3 Reasons to Consider Refurbished Equipment

August 9, 2017

So, your scanners and mobile devices are beginning to wear out – they’ve served their time and you’re looking for something new. All the major vendors – Zebra, Honeywell, Datalogic and others – are continually updating what they sell with shiny new offerings. However, before paying top dollar for new hardware there are some, well three, good reasons to consider buying refurbished hardware…..


Cost
The cost to replace mobile devices enterprise wide can be enormous! The newest scanners on the market can easily cost $1,000, $2,000 and more. Multiply that by 100 or 1,000 or by however many units you need and the capital expense is very high. Slightly older, refurbished hardware typically cost 50% of what new hardware costs – a significant saving opportunity for any business.


Technology
Newer mobile and scanning devices don’t necessarily offer better functionality. Although there are exceptions, older devices typically perform most all of the functions of the newer offerings. In addition, end users may not need extra training when using the older technology and any problems with integrating new equipment with other enterprise-wide systems can be avoided.


Support
Support on older devices is typically much easier; they have been in use for a number of years and support and repairs are normally straight forward and very cost effective. Reputable sellers will offer comprehensive warranties on refurbished equipment of up to one year. With the newer mobile devices that have been some horror stories recently – examples of high failure rates and manufacturers not able to repair their own products in a timely manner, which have had disastrous results for companies that invested heavily in them. Frankly some products have been brought to market before being tested properly by the manufacturer and consequently disappeared as quickly as they arrived.


So, before jumping in and buying the newest hardware on the market, consider all of your options, including refurbished equipment. It may save you a lot of money and pain.

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