Ayersville Local Schools
Defiance, Ohio
Company:
Ayersville Local Schools, Defiance, Ohio
Industry:
Ayersville Local Schools, located in Defiance, Ohio, has about 800 students in grades
K-12, all housed under one roof. The school features a 1:1 technology environment for
students in grade 7-12, with high schoolers outfitted with MacBook Air computers that
they are allowed to take home. K-1 students have access to iPads in the classroom and
the remaining students have Chromebooks.
Challenge:
Because the school’s Apple iPads and MacBook Airs retain their value after years of
use, the school sells these devices every four to five years to a buyback company, and
uses the proceeds to fund future technology purchases.
Phil Liebrecht, district technology director, was looking for a buyback company for the
school’s 100+ iPads and 425 MacBook Airs that offered three things: fair pricing, the
ability to accommodate the school’s condensed timeline, and a high level of trust.
Since the last buyback process didn’t go as smoothly as he had hoped and payment
took longer than planned, Liebrecht decided to collect a number of competing quotes
this time.
“It can be a little scary to turn over 500 devices to a company and hope that they are
evaluated fairly and we get a check back quickly,” said Liebrecht. “We really needed a
company that was reliable and communicated well with us.”
Solution:
Liebrecht selected Second Life Mac after evaluating several options.
“Having a number of quotes actually made it easier for me to make a selection,” said
Liebrecht. “Each company approached device grading and the buyback process
differently, and we felt very comfortable with Second Life Mac.”
Once the Second Life Mac quote was accepted, Liebrecht gathered all devices being
traded in into one room. Second Life Mac sent a crew from Chicago to carefully pack
and transport the devices back to the Second Life Mac facility, where they were
evaluated.
“The crew was in an out in just a couple hours, and I really appreciated that the
company was transporting the devices themselves,” said Liebrecht. “The Second Life
Mac director of procurement checked in with me a few days later to make sure
everything went as planned, and she even hand-delivered my check a couple weeks
later.”
Outcome:
The entire process took about a month, and the few issues with passwords were
resolved quickly by phone. The Second Life Mac director of procurement met with
Liebrecht in person to go over how each device was rated.
“Communication with Second Life Mac was really good; they kept me informed every
step of the process,” said Liebrecht. “Turnaround time was excellent and we had our
check quickly.”
Ayersville Local Schools will use the proceeds from their technology sale to cover the
lease payment for one year on a new fleet of devices.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with how the entire process unfolded,” said Liebrecht.
“We definitely will look at Second Life Mac again when it’s time for our next technology
sale.”
