Every vague quote you've been given started with a vague list. Nobody can price “about twenty old computers”, so what you get back is a number hedged enough to be safe, which is always a number hedged against you. An hour spent on the list is the highest-return hour in the whole process.
Your RMM, MDM, Active Directory, asset management tool or antivirus console can usually export make, model, serial and specification for every managed machine in a couple of clicks. This is most of the list for free.
The export misses whatever was never managed: the spare laptops in a cupboard, the old server nobody decommissioned, equipment in the warehouse, the kit in the boot of someone's car. Physical walkaround catches these and nothing else does.
Photograph service tag labels and rack fronts and rears. Faster than typing, and resolves later arguments about condition and completeness with no effort.
Open servers and count. A 2U server might have two drives or twenty-four, and the difference matters for both price and the destruction record.
Leased, client-owned, locked, encrypted, faulty, held regulated data. These are the ones that cause problems later, and they are easiest to flag while you're standing in front of them.
One row per device, columns as above. A spreadsheet gets priced line by line; a paragraph description gets priced defensively.
The quote is the obvious benefit, but the list goes on being useful.
It's what you check the certificate against. When the destruction certificate arrives listing forty-three drives, the only way to know that's the right number is to have counted them yourself.
It's what closes out your asset register. Finance needs to write the assets off and your IT records need the machines marked disposed, both with a date and a reference.
It's what you produce in an audit. The list plus the certificate plus the collection note is a complete chain from your building to destruction, and that package answers almost any question that gets asked afterwards.
And it's what stops a quote moving. A priced list with specifications is a quote that can only really change if the equipment isn't as described — which, if you described it honestly, it is.
Per device: make, model, serial or service tag, processor, memory, storage size and type, and condition. Also the total quantity, what accessories are included such as chargers, rails and caddies, the number of drives in each server, and whether any equipment is leased or locked. A spreadsheet with one row per device gets priced line by line; a general description gets priced cautiously, which costs you money.
Export from whatever already manages them — an RMM tool, MDM, Active Directory, asset management software or even an antivirus console will usually list make, model, serial and hardware specification for every managed device. For unmanaged machines, the service tag or serial on the label can be looked up on the manufacturer's support site to retrieve the original factory configuration.
For anything containing a drive, yes. The certificate of data destruction is issued per drive by serial number, and without your own record there is no way to verify that the certificate covers everything that left your building. For items with no storage, such as monitors and keyboards, a quantity by model is sufficient.
Yes, listed honestly as faulty or dead. Broken equipment still contains drives that need destroying and components that may have value, and it affects how the collection is planned. What you should not do is describe faulty machines as working, because that guarantees a revised price after inspection, at a point when you no longer have the option of going elsewhere.
We can inventory on site as we load, which many customers choose for large or disorganised cleanouts. It is slower on the day and gives you less room to compare offers beforehand, so it is a trade-off rather than a free option. Even a rough list of quantities by type — twelve laptops, four servers, thirty monitors — is enough for a useful indication before we arrive.
Send us your asset list and get a clear offer within one business day. Free pickup across South Florida, statewide for larger jobs.