Monday, November 16, 2009

Four Pointers on Buying Secondhand Test Equipments

Test equipments are vital for the maintenance of a productive and highly efficient machineries and gears, and businessmen know this. To acquire the appropriate equipments the head of a manufacturing company may choose over buying a brand new one, or to purchase second-hand equipment.

Most companies would prefer the second one over the first option, simply because it gives more opportunity for the budget. The only risk to be avoided in shopping for secondhand equipments is purchasing defective equipments and those which their life spans are considerably shortened. Acquiring equipments that are way past its best, or those which are decent, but not for very long would be equivalent to being “ripped off”. So here are a few pointers to guide you when shopping for test equipments (some tips would apply to buying secondhand gadgets too).

1. Decide on what you really need, and even what you want. This means determining what test equipment your machines actually need, and would also include deciding whether to get the latest or the more complicated and sophisticated version available (still secondhand, obviously), or to stay with the simpler, less complex ones.

2. Check out a lot of companies selling secondhand test equipments (you can shop online to save time, effort and gas). See if they have what you want, and check out their reputation as secondhand test equipments provider. No, it doesn’t entail hiring a detective or something, just checking the feedbacks from past customers would do the trick. You may also listen to recommendations made by people you know. See if they have the instruments you need.

3. Proceed to comparing prices. The reason you are buying secondhand equipments is clearly so that you can make the most of your funds. This strategy helps you find which company provides the best deal.

4. When considering the prices, also take into account the services they provide. Between the choices of a company who will give you the equipment and a short-time warranty for a certain price, and another company that provides free technical support and a longer warranty at a slightly higher price, you might want to choose the second one to get a better deal. But if you are not concerned so much with the warranty and the free service than the price, then you can go with the first choice.

Getting secondhand test equipments is not that bad if you get a good deal out of the limited fund you have. But if you want to optimize your opportunities with your capital, another option you can take is to try test equipment rental. A lot of gears are now available for rent, and some companies such as TechRentals are even providing the latest technologies, at very reasonable rental costs.

1 comment:

  1. Since rented devices like test and measurement equipment only last in your hands until the contract expires.So why buy a used one.

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