If you’re a warehouse manager looking through the ledger and seeing a lot of red, you may be tempted to start buying used pallet racks and other pieces of equipment. It seems like you could save a lot of money this way, but there are some advantages to buying new.
In fact, sometimes you can actually save a good amount of money by buying new instead of used. Here are a few reasons why spending more money up front may be the better way to go.
You Know the History of the Equipment
Or, more importantly, you know that it has no history—no one else has used it before you.
The product is coming new from the company, so it hasn’t spent months or years being used, abused, and damaged. There’s nothing wrong with it (or if there is, it’s a defect and can be replaced with no cost to you). The previous owner hasn’t covered up or temporarily fixed any broken parts, and there are no parts missing. Nothing has been Jerry-rigged or fixed using duct tape or some other quick, temporary fix. The finish also looks good; used equipment tends to be scratched up.
The Product is Going to Last
Along the same lines, when you buy something used, in most cases it’s already been through a good amount of its lifespan. All products wear out eventually, and with a used one, it’s already partially there.
You often can’t trust the age of the item either—the seller may say they’ve only used the equipment for a few years, but they could have purchased it six years ago. There’s also no telling how much they used it. A piece of equipment may only be two years old, but if it was heavily used during those two years, it may be as worn out as a product that is five years old but wasn’t used that much. Either way, a new product will last much longer.
There’s a Warranty
With most pieces of equipment that are purchased new, the company gives you a guarantee or warranty of some kind. This means if the product breaks or malfunctions, you can have it replaced for free. Used equipment, even if it’s refurbished, usually has no such warranty with it. If you buy something used and it falls apart after a few days, you may not be able to get any replacement or refund from the seller.
The Product is Still Supported by the Manufacturer
If you buy used equipment that’s fairly old, you may find it difficult to purchase parts or get it repaired. Once a model is replaced by a newer version, the company often stops supporting it. While the manufacturer may still offer repair services and parts for the last two or three product models, they often won’t provide any help for models that are older than that.
Be careful when purchasing used discontinued products because of this reason. The last thing you want is to have to search for hard to find parts, especially because they’re likely to be expensive.
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