters a tested lot at a discount.
What does "Brand New Pulled" actually mean?: It means the unit was pulled from a decommissioned production server and has never been powered on. Zero power-on hours, zero reallocated sectors, full rated capacity, and the label reads new. It is not factory sealed — the drive was installed, so the original tamper seal is broken. The seal we apply is ours, for transport protection. We use "Brand New Pulled" deliberately rather than "brand new in box". A drive that has been seated in a server is not a sealed drive, and describing it as one would put a claim on our warranty that we could not honour. What we can promise is exactly this: zero hours, full capacity, no wear, and the SMART log to prove it.
How do you grade hardware, and what does each grade mean?: Grade A means no visible wear beyond light handling marks, fully functional and tested. Grade B means visible cosmetic wear outside, tested and working to specification. Grade C means heavy cosmetic wear, still fully functional — suitable for cold archives, spares pools and rebuild capacity. Anything not functional is graded For Parts and sold for donor components with no functional warranty. We would rather sell you a cheap For Parts unit clearly labelled than a functional unit dressed up as something better. The per-unit grade, power-on hours, health score and test date are recorded against each serial number and can be supplied before you commit to an order.
Can I see the SMART report or the test log before I pay?: Yes, and we encourage you to ask. For any drive or SSD, we will send the full SMART or NVMe log against the specific serial numbers allocated to your order before payment is due. For servers, switches and arrays we can supply the burn-in or stress-test summary. Send us the quantities and model numbers you are interested in through WhatsApp or email and we will pull the logs for the actual units we intend to ship.
What happens if a unit arrives and does not work?: Contact us within 7 days of delivery. We will troubleshoot remotely first — most apparent failures turn out to be a cable, a backplane or a configuration mismatch rather than the unit itself. If the unit is genuinely faulty, we replace it. Under Parts & Labour we ship a replacement and take the failed unit back; under Advance Replacement that is exactly the process. For graded B and C stock we will also usually offer a credit rather than a physical return, which is faster for you.

Shipping & customs

What are your default shipping terms?: FOB Shenzhen, which is our warehouse's export port. We can also quote CIF to your port of discharge, and air express for smaller urgent lots.
Who pays customs duty and import VAT?: The buyer. Our prices exclude import duty, VAT and destination handling fees. We declare the true value and true condition — we do not under-declare or reclassify equipment.
How long does dispatch take?: Stock physically in Guangzhou ships within 2 to 3 business days of cleared payment. Sourced parts typically take 7 to 14 business days. Every listing states its own lead time.
What Incoterms do you quote, and where do you ship from?: Everything ships from our warehouse in Guangzhou, China. The default is FOB Shenzhen; roughly a sixth of our listings are quoted CIF to the customer's port, which is usually better value for a heavy drive order because ocean freight dominates the cost. We quote CIF to Jebel Ali, Rotterdam, Long Beach, Santos, Singapore, Busan, Hamburg, Felixstowe, Port Klang, Sydney and most other major ports on request. Customs clearance, duty and any import licensing remain the buyer's responsibility under CIF — that is the definition of the term, not a limitation of ours.
How long does an order take to ship?: Lead time is stated per product and is typically 3 to 7 days for stock held in Guangzhou. Arrays and systems configured to order can take up to 14 days because we burn them in before shipping rather than ship them untested. After dispatch, transit depends on the term and destination: roughly 4-6 weeks FOB Shenzhen to Europe and the US east coast by sea, and considerably less by air. We will give you the actual booking date and carrier before the container is closed.
How are drives packed so they survive transit?: Each drive goes into a conductive anti-static bag with a desiccant pack, then into a foam-cushioned drive caddy. Palletised orders go into anti-static bags as well and are stretch-wrapped. We have never shipped a damaged drive in five years of trading. If one arrives damaged, photograph the packaging before opening and contact us within 72 hours of delivery — the carrier claim window closes fast.

Payment & ordering

What payment terms do you accept?: T/T with 30% deposit and 70% against a copy of the bill of lading is standard. We accept irrevocable L/C at sight for larger orders, and escrow for first-time buyers who prefer it.
Is there a minimum order value?: No hard minimum. In practice the smallest useful order is a few drives or a single chassis, since freight is charged per shipment rather than per unit.
How is the price structured for bulk orders?: Every product carries 2-4 volume price tiers, each genuinely cheaper than the one before. The thresholds depend on the item: single drives usually break at 4, 16 and 50 units; server configurations start breaking at 2 and 6. Tell us the quantity you need and we will quote the tier that applies, or a better one if the shipment lets us. Tier prices are firm for 30 days from quotation.

Warranty & claims

How long is the warranty?: Stated per listing, between zero and twelve months. A zero-month warranty means the unit is sold as-is at the price quoted. Within its term, failures are replaced or credited without argument.
What if a unit fails on arrival?: Report it within 7 days with photographs. Within the first 14 days we treat it as dead-on-arrival: replacement on our account, freight paid both ways, regardless of the stated warranty period.
What happens if my unit fails after the warranty expires?: We will quote a replacement, usually from a newer lot. We do not offer repair services, but we can point you to a partner who does.
What does the warranty cover, and for how long?: Warranty length is stated on every listing — 0, 3, 6 or 12 months depending on the unit and the category. Most refurbished servers, switches and arrays carry 6 months; zero-hour pulled drives and flash usually carry 12; legacy components and For Parts stock carry 3 or nothing. Covered: the unit fails for a manufacturing or component reason within the warranty period. Not covered: physical damage, liquid ingress, voltage damage from an unstable supply, unauthorised disassembly, and anything excluded by the original OEM's own restrictions. Warranty type varies: Parts & Labour is the default, and some server listings are Advance Replacement, where we ship a replacement first and take the failed unit back after.
Are Cisco DNA, FortiCare and PAN-OS subscriptions included?: No, and this is stated on every listing that could be ambiguous. The hardware price is the hardware price. FortiCare and the FortiGate UTM/Enterprise bundle, Palo Alto PAN-OS subscriptions and support, and Cisco DNA Advantage terms are all quoted separately. Where a Cisco switch comes with an existing DNA subscription, the exact remaining term and expiry date are printed on the packing list. Where there is no subscription bound to the unit, we say so. Either way you are never inheriting an undisclosed renewal obligation.

Still unclear? Message the sales team or ask on WhatsApp — we usually reply the same day.