Where can I get cheap used Cisco gear?

[Cooky]

We need to populate our access 6509's w/ more blades, and have a need to purchase used WS-X6748-GE-TX's.

Our VAR's price is higher than we're willing to pay.

Anyone has suggestions where I can source them from?

 

[azev]

find a reputable dealer from ebay, they are normally willing to deal outside ebay, so your company can follow regular PO procedures.

 

[cmetz]

Cooky, there are lots of dealers of grey market and used/liquidated Cisco gear. There's also lots of risks involved with gear whose origins are a little shady.

In my personal opinion, production gear is only ever first-quality new gear. If you can't afford first-quality new gear of the kind you want, buy something lower end, but don't skimp on the quality origin. For lab/test environment gear, you can skimp all you want, it's no big deal as long as you're legal on licenses. I've been burned many times by folks who bought grey-market or used gear and had major outages when the stuff failed. It's only worth it if your network working isn't important.

6509 gear has crazy margins. Shop around, you might be able to find another reseller who can get you a better deal.

Or maybe you shouldn't be using 6509s at all? There are plenty of lower cost alternatives. For example, you can get far with stackables these days.