BUYERS AND SELLERS GUIDE FOR PREOWNED OPTICAL AND OPHTHALMIC EQUIPMENT

In the modern marketplace many people are turning to the option of buying preowned or refurbished equipment rather than shelling out thousands of extra dollars for new equipment. As the preowned equipment market grows, I have encountered or witnessed many common problems that can easily be avoided with a little knowledge and common sense. This guide can be a great tool for buyers and sellers to educate themselves and each other to ensure success of the transaction while maintaining a strong preowned equipment market.

KNOW YOUR BUYER/SELLER

Today, a large percentage of equipment transactions occur online. Websites like ebay, various message boards, blogs and other auction sites have become a major force in the equipment marketplace. It has become very easy for anyone to buy and sell online. 
Whether you are a buyer or seller, be sure to know your trading partner. Check the feedback and past transactions, experience is a key factor. If your trading partner is not experienced that’s alright, everyone has to start somewhere. Or maybe your seller is an optical professional who just wants to sell the older equipment to make room for new equipment.  Just be sure to discuss this guide with them, and be sure everything you learn from this is covered. 
Contact you partner by email or by telephone. Internet crime is always on the rise. Scammers are trying to take your money or equipment and sometimes both. Having an open dialog with your partner, you can quickly weed out about 98% of the possible scammers. 
Discuss your business and the optical trade; discuss the technical specs of the equipment, and discuss your expectations as the buyer or seller. You can quickly learn if your partner is in the optical or equipment business, understand each others expectations to avoid potential misunderstandings, and gain each others confidence as a trading partner. During this process you can eliminate almost every internet scammer and begin forging a positive relationship with your partner.

ITEMS AND DESCRIPTIONS

Many casual or inexperienced sellers will just copy and paste photos and descriptions from manufacturer’s websites. It is alright to quote technical specifications, but it is very important to have realistic descriptions and photos.  There are many levels of used equipment and it is almost never as good looking as the manufacturer’s photos. If you search the item in a search engine, you can quickly compare your sellers description to the manufacturers. Also, you can right click on the picture, and sometimes see in the properties if the image is hosted from someone else’s website. This could be a clue that the seller does not even have possession of the equipment.   Digital cameras are very inexpensive and easy to use to quickly email or upload actual photos of the equipment. As a buyer, you can request actual photos and an honest seller will quickly and easily fulfill your request. 

PAYMENT

Use common sense and good judgment. Hopefully by the time you are paying or accepting payment for an item, you have successfully made good contact with your partner and are very confident in the transaction.  Licensed and registered businesses usually accept all forms of payment including all credit cards, checks, money orders and even have financing options, but they will usually not ship items until any personal checks or money orders are cleared. As a buyer you should be patient and aware of this common practice. If you have an open dialog with your partner, and both of your businesses are verifiable, your seller may not wait to ship the item. This would be at the sellers discretion.
Individual sellers can easily use other financial services such as paypal and bidpay to accept your credit card payment.  This is a very convenient tool that can be used by private sellers. Again; there are many scams that can bilk a buyer or seller out of their money and equipment. Please review your buyer and seller protections located in the service agreements and follow their instructions to the letter when using these services.    
Scammers have found ways to get your money and equipment and then do a magic disappearing act. By referring to the top of this guide, knowing your trading partner can avoid this problem almost 100% of the time.

SHIPPING HANDELING AND INSURANCE

Here lies the number one problem of the preowned optical and ophthalmic equipment business.  It is not very difficult to ship a pair of shoes to a customer, but shipping a very expensive and sensitive retinal camera or patternless edger is a completely different matter. I cannot count how many times I have seen a patternless edger on ebay with a shipping cost of $100. 
The seller is probably an honest person but has no idea what it takes to ship a patternless edger and have it arrive at its destination in one piece. From extensive experience, I can say that this patternless edger will most likely be extremely damaged and any insurance claims will be denied because of improper shipping. It is very important to communicate with the seller and find out how this item will be shipped.
Sellers should also do some research on the proper way to ship an expensive piece of equipment. Properly shipping the equipment can save you thousands of dollars and headaches from dealing with insurance claims adjusters and very upset customers. 
For example, I will use a Nidek patternless edger complete with all accessories. This edger needs to be locked down with the manufacturers shipping bolts, Packed into a pre foamed, thick walled box and strapped to a pallet. Saving the original box is highly recommended. The packing materials for this system including the box, foam, pallet, straps, and labor total almost $100 alone. That does not even factor the freight companies shipping cost which is very high due to rising fuel costs. 
We use a flat rate for shipping and depending on the destination, usually underestimate the true cost.  This is the only way the Nidek patternless edger will get to its destination without damage. Even with using the proper shipping methods, there is still a chance for damage.  It is highly recommended that the shipment be insured for the amount of the sale plus all shipping costs and shipped through a freight company. UPS, DHL, and the USPS are not proper ways to ship heavy sensitive equipment.
As the seller, make sure that all funds received from the buyer are held until your buyer is happy. If the system is damaged, you should either supply a replacement, or immediately refund your customer, and await the insurance company to issue a check. As the seller, it is your responsibility to file the insurance claim if you need one. Sometimes shipping insurance claims can last over 6 months before they are settled and it is bad business to tie up customer funds while you are waiting for a settlement. Buyers and sellers should understand this situation and discuss it before payments are transferred. 
It is a lot of work to ship a patternless edger or any other piece of sensitive ophthalmic equipment, but the buyer will usually pay the proper shipping costs to insure their investment will arrive safely. Buyers and Sellers should understand this before completing the transaction.  If an inexperienced seller does not have the means or materials to properly ship the equipment. Most manufacturers will resell proper lockdown bolts and prefoamed shipping boxes. Also when you are shopping for shipping quotes from freight companies, you can specify that you need pallet service and a lift gate truck to pick up the equipment. There is a fee for this service but buyers and sellers should be aware that it is included into the shipping price and is the only proper way to ship the equipment.

CLOSING THE DEAL

Most reputable companies can provide installation, training, warranty, service, and support of the equipment. Individual sellers usually cannot. This is always obvious in the sale price. You can get a great deal from the internet, but make sure you know what you are getting into as a buyer or seller. You will need manuals or manufacturer training videos. These are available through manufacturers, distributors and resellers.  If you already know your partner as stated above, you can offer to help set up the equipment by telephone. This can be very effective in the bond of your trading partnership. You can also record your own short video of the setup and operation of the equipment. Your video can be burned to a DVD, emailed, or uploaded to a video hosting site. This small detail can be the difference in a successful transaction. Contact your customer, and make sure they are satisfied with the deal and everything is working properly. Keeping an open dialog with your trading partner after the sale will forge your business relationship and insure your success as the buyer and seller.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Feel free to contact me through the contact seller link. I can offer you a free no obligation consultation on buying or selling optical and ophthalmic equipment. I am sharing my knowledge and experience for free to keep ebay and the rest of the internet a safe and secure way to buy and sell optical and ophthalmic equipment for eyecare professionals. 

Leo Hadley Jr
OptiForum