How to vet any buyer before you release hardware
Or call the buying desk: (732) 996-6310
Six checks, in the order that saves you the most time
Run them in this order. The first two take a few minutes and rule out most of what needs ruling out. The last one is the one people skip, and it is the only one that turns a claim into a fact.
- 1
Check 1. Is the legal entity registered, and does the address match?
Find the legal name, not the brand name. Search it in the state business registry where the company claims to be formed, and compare the registered address against the address on the website, the invoice and the email signature. A company that trades under one name, registers under another and bills from a third is not necessarily dishonest, but you should know that before you ship, not after. If no legal name appears anywhere on the site, stop here.
- 2
Check 2. Does a named human answer?
Call the published number during business hours. You are checking two things: that a person answers, and that the person who answers is the person who will price your lot and sign the offer. In a small trading company those are usually the same person. In a large one they are not, which is fine, as long as you can name the person who owns the decision.
- 3
Check 3. Are the payment terms written down before you commit?
Get the settlement window, the payment method, and the event that triggers payment, in writing, before anything is loaded. Then get the discrepancy procedure in writing too: what happens if the received lot does not match the list you sent. That second one is where the money actually goes missing, and a verbal answer to it is worth nothing.
- 4
Check 4. What does your project actually require, and does the buyer hold it?
Decide what your own policy requires before you ask anybody what they hold. If it names R2v3, e-Stewards or NAID AAA, the requirement is a certified processing facility, and a buyer or a broker cannot satisfy it by association. If it does not name any of them, a certification is not the thing you should be checking. What each certification covers, and how to look one up in the public registry.
- 5
Check 5. Where does the equipment go after it leaves your dock?
Ask for the next step, by name. Resold whole? Parted out? Exported, and to which channel? Processed, and by whom? You are entitled to a straight answer, and the answer tells you what your reputational exposure is. We name our channel and explain the export rules. A buyer who treats the question as intrusive has told you something.
- 6
Check 6. Can you verify any of it independently?
Everything above is a claim until you check it somewhere the company does not control. The registry, not the badge on the website. The certificate number, not the logo. A certificate of insurance issued by the carrier, not a PDF the buyer typed. If nothing on the list can be checked from outside, the size of the lot is the size of your risk.
Run it on us, and here is where we fail
A checklist published by a buyer is worth nothing unless the buyer answers it first. Ours is below, in the same order, and two rows are a straight fail for some readers. They are meant to be. Check every row that can be checked from outside before you believe it.
| Check | Our answer |
|---|---|
| Registered legal entity | SJ Wholesale LLC, formed in New Jersey, at the address published on every page of this site. Search the company name yourself: New Jersey business name search, opens in a new tab. Every fact we publish, and where to check it. |
| A named human answers | Seth Stern Storch, the principal, leads the buying desk that prices the lots and signs the offers. No account manager sits between you and the decision. |
| Written terms before you commit | Payment method and what triggers it are set out in the offer document before you agree to anything. We pay by ACH or wire transfer, within 3 to 5 business days of verified receipt. The discrepancy procedure is written into the same document, so what happens if the lot does not match your list is agreed before anything is loaded. |
| Certifications held | None. No R2v3, no e-Stewards, no NAID AAA. We are a buyer and a trader of reusable hardware, not a processing facility. If your project requires a certified processor, this row disqualifies us and you should use one. |
| Where the equipment goes | Reuse and resale, domestically and by export, into a wholesale channel. We describe the channel rather than hide it. |
| Independently checkable | Partly. The entity, the address and the phone are checkable today in the New Jersey business registry, opens in a new tab. Third-party profiles are not claimed, so there is nothing to check there, and this row is a straight fail if your process requires a rated profile. Insurance is checkable through the carrier: The carrier we book issues the certificate of insurance. Your organization can be named as certificate holder on it, and your building manager can be named alongside you. |
If your project requires a certified processor, use one. Tell us and we will say so plainly rather than take the job. Our certifications page sets out exactly which projects those are.
