Demonstrating that Green AV does not only mean new products but also dealing with existing products in environmentally responsible ways, AVForSale stepped in last September to save four tractor trailers’ worth of new AV equipment from a landfill and reintroduce the equipment to the market. The problem of de-installed equipment poses a real threat to Green AV and to construction costs for companies. The September project involved two large hotels; one in Texas, the other in Colorado. A major AV purchaser, hotels are known for large scale purchases that can mean wasted equipment when plans change with contractors.
When it looked like this would happen with the hotels in Texas and Colorado AVForSale came to retrieve the equipment from the hotels and remarket it. By the time the new company brought in its equipment for the hotels, AVForSale was able to mobilize the tractor trailers and coordinate the safe removal of the equipment. The project fits AVForSale’s goals of finding “gear that no longer serves needs and putting it to use.”
It also connects to what Steve Dilts, Marketing & Sales Manager for the company, calls a “growing interest in the Green perspective” from the AV industry at large. In addition to the company’s work with remarketing, AVForSale helps customers recycle their equipment by taking equipment that companies have already zeroed off their books and recycling them properly according to state electronics recycling safety guidelines with no actual cost to the consumers.
With over 300 contracts with companies that include AVI, Draper and multiple sound and staging companies, and over 4 million dollars in online sales in 2008, AVForSale built a winning business around extending the life of existing AV equipment. Mr. Dilts notes that as awareness of recycling and Green initiatives has evolved, so has AVForSale. In ten years on eBay the company has received over 36,000 positive consumer reviews. It became an eBay Top 100 Seller seven years ago and continues to hold its place in the ranking. With a Titanium Rating it is used as a model for eBay stores around the world.
