Taking over a HP Colour Laser Jet Enterprise MFP M680

[Dataproof]

A Client of mine has the option of taking over this HP printer.

Is it any good?

I'm not sure how old it is yet, probably 2 years or so.

Its probably overkill for them and the consumables look reasonably expensive.

But, if its really good we'll make an offer.

What would it be worth?

We're in Sydney, Australia.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Well, the 600 series is "enterprise class" (granted on the smaller side for enterprise)...not sure what options came on it, but it was probably above 3,500.00 (US dollars) for a rough estimate.

When you get into the 600 series you start to get some pretty solid units...possibly overkill for them, but if the deal is nice, and they have some pretty decent print volume...even though expensive up front, toners tend to be larger so cost per print pretty low.

 

[Dataproof]

Thanks for that, what sort of price would you expect for a 3 year old out of warranty one?

 

[nerd2u]

Printers are based on page count not necessarily age of the machine.

What is the page count on it?

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[Markverhyden]

Also remember that toner doesn't age like ink does. I finally replaced a toner cartridge on my lj4250dn as it ran out. Was 7 years old.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Thanks for that, what sort of price would you expect for a 3 year old out of warranty one?

Really don't know...I'd Google around see what comes up for used listings in Amazon in your area. Going out on a limb...probably at least 60% of original MSRP.

 

[Greg Howe]

Check the page count, as Nerd2U says. That's where you'll find if this unit has been used, or abused. The duty cycle on that line is 120,000 per month, at max. If it averages more than that, danger. You're likely going to have to do a lot of maintenance on it.

I wouldn't pay more than half it's original value, and honestly, that would only be if it were gently used.

 

[fencepost]

I'd pay only a nominal amount, and if it's a private sale I'd want to know why they're replacing it. Printers are all moving parts which means wear and tear. I'll also note that the official maintenance kit for the fuser (CE246A for the US) is listed as good for 150,000 pages and runs list price of nearly US$300. The Image Transfer Belt maintenance kit (CE249A for the US) is also good for 150k pages and runs closer to US$400 list.

So, if this printer has been printing ~4000 pages/month at 3 years you're getting close to at least US$500 just in parts for maintenance kits. (best prices I see would be around US$535 + tax and shipping)

 

[Dataproof]

I'd pay only a nominal amount, and if it's a private sale I'd want to know why they're replacing it. Printers are all moving parts which means wear and tear. I'll also note that the official maintenance kit for the fuser (CE246A for the US) is listed as good for 150,000 pages and runs list price of nearly US$300. The Image Transfer Belt maintenance kit (CE249A for the US) is also good for 150k pages and runs closer to US$400 list.

So, if this printer has been printing ~4000 pages/month at 3 years you're getting close to at least US$500 just in parts for maintenance kits. (best prices I see would be around US$535 + tax and shipping)

Thanks for that advice, the owner is closing the office, so they aren't replacing it or taking it with them.

I don't know the page count, so I'll need to find that out.

What would you regard as a nominal amount?

What would they have paid for it?

 

[Porthos]

Just a thought. Here in the US some offices lease(dont own and have contracts) their printers dont know about over there. Like I said just a thought.

 

[Markverhyden]

Thanks for that advice, the owner is closing the office, so they aren't replacing it or taking it with them.

I don't know the page count, so I'll need to find that out.

What would you regard as a nominal amount?

What would they have paid for it?

What kind of business? Printer usage has dropped tremendously generally speaking. 10-15 years ago I'd get some 20-30 calls per month. These days I'm lucky if I see one a quarter. The industries where printing was and can still be high volume are accounting, medical, insurance and manufacturing. Most others it's dropped way off with all the electronic documentation.

You can just have them print a configuration page. That'll have all the info you need. The serial number will give you the date of manufacture and you'll have color and b&w print quantities. Probably have an estimate of the usable life of the consumables as well. Another item to consider is the scanner assembly. Those tend to get ignored for regular maintenance. Since the roller dry out over time that can be an issue.

But I'm thinking that model is relatively new. Within the last 3-4 years or so. So unless they've been printing up a storm they may still have the original consumables other than toner. Maintenance kit cycles are typically in the 150k to 300k page count range.

 

[nerd2u]

Save yourself the hassle and just lease a printer for 85$ a month I can lease a printer including toner and maintenance.

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[Your PCMD]

That printer is old yes, but it would be a workhorse if you can get it at a good price. Personally, I would not offer anymore than $750 USD. We can get them used all day long for $1500. But you would have to do the maintenance for sure at $500 like @fencepost suggested and that leave you with little profit margin IF you can even sell it. Near all businesses are going to smaller and cheaper laser printers. Not to mention the toner cartridges for that HP is stupid high - unless you use places like LD Products.

 

[fencepost]

What would you regard as a nominal amount?

Frankly unless I had a specific destination in mind for the printer it'd probably be "Sure, I'll deal with getting that out of the office and recycled for you." That destination could either be a client that you're willing to put a used color printer into or another business that actually deals with used printers.

Printers like that are large, heavy, generally bulky, full of messy powder, expensive to move or ship, etc. and my general feeling is that I'd rather not bother with them. The one possible exception would be if I was going to be putting it into an office as a leased printer where I was guaranteed to be getting probably at least US$100/month in revenue with no more than half? a third? of that being for consumables which means tracking impressions or charging for toner.