How to avoid shocks during a secondhand purchase

A walk around the show shows how selecting a pre-owned kit is a tough experience. It is not as simple as buying a secondhand car. After all, printing machines are a very unwieldy and heavy bit of kit. Most machines I saw at the show are very complex pieces of equipment with a multitude of electronics and engineering that don’t like being moved.

And so, even though buying the machine is all about the price, but, on its own, cost is not enough.

Most serious buyers I talked to, always take a closer look at the the press, which meant going with the dealer, and looking at the physical machine.

But before that personal inspection, there are three areas to tick: Look for a well-maintained machine. Check. Find out what type of work had rolled off the press – was it book work or brochure work. Check. Look for a machine with a low impression count. Check.

If you are doing high quality work; then print should be number-one priority and you must look at the test sheets. Preferably run your own test sheets. If you have a bit of engineering genes in your system then do clock the cylinders.

Do remember: It is an old machine. So there will be wear and tear. With a brand-new model you can expect a couple of years’ trouble-free operation, which you can’t guarantee with a used press. But with low mileage and good care you are talking about only normal general maintenance.”

Buying secondhand may boil down to price but securing the finance is just as crucial. Do study the financial package. The key is: interest rate, the flexibility of the payment plan and the readiness of the dealer for a GST era..

Please ensure that your negotiations around the price involve things like buy back (if any); spare parts and labour and the all-important warranty.

Two things to do while bying

1. Do not buy a used machine without a period of warranty, it’s an absolute necessity.
2. 2. The process of installation after you have finalised the deal. Some dealers are keen to move a machine in two weeks. But after that the installation took six weeks.

Happy shopping