Used Production Equipment: An Interview with ShopVER’s Brad Nelms

VER recently launched their new ShopVER website. With more than a billion dollars in rental equipment in 35 warehouses worldwide, and a loyal customer base that expects the latest in technology, VER needed a way to sell high-quality older gear and invest in the latest equipment. Only in its fifth month of release, the site has already generated millions in revenue.

We sat down with VER’s Used Asset Manager Brad Nelms to find out more about the new ShopVER.com.

Hi, Brad! Why is VER launching a used asset website? Isn’t VER a rental equipment company?
VER has been a leader in the industry for 30+ years, but interestingly enough, has never sold gear.  With the many changes that are occurring in the industry today, everyone is working hard to stay ahead of the curve.  We decided to add a sales component to our business model to widen our offerings to our customers, and to increase the quality of the gear we own.  We’re implementing equipment life-cycle management to keep our rental inventory fresh and in top condition, and to offer the newest technologies on the market.

What type of customers do you expect to shop on the ShopVER.com website? What are you seeing so far?
ShopVER.com and our whole used gear program has a slightly different target market than our well known rental business.  We’re really looking to sell to end users, organizations and venues, and owner/operators that are looking for quality gear at affordable prices.  We see some of our biggest areas for growth as education and house of worship markets.

What makes ShopVER unique to the market? There seems to be similar websites launched in the past by VER competitors. Why now?
This is an important question.  I think the two aspects that make us unique from others in the space are our vast inventory and our ability to ensure quality.
VER has a vast inventory with large quantities of every item that we own.  We hit nearly every type of technology that is used across the many facets of entertainment, and have a deep “bench” within each category.  We carry inventory from every major manufacturer in every product group.
The only other used gear outfits that can compete with our product offerings and inventory levels are brokers that are reselling other people’s equipment.  All of the used equipment that is sold by VER is owned and maintained by VER.  This helps us control both quality and availability.

What type of equipment are we going to see on the ShopVER website?
We offer equipment in the following categories, or product groups:
Audio, Camera, Computers, Fiber, LED, Lighting, Media Server, Monitors, Presentation, Projection, Rigging and Video.  This includes equipment for all types of events from corporate AV to full touring, specialty/custom installations, as well as TV/Film equipment for everything from broadcast/telecast to feature length cinema.
We’re adding 20-30 products to the site every week, so check back often.  You can also sign up for our newsletter which includes announcements about product additions, featured products, gear training, special deals, etc.

The site talks about “quality” equipment. What guarantees or tests is VER performing to make sure each piece of used equipment works?
All of our used equipment comes directly from our well known VER inventory.  It is all maintained, serviced, and QC’d by our highly-trained and qualified technicians.  We also offer a 48-hour inspection period for customers to be sure they received exactly what they were expecting.  As always, we stand behind our products and offerings.  Our vast company resources and talent pool allows us to provide more than just the best products, also the best service to support them.

What are your future plans for ShopVER?
We really want to increase our product offerings available on the site, and to perfect our fulfillment process.  We’re working hard to become the industry leader for used equipment by offering the largest inventory of reliable used equipment in the world, and to continue our success on the rental side of the business.  Stay tuned for exciting things to come that will benefit both rental and sales customers!

Thank you for your time, Brad! Best of luck with this new VER equipment sales model!