Refurbished lab equipment is a tool that has been reconditioned. Used lab equipment can help save half the actual amount of new expensive instruments.
These instruments help keep the environment out of landfills. Buying a piece of refurbished lab equipment is excellent for the earth and your bottom line. However, it’s quite a challenging experience for the buyer when it comes to purchasing them.
Factors to Consider When Looking for The Right Refurbished Equipment Seller
- Policies- you need to ensure that the seller you’re identifying yourself with offer warranties and service contracts. It would be best if you also inquired about their return policy.
- Expertise- the seller should have specialization and knowledge about the instrument you’re buying. The seller’s staff should also have domain knowledge and understanding about the equipment they’re selling.
- Longevity- you need to find out how long the seller has been in the business and everything your colleagues know about them.
- Ask many questions- any seller who has excellent customer service should not be afraid to discuss any topics with you. Therefore, the seller should provide clear answers to your questions, and you should ensure that you understand what you need to arrange for.
- Services the seller offers- for you to get the right equipment, you need to determine if the seller tests and reconditions equipment independently or if he has partners. You also have to find out if the services they offer are more advanced such as asset management and application development.
Some Myths About Purchasing Refurbished Lab Equipment That You Shouldn’t Listen to
Purchasing used lab equipment is one of the best ways to save money on advanced laboratory instrumentation. However, there are some misunderstandings about this refurbished lab equipment. Here are some myths that we have about used lab instruments.
- Reconditioned lab instruments are not suitable as the new lab equipment- the equipment that lab manufacturers built are reliable and can be used for decades. Most of these instruments have high duty cycles and long service life. However, the new lab instrument may offer some minimal advantages compared to the refurbished lab equipment.
- When purchasing new equipment, refurbished equipment sellers can’t help me- when you’re buying something new, various ways refurbished equipment lab sellers can help you out. Manufacturers hate trade-ins. Therefore, selling the old instrument to a seller may earn you more profit than a manufacturer’s trade-in discount.
- People only sell their defective junk equipment- it doesn’t make sense to deal with broken lab equipment. That’s why refurbished instrument sellers prefer buying and selling the best quality material. Refurbished equipment sellers also love it when they deal with heavily used and well-maintained equipment. Therefore, nobody should lie to you that you don’t know what you’re getting with a used lab instrument.
- Used instruments are for academic labs and startups- it is a great way to save with refurbished lab equipment. That’s why it seems like grant funded-labs, and small companies are perpetually budget constrained. Yet, it doesn’t also mean that a lab has an unlimited budget being part of a large company. Purchasing refurbished lab equipment can help stretch the budget further and allow you to do more if you have finite funds to accomplish your lab goals.
- There is no service and support for refurbished lab equipment- you should plan on maintaining your valuable equipment to keep it performing well when considering purchasing refurbished equipment. If you’re working with a reputable full-service reseller, they might offer both regular maintenance and emergency repairs for the instruments they sell. The other great alternative is to take your equipment to manufactures. However, you need to know that you might need to pay for some manufacturers’ added expenses.
- Used lab equipment and refurbished lab equipment is the same old thing- refurbished lab equipment is used lab equipment that has been serviced and tested to meet the manufacturers’ standards. Used lab equipment means that someone else owned the instrument before you, and it has not been serviced. Understanding the difference is very crucial. Beware of what you’re buying and ensure that you know the risks. However, this doesn’t mean that used equipment is bad and refurbished equipment is right.
Qualities to Consider When Purchasing Refurbished Equipment
Before you team up with a vendor of a recertified lab equipment, ensure that you conduct vigilant research. This is because you need to invest your resources wisely since they are precious. Here are some qualities of refurbished lab equipment that you should check before purchasing.
- The durability of the equipment.
- Productivity.
- Reliability.
The bottom line is, you need to be extra careful when investing in refurbished lab equipment.
