5 Tips When You're Leasing or Purchasing a New Color Copier

Whether you know it or not, the copier industry is condensing.  Meaning, there's not as many Authorized Copier Dealers as there was ten years ago.  Just in the past two years there's been a tremendous up tick with larger more established copier dealers purchasing smaller dealers in the United States. 

With less dealers to buy from comes less choices for the business consumer.  Thus, I want to list some best practices for when your company is ready to lease or purchase a new copier in Berks County.

1. Do yourself a favor and run a credit check on the dealers that you have on your short list.  Toss out the ones with mediocre credit. Here's the reason, with poor credit already, there's a great chance they will go on credit hold with their manufacturer (Ricoh, Canon, Kyocera, Sharp etc).  This will directly affect your businesses ability to get supplies, support and parts in a timely manner.  You may even want to check the credit of your existing copier dealer also.  Just a thought!

2. If leasing, take the shortest term possible,  the longer the term, the more your business will pay in interest.  Thirty six months is the best option, since all of the leasing companies offer competitive rates for that term.

3.  Check to see how much tenure your sales person has with the company.  The longer the better.  Short tenure can mean that the sales person is experienced however has jumped from dealer to dealer and really does not know the equipment or the practices of the dealer that the sales person is employed with.  Short tenure, can also mean that the salesperson has no experience and can't guide you to what system meets your needs.

4. Always, always ask the purchase price and the monthly lease price.   Having the purchase price and the monthly amount and term of the lease allows you to figure out the "rate factor" of the leasing.  For example, the sales person states the purchase price is $10,000, the payment is $200, and the term is 60 months.  You then take the monthly payment of $200 then divide by the purchase price. In this case, the rate factor would be .0200 (you figure this out on your own).  You then ask the sales person what the rate factor is for the lease.  Trust me, they all know the rate factor, when you get the rate factor, then take the purchase price and times it by the rate factor that the sales person gave you. Let's say in this case the sales person states the rate is .0200, then your good.  Anything lower than the .0200 means the purchase price is not $10,000, it's actually higher (not a good thing).

5.  Most copier companies now have a clause in their maintenance agreements that allow for an automatic annual increase every year.  You need to ask what that percentage is for every year after the first year. I've seen and heard of companies getting an annual increase of 20% each year.  All companies are entitled to an increase each year as the copier ages, but you want to know what the cost is when comparing maintenance and supply agreement pricing from one dealer to another.

I've got more, but I wanted to keep this blog short and concise.  If you're in the need for a color copier, black & white copier, production copier, or a wide format copier in Berks County, then please use our connect button below and tell us more about your needs.  We will match you with a profession and reputable dealer in your area.

Thanks!