Buying Guide For Used Ophthalmic Equipment

By Teri Farley


When considering starting an eye clinic practice, the decision of whether to buy new or used ophthalmic equipment surfaces. However, the decision you will make depends on several factors including the amount of capital you have at hand. You will also consider factors such as the cost of new kit against the cost of a secondhand one. Finally, you will also consider the availability of the apparatus in the market.

If your budget is limited, the obvious choice is to buy old appliances rather than contemporary ones. The decision to buy second-hand items will reduce the financial pressure on your eye care practice, leaving you spare change to invest in other areas of the business. Other requirements entail decor, medical consumables and the cost of employing staff. Spending all your initial capital on state of the art equipage could leave you short of available cash to invest in these important considerations, which although secondary to equipage, nonetheless add essential value to the ongoing operational success of your practice.

Even though brand new equipment is best, but there are some considerations that would make you opt for used kit. The decor of your office is important in that it shows the level of class and professionalism of the services from the office and this will boost the confidence of your clients. With extra staff you will also be able to provide professional services. So, you need to have a well spread budget to cater for all these aspects of the business hence the need to opt for the cheaper secondhand apparatus.

Once you have made the decision to go for used equipment, you will need to understand that there are 3 main ways you can find such kit. The first option is to find the apparatus from another private practitioner. The challenge with this option is that the warranty is never valid anymore. However, you may need to engage a personal technician to ascertain the functionality of the apparatus. The other challenge with this option is that you may end up spending so much more on repairs and maintenance costs especially where calibrations have expired. In other words, this option is the most risky of all.

The other two options involve going for remanufactured or refurbished ophthalmic item. These are mostly used higher-end optical kit that has been remanufactured or refurbished and put back in the market at a substantively lower cost than new apparatus.

Once you have finalized the way forward on purchasing relevant apparatus, the next important decision to which to apply your mind is where to make your purchases. There are many establishing professionals who look for instruments amongst retiring medical practitioners. Should you stumble across such a fortunate find then you can be assured that the quality of tools purchased will be good.

There are also sites that auction used equipment. However, if you are settling for this option, then you should request for relevant documents beforehand and you look at them well. This will help you ascertain if there are any pending issues with the previous owner of the kit.

Always balance the price of used ophthalmic equipment with quality before you commit to purchase. With refurbished and remanufactured instruments, ensure that you get a long term warranty. A little research before buying can save you a lot of wasted time and money spent on subsequent repairs.




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