About Padfinder

Padfinder is operated from Chagrin Falls, Ohio. We run a sourcing service for the dealers, plants, contractors and data centers that buy used and surplus electrical equipment, mostly distribution transformers, switchgear and motor control centers, and need it now, not in nine to fifteen months.

We do not buy equipment and we do not sell it. We never take title and we never take possession. Buyers tell us the kVA and voltage they are looking for; we watch for it, and when a unit fits we introduce the two parties, who then transact directly with each other.

That is deliberate, and it is the part worth understanding before you deal with us. We are not bidding against you and we are not marking a unit up. We hold no inventory, so nothing we tell you about a unit is shaded by needing it gone.

If you are selling

Send a photo of the nameplate. It tells us kVA, voltage, and year, which is what a buyer searches on.

We score it against every open search on our list and tell you whether anyone is looking for it, usually the same day. There is no fee, no exclusivity, and no obligation. We do not make you an offer, because we are not the buyer.

If someone is looking, we introduce you and you deal with them directly on price and terms. The unit stays where it is until you agree a sale, then ships once, directly from your site to the buyer's. Where a sale needs testing or freight arranged, we can coordinate that with the firms we work with.

If you are buying

Tell us what you need: kVA, primary and secondary voltage, where it is going, and when.

You see everything the seller has given us on a unit before you commit: nameplate, photographs, ownership documentation, and test results where they exist. Every unit is labeled with what has actually been verified and what has not. We do not describe a unit as tested because it looks fine.

If nothing on the list fits, your search stays open and we go looking. We monitor public WARN Act filings and government surplus auctions for plant closures and equipment disposals, which means we often know a unit is coming available before it is listed anywhere.

Liquid-filled distribution transformers, 300–3,750 kVA. Switchgear, motor control centers, and the distribution gear that leaves a plant alongside them.

Used, new surplus, or canceled-order units. Any age, any condition: in service, never energized, still crated, or sitting in the yard.

The units we are most useful on are the ones a dealer passes on: odd kVA ratings, 34.5 kV primaries, unusual secondary configurations. A dealer who has to warehouse what he buys only wants what he can move quickly. We are not buying it, so we can keep the search open until the one buyer who wants exactly that turns up.

No warehouse. No yard. No trucks.

Units stay at the seller's site until they sell, then ship once, directly from the seller to the buyer. Testing is performed on site by NETA-certified firms. Rigging and freight are arranged through firms we work with. We are not a carrier, and we never take title to or possession of the equipment.

This is why a direct introduction is usually worth more to a seller than a dealer's bid. A dealer who warehouses what he buys is carrying storage, handling, and the risk that a unit sits for a year, and all of that comes out of the number he offers you. The buyer we introduce you to is the one who actually needs the unit, and you agree the number with him yourself.