Awright all you computer head dopers out there, help me get a handle on this. I’m trying to sell my company, and that involves putting a value on things. This is not the guts of the issue, but included in the deal will be what we’ve been working with:
Computer Network
450 MHz PII, 384 Mb RAM, 3 x 19" monitors
200 MHz Pentium Pro, 2 x 21" monitors
200 MHz Pentium Pro 17"
486-66, 17" monitor
486-33, 17" monitor
Exabyte hi-density 8 mm tape drive
Epson Stylus 1500 large format (17" x 22") color printer
TI Microlaser
HP 650c 36" roll-feed color plotter
Netgear 8 port 10/100 Ethernet Hub
HP IIc flatbed scanner
Several APC Uninterruptible Power Supplies
• all machines communicate via Cat 5, pentiums running NT 4.0 SP5 or 6, 486s running WFWG 3.11
• legitimate software licenses for MS Office, DesignCAD, Surfer, Quickbooks, CorelDRAW and PerformPRO and others
• network total HD capacity is 50 GB $15,500
caveats
Yes, I know 486s have zilch market value;
Yes, I understand there’s not a system less than 18 months old in the round up;
The entire setup is already installed in the office in question and runs just fine;
The Exabyte tape drive is not the best backup option available, but it is peculiar to my industry;
The 486s have jobs that they handle just fine (a receptionist looking up a phone number on a 650 PIII isn’t going to get there appreciably faster than the one seeking it on our baby 486-33 - and we don’t ask it to do much else - maybe print a fax cover sheet and be a printer buffer - if you measure that in milliseconds we are in different leagues);
Thoughts: the incoming capitalist pigs need to get up and running right away - they need it spot on the ground and our system works - so, yes, they could spend a pretty penny and have shinier toilets, but all I ask is, is $15.5K reasonable for a turnkey, no problems setup as described above?
The market value of the hardware seems fairly easy to assess, yet is probably the smallest component of value. I assume that accountants have a fairly standard method (or set of methods) to evaluate the value of physical hardware. My rule of thumb is 1/2 list price; however, I am not an accountant, so my answer should not be considered authoritative.
However the larger component of value is that this hardware has been assembled into a system that sucessfully addresses your business process. A great deal of labor and intelligence went in to building this system, connecting the components, dealing with the difficulties, etc. Presumably your business could not function sufficiently well to survive without these systems. Therefore, you can reasonably claim the close to entire replacement value, including labor, necessary to replicate the system.
Your monitors (if good quality) are worth more than the PC boxes. The 200 mhz PPro boxes are a few hundred at best for both and the 486s are essentially worth nothing from a re-sale POV.
Without getting too particular as to individual part prices
(I have no idea re the exebyte and HP plotter and the design software- everbody normally has or can get office 2000 and Quicken) These aside, all the other stuff lumped together would probably bring around 4,000. - 4,500 +/-. total, if sold separately to knowledegable hardware hounds. Quality and condition of and re-sale price for, the 3- 19" and 2-21" monitors will substantially affect total price range.
15,500 *is* a reasonable asking price range for the system as an operating turnkey system. The value of the system is more than the individual component pieces.
15,500 for a system as you describe should not make them blink in the context of the overall deal if they want to make the deal happen.