In the present environment when technology is progressing at a tremendous pace, obsolescence and redundancy are common phenomena leading to surplus inventory. Several cities have excellent surplus electronics stores, and once you find one, you are in for a pleasant surprise.

The above factors have made it difficult for manufacturers to make new components for earlier generations of products. Although the purchase of new components has several advantages like long life expectancy and proper maintenance service, they are more expensive and subject to more failure rates during the break-in period.
You should consider the following factors while buying surplus or used components: reliability, useful life, vendor, warranty or test capability, selection support and price.
You can now find more vendors to choose from when purchasing surplus components. This is partly because of the expanding pool of used equipment left over after modernizations, and through new technology such as the Internet. Vendors selling used surplus components include original equipment vendors, parts dealers, system integrators, end-users and a variety of other organizations.

Most surplus-component dealers are ready to offer you a warranty of at least one year. This is no big deal for dealers that have a regular inventory, as they can simply replace the item if it were to fail. Failure rates are usually not at all high for components that have come directly from working systems and have been handled properly. Occasionally, the warranted parts are marketed as “refurbished” after being inspected, tested, repaired and updated as required.

Among the numerous surplus component distributors, mention can be made of Debco Electronics, Midwest Surplus Electronics and Mendelson Liquidation Outlet in the Dayton-Cincinnati region.