Looking to buy a used Epson 9800 from a local shop

[Printquick]

We are a small print shop and we have a couple black and white copiers and a color copier and a couple small presses. We have been looking at getting a large format printer for a while but cost, uncertain market and limited knowledge about large format printing has kept us away.

There is a local print shop that specialized in large format printing for artists and they are going out of business. They offered to sell us their 4yo used Epson 9800 for $3500. Looking around the internet, that seems like a high price for a 4yo machine. Anybody have any thoughts? It appears that I found a NEW one on Ebay for 3k. That doesnt seem legit either.

Any thoughts? Thanks,

Chris

[D. Bryant]

We are a small print shop and we have a couple black and white copiers and a color copier and a couple small presses. We have been looking at getting a large format printer for a while but cost, uncertain market and limited knowledge about large format printing has kept us away.

There is a local print shop that specialized in large format printing for artists and they are going out of business. They offered to sell us their 4yo used Epson 9800 for $3500. Looking around the internet, that seems like a high price for a 4yo machine. Anybody have any thoughts? It appears that I found a NEW one on Ebay for 3k. That doesnt seem legit either.

Any thoughts? Thanks,

Chris

What kind of condition is it in? I would offer them a 1000 at most since it has probably been heavily used.

Hard to say what the real value is though.

Don Bryant

[ImageIT]

We just purchased a used 9800 with ColorBurst Rip for $2,500. It only had a page count of 300 pages. The guy on Ebay has a 1100 plus feedback by name and a 99% Feedback. I would have bough one of the then in a heart beat but I allready purchased other. These are NOT selling on ebay for more than 2,000. That shoudl give you idea of how much it is worth. To me the feedback on ebay guy is almost a no Risk for NEW one by paying through paypal or your credit card. Your covered.. We do Art Reproduction in DFW Texas area...

[Lenny Eiger]

Any thoughts? Thanks,
Chris

A few. First of all, 4 years is a long time. Little use is just as bad as a lot of use. I would prefer a lot, as it means that the nozzles are probably clear. They easily clog, no matter what ink is in there. You might consider the worst case scenario, that you would have to replace a head, and price that out.

Epson might be a leader in print quality, but they are also a leader in planned obsolescence. There are parts that they expect to fail in that time, and parts that they have designed to make sure that they do.

Depending how far you are from a major metropolitan area, tech calls can be VERY expensive. For me it was $350 just to be here (I'm an hour from SF) and $175 per hour for the repair. Basically, anything can cost you from $500-$1000 just like that.... That's why most shops just buy a new one the first time any serious trouble presents itself past the warranty period. And, of course, Epson is depending on that...

If you want to learn, and are willing to tinker a bit, then why not get a used one. However, if you are a commercial shop, you should carefully calculate how much you can make with the new device, with the factor of a new machine every 2-2.5 years. If the figure is good, get a lease and be done with it.

Lenny