Sell used software and benefit from the freed up budget

Software is an important asset for every larger company. It is all the more astonishing that time and again residual values of unused volume licences are written off instead of selling them and thus generating additional revenue.

Even for medium-sized companies with more than 100 employees, the software inventory, which has usually grown over many years, is not only a central competitive factor, but also an important asset. Active and efficient management of the existing software assets is therefore worthwhile. More and more IT managers or CDOs are therefore looking at selling volume licences that are no longer needed or lying idle on the secondary market, so that the assets are not simply written off or depreciated. In this blog post, we explain what you should generally consider in such a sales process and how you can sell used software smoothly and, above all, legally compliant to PREO.

When selling used volume licences, especially from large manufacturers such as Microsoft, it is essential to know the most important requirements in order to carry out a transaction safely and successfully. You should consider the following: 

• The licences that are no longer needed were first placed on the market in the EU or in a contracting state to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Here, since 2012, the so-called principle of exhaustion has applied to used software licences, also for download software, which has been secured by supreme court rulings. 
  
• The manufacturer's software licence is unlimited in time.
  
• Only purchased software licences can also be resold.
  
• Software licences from volume contracts can also be sold in part, since individual licences of a volume contract represent an independent copy of the computer program. The only exception here is in the area of client-server installations.
  
• The used software must also be de facto transferred with the sale. For this purpose, the software must be uninstalled from the respective computers before the sale and the process must be transparently documented.

PREO conclusion:

Selling unused software licences is a worthwhile option to expand the existing IT budget. To be on the safe side, you should only turn to reputable and experienced providers who have extensive expertise. Like the PREO licence experts, who will be happy to advise you personally on the topics of cost optimisation, security and transparency in the trade with used software licences.

1. You gain new financial leeway 

Selling earlier software purchases brings back invested capital. In this way you gain financial leeway for new projects.

2. You optimise your IT budget

Software has become a competitive factor for many companies, also for cost reasons, and investment cycles are short due to dynamic development. The sale of unused software licences is an important factor that can have a positive effect on new investment decisions.

3. You harmonise your portfolio and simplify work processes 

With standard software, such as many Microsoft products, large companies often have a multitude of different programmes and versions installed, tying up unnecessary internal resources. In addition, the resulting complexity makes it difficult to further develop their IT architecture, for example in migration projects. What can be sold not only generates revenue, but also simplifies internal work processes.
   

4. You correct misallocations 

Due to change and development processes in the company, overcapacities easily arise with large volume licences, which are ultimately misallocated capital. By selling licence packages that are no longer needed, you can save at least part of the capital.

5. You promote a sustainable circular economy

It makes sense not only from a functional and financial point of view to recycle purchases made in the past. A sustainable circular economy has long been standard practice for hardware components such as laptops or printers. With software products, however, it is particularly worthwhile because their functionality does not deteriorate and they are therefore ideally suited for second or multiple use.

As is so often the case, there is usually no ideal time. However, in the course of the company's development, recurring constellations arise after which a review and adaptation of existing software assets is obvious. These include, among others:

• Reorganisation or restructuring measures, such as mergers of departments or site closures. 
• Adjustments to the internal organisational structure
  
• Migration projects
  
• Implementation of a cloud strategy
  
• Programme changes and upgrades 
  
• Regular review of the software inventory, for example as part of annual budget plans 

Whatever the current situation in your company, PREO's licensing experts will be happy to help you evaluate the various factors and opportunities and to plan the sale of used software licences in a strategically sound manner.

One thing right from the start: Our licence experts not only advise you in advance on the process of identifying unused software assets and provide you with a free and non-binding purchase offer. You will be accompanied step by step during the sales process so that you can recapitalise your used software licences safely and efficiently. 

Step 1 

First, we clarify the status of the documentation with you and determine which licences you can sell to PREO in a legally compliant.

Step 2

You receive an official purchase offer from us for the licence packages described in the documentation.

Step 3

After acceptance of the offer, a contractual sales agreement is concluded, the so-called purchase agreement.

Step 4 

Then the technical realisation of the sale of your software licences takes place, in which the signed contract, the de-installation declaration and the product keys are handed over.

Step 5

After completion of the technical realisation, we pay you the agreed purchase price.

Sale of used software licences - Atruvia generates seven-figure proceeds

In the course of the Atruvia merger in 2015, different software assets had to be unified and harmonised. The final consolidation took place with the switch from purchase to rental licences in the course of the introduction of the Microsoft online service M365. As a result, many on-premise licences were no longer needed and represented a considerable sales potential. 

In this customer case, you can read how the digitalisation partner of the Cooperative Financial Group, with around 8,400 employees across the group, sold more than 150,000 Microsoft licences to PREO for a seven-figure sum after months of documentation, intensive licence consulting and project support.

You would like to gain new liquidity from no longer used standard software for workstations such as MS Office, operating systems such as Windows 7 or 10 as well as Windows servers, Exchange, SQL or Sharepoint servers? Contact our licence experts directly and you will immediately receive our best purchase price.

PREO has been one of the most efficient and solvent providers on the secondary software market for many years. We have extensive experience as buyers of medium, large and very large licence packages with seven-figure volumes, especially from Microsoft. This means that we are always in a position to achieve the best possible result for your sales plans. We offer you:  

Over 15 years of experience 

We are one of the pioneers in the European trade with used software. Experience and expertise in the error-free processing of well over a million licence transactions in purchase or sale speak for themselves. 

Legal certainty through professionalism 

Compliance and security are our top priorities when buying your used software. We ensure a 100 percent legally compliant licence transfer including the completeness of all necessary proofs and documents.

Comprehensive advice

Our licence experts advise you on the possibilities of your software portfolio, your licence agreements and all questions that need to be considered when selling used software.

In-depth market knowledge 

Hardly anyone is as well informed as PREO about the supply and demand for large-volume licence transfers. Take advantage of our market knowledge and our know-how in the purchase of used software in order not to sell below price.

The appreciation of our customers 

PREO is not an anonymous marketplace. We see every transaction as the possible start of a long-term customer relationship and support you in continuously optimising your software cost structure.

PREO tip:

Let's talk about it, even if your sales plans have not yet been finally decided internally. Our experience shows time and again that the planned sale of used software often gives our clients additional impulses for their software asset management. The potential of an existing software portfolio and the resulting financial opportunities on the secondary market only become truly transparent in the course of a project.

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