The Costs, Effort and Risks of various ways to buy a used CMM.

There are many different ways to acquire used manufacturing equipment, buying used CMMs is no exception. Here are some of the different ways you could buy used CMMs. We’ve scored each approach with our opinion of the costs, efforts and risks of each method to acquire a used CMM.

Used Equipment Auctions / Bankruptcy Auction
Cost: ???
Effort: Higher
Risk: Highest

As with all auctions, the emphasis is on urgency, the auction company is trying to get the highest price possible and sell everything as quickly as possible. You have limited time to inspect and assess the condition of any used CMM you are interested in purchasing. The auction company will often have little to no specific knowledge of specialty equipment like CMMs, so buying sight-unseen is particularly risky. You will have no opportunity to discuss the machines’ condition with the original owner. Damage to the machine that is not obvious or outdated software or electronics that require costly upgrades may not be discernable from an auction listing or cursory inspection. From the cost perspective, it's easy to get caught up in the bidding frenzy and overpay for a machine that might need major work or upgrades, and on top of that, you will have to arrange and pay for transport, installation and calibration. All of these costs which depend on the model and size you buy, and may be difficult to assess beforehand; therefore determining the true cost of your purchase up front is nearly impossible.  Finally, as with most methods of acquiring used equipment, do not assume that just because the machine came with software that you have the legal right to use it.  Please refer to our sofware licensing page for more details.

Don't let this happen to you! Actual CMM sold at auction as received.

Online Auctions/Ebay
Cost: ?
Effort: Higher
Risk: Higher

Online auctions are time sensitive as well, but play out over a longer period of time than most live auctions. Most online auctions are a private party sale, so in most cases you are buying from the owner, so you may have the opportunity to discuss the condition of the machine, or arrange to see it if the seller is close by (which is normally not the case). A seller in this situation knows the machine mainly from the perspective of a user, and as such isn’t likely to know how to price the machine, if the machine is a "good value" in the used market, or even a good candidate to own as a used CMM (on the basis of ongoing availability of parts and service). For transport and installation of your machine, you’re generally on your own, so you must either research this ahead of time or take your chances after the purchase. So again, the total cost of acquisition is highly variable. There is also of course the question of "why are they selling that machine?".  Finally, if you do decide to buy, make sure you are really getting a legal copy of software.

Used Equipment Broker / Dealer
Cost: Market
Effort: Medium
Risk level: High

A broker / dealer will list machines for sale on their website and the actual location of these machines may be from their own warehouse, from various "third" party locations, or from the machine owner's plant. This can get dicey for the buyer because you are unaware as to what agreement the broker has with the seller. He may be under tremendous pressure to remove the equipment from the seller’s plant. You may have the risk and hassle of having to move equipment quickly, which increases the cost and hassle. In addition, brokers do not have specific knowledge of the various types of equipment, particularly specialty items like CMMs, so the assessment of condition and completeness of the system will not be comprehensive. Reputable dealers will want to broker or sell machines they are reasonably sure are ok, but this cannot be assured. Depending on the origin of the equipment, you may have no opportunity to discuss the machines’ condition with the original owner. You might not be recieving a legally transferred copy of software. The dealer might or might not be willing to arrange transport of your purchase. The prices of machines are generally based on prevailing market conditions. You will have to expend some effort to determine your additional costs for installation. The possiblity of unseen damage or outdated components requiring repairs or upgrade is still likely with this purchasing approach, so we score this method as high risk.

Third Party Service Provider
Cost: Market
Effort: Low
Risk: Medium

Some third party CMM service providers will have the odd used CMM available that they have acquired through their service business. Some may have a small sideline business selling used machines. Generally these providers have good capability to evaluate machines for condition, although they will have limited capability to refurbish or update them, and they do not have access to the OEM service protocols or design drawings. These sellers have a good pulse on the market value of these CMMs and will generally include most of the extras like transport, installation and certification in their quote, so you will have a much better idea of the cost to acquire than in the previous three methods. Any warranty, training or support that is offered is backed only by the capacity and capability of the seller to provide these things on an ongoing basis. If that company goes under, so does your warranty and support.  Third party service providers should be willing to ensure that the software they are providing is a legally transfered copy.

Original Equipment Manufacturer / Hexagon Preowned
Cost: Market
Effort: None
Risk: None

Hexagon Metrology is the premier original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in the preowned CMM business. We know the preowned machines we sell inside and out because we built them to begin with, plus we usually have all the service records on machines we manufactured. Our objective is to provide a competitively priced, all-inclusive package to our preowned customers which takes all the risk and effort out of buying a used CMM. Perhaps you noticed we don’t even call them used CMMs, we certify the machines we sell as "Hexagon Preowned"; anything else is just "used".

As the largest manufacturer of CMMs in the world, our preowned business is backed by the strength and resources that we bring to our new machine business: a 1 year warranty, the largest service organization in the business, a complete technical support call center, hundreds of training classes a year, and of course, a 100% legal and up-to-date copy of our market-leading PC-DMIS software with every system sold.

For a complete explanation of what makes our approach the best way to buy a preowned CMM, see our "why Preowned CMMs" article. Or, browse our extenisve inventory by Machine Type.