In these tough economic times, buyers are looking for ways to cut costs. One of the most tempting alternatives is to look at acquiring used production digital or analog equipment. This article will address the Pro Buyers perspective on whether or not buying used copying equipment is as viable an option as it once was.

Right up until the turn of the millennium, the value of production analog copying equipment had been relatively stable. This was due to the fact that, aside from the hugely successful Xerox DocuTech digital platform, analog equipment from Xerox, Oce and Kodak had long dominated the production marketplace. Competitive digital technologies, which arrived onto the office scene to stay in the late 1990s, left the production side of the industry largely unaffected. The last three years, however, has seen a dramatic shift in available digital technology to the print-for-pay industry. Now, viable alternatives are available from a host of vendors, putting severe pressure on the resale value of used equipment, both analog and digital.

What can you expect with used equipment? First and foremost, reputable brokers of used analog or digital production equipment should be able to provide a guarantee of the same uptime performance standards as with new equipment. If a buyer cannot receive this assurance, our opinion is that the buyer should look elsewhere for used gear, or just purchase/rent/lease new equipment.

As we see it, the buyer of used equipment should not have to sacrifice reliability, but will undoubtedly see fewer (if any) of the "hot" features driving today’s digital marketplace, features like high-speed scanning to ftp servers, sophisticated front-end controllers, clustering solutions and mail-merging (personalization). Here’s what buyers should look out for when sourcing used analog and digital models:

While it’s true that used equipment can be acquired for very low sums, the buyer needs to remember the old adage that "you get what you pay for." The reason prices are so low for used analog gear is the same reason that many formerly successful brokers of used equipment are now out of business: There is, in the opinion of many equipment brokers, essentially no market for used analog equipment. The value of used analog equipment in today’s market is basically zero.

When brokers stop buying and selling a type of equipment in large quantities, that eventually leaves availability up to local vendors. Our primary concern in this type of market is the standards to which the equipment has been refurbished. Buyers need to be asking what those precise standards are since no industry-wide standards exist.

Service and supply costs for used analog units need to be closely studied as well. If not, the luster of a low initial cost can be quickly tarnished by excessive service and supply costs. Since there are no analog models being manufactured, parts, supplies and knowledgeable service people are going to be harder and harder to find in the future. Be certain that you find a reputable local servicing entity that will guarantee the availability of service, parts and supplies for the remaining useful life of the model you’re considering. A guaranteed fixed-price all-inclusive service and supply contract is preferable.

If used analog equipment can meet a useful specific or short-term purpose, however, then it can be a great solution. One environment where analog equipment performs well in is for hard-copy-to-hard-copy jobs, which still account for a large percentage of most non-press monochrome work.

Used digital equipment suitable for production environments is limited to the DocuTech 135. This model is still in great demand due to the wide availability of parts, supplies and technical knowledge. With new digital equipment available from a host of suppliers, pricing on used DocuTechs has dropped rapidly in the past two years.

When all factors are closely evaluated, however, we feel strongly that many buyers would be better off financially and technologically by shifting to some of the newer digital platforms. Service and supply pricing on a used DocuTech, for example, typically run about 1.2 cents per impression. With the very aggressive service and supply contracts we’ve recently encountered for digital alternatives, buyers would be well served to check out all options before choosing a used DocuTech. An exception would be for those shops already heavily invested in the DocuTech platform.

Problems with used digital equipment include all or most of the same mechanical issues as with analog, plus the added complexity of upgrading the print connectivity interface. Once again, the refurbishing standards applied by the broker come into play. Make certain that the price you pay includes all the firmware and software licenses needed to run the machine. As with analog equipment, find out if there will be an applicable "upcharge" from your local servicing organization prior to initiating a service agreement.

New digital models from Xerox, Canon and Heidelberg are making great inroads into the commercial shop of the new millennium. Cluster solutions from these vendors plus Ricoh, Konica and Minolta add to the excellent options available today. There are more digital alternatives for buyers to consider than has traditionally been the case in our industry. No matter what your expected volumes are, digital technology is available from a variety of viable vendors, so our advice is to take advantage of this never-before-seen production buyer’s market and invest in new equipment.

We believe most buyers will find that, despite the low initial cost, buying used production equipment is not going to be worth it in the long run. At the same time, we are not saying never again buy used digital or analog equipment. With extremely low up-front costs, a buyer would be foolish to ignore the possibilities for increased profit and reduced costs, as long as the service and supply costs are controlled over the expected useful life.

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Last modified: May 12, 2008