Good answers, and answers that end the conversation
Hold both columns up against whoever is in front of you. Nothing in the right-hand column is proof of bad faith on its own. Any two of them together is a reason to stop and get a second buyer on the phone.
A good answer sounds like
- A legal entity name you can search, printed in the footer, on the invoice and in the email signature.
- The payment terms in writing before anything is loaded, including the event that triggers payment.
- A discrepancy procedure agreed in writing before pickup, with an itemized account of what was found.
- A named person who prices the lot and owns the decision, reachable on a published number.
- A destination for the equipment, named as a channel rather than as a category word.
- A facility name and a certificate number beside any certification mark, both checkable in the public registry.
- A certificate of insurance issued by the carrier, naming your organization, with dates you can read.
Answers that should end it
- The website displays a certification mark with no facility name and no certificate number beside it. The mark belongs to a facility, not to a company, and it is checkable in a public registry.
- Nobody will put the payment terms in writing before pickup, or the written terms arrive only after the equipment has moved.
- A firm price is quoted from a photograph, sight unseen, and the contract allows a repricing after receiving with no itemized account of what was found.
- The legal entity name appears nowhere: no footer, no invoice, no email signature.
- You are asked to ship first and settle terms later, or pressed to decide before a deadline the buyer invented.
- The answer to where the equipment goes is a category word rather than a destination.
- The contact is a form only. No number, no name, no address you can search.
Three different businesses, one word
The phrase IT asset disposition covers at least three roles that carry different obligations, and the checklist you run should match the role. A processor takes custody of material to sanitize, dismantle or recycle it, and holds a facility certification at a specific address. A broker arranges the movement without taking title, and holds nothing unless it also processes. A buyer, which is what we are, purchases the hardware outright, takes title and resells it.
Confusing the three is how a company ends up satisfied by a certificate that describes a shredding line in another state. Ask which role the company in front of you is playing, and then ask what it holds in that role. If you are a processing facility vetting us as a downstream vendor, the packet is here. More about how this company is set up.
Seven questions you can paste into an email
Send these to every buyer you are considering, including us. The speed and the specificity of the reply tells you as much as the content of it. There is no form to fill in and no download: copy them off the page.
- What is your registered legal name and in which state are you formed?
- Who will price this lot, and is that the person I am speaking to?
- What is your settlement window, what triggers payment, and what is the payment method?
- What happens if the received lot does not match the list I send you, and is that procedure written down?
- Do you hold R2v3, e-Stewards or NAID AAA, and if so at which facility and under which certificate number?
- Where does this equipment go after it leaves my dock?
- Can you provide a certificate of insurance issued by your carrier?
Our answers to all seven are on this site. Start at the trust hub, or ask Seth directly and get them in writing.
Common questions
- Does every project need a certified processor?
- No, and treating certification as a universal requirement is the most common error in this process. Certification answers a processing and destruction question. If your policy does not name a standard, and the equipment is going to reuse rather than to a shredder, the checks that matter are the entity, the terms and the destination. What each certification actually covers.
- How do I check that a certificate is real?
- Search the facility name in the program registry, not the company website. The registry tells you which address the certificate covers, which is how you find out that the certified facility is a downstream partner rather than the company you are talking to. The three registry links are here.
- Should I ask for a certificate of insurance?
- Yes, if a crew is coming into your building. Ask for it from the carrier, name your organization as certificate holder, and check the dates. Your landlord or building manager will usually require it too. Ask for the limit in writing for your specific job rather than accepting a figure from a website, because the cover that matters is the cover on your lot on your day. Our payment and insurance page states what we carry.
- What if the buyer reprices the lot after receiving it?
- A revision is legitimate when the received lot differs from the list. What is not legitimate is a revision with no itemized account of the difference. Agree the procedure before pickup: what gets reported, in what form, and who approves the revised figure before anything moves further.
- Does this checklist disqualify SJ Wholesale?
- For some projects, yes. If your policy names a certification, we fail check four and you should use a certified processor. If your process requires a vendor with claimed and rated third-party profiles, we fail check six today, because those profiles are not claimed yet. We would rather you find that out on this page than after a purchase order.
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