With over 11 million printers being sold each yea

r at a relatively flat price per unit, the focus on peripherals and accessories for revenue seems like a fairly obvious sales strategy. Protecting post-sale profits is crucial to capturing additional revenue needed to keep printer manufacturers in the black.

Here’s how the cycle plays out: The end user purchases a brand-new printer — let’s say a laser printer. The OEMs know from this moment forward through the next six to 12 months, they’ll be guaranteed profits from a stream of expensive OEM consumables. After that honeymoon period, OEMs are at risk of losing peripherals sales to resellers as high quality aftermarket alternatives for parts, toner, and drum kits enter the market.

And make no mistake — those aftermarket consumables are a definite threat to OEMs. Aftermarket products can save the end user up to 40% while providing healthy recurring profits for resellers.

Interestingly, even resellers sometimes agree to heavily discount their equipment to garner that desirable recurring post-sale revenue stream from add-on consumables.

But is the purchase of a brand-new printer the right choice for equipment sellers and end users?

The answer is – it depends.

First, the quality of remanufactured printers you sell is of primary importance. Your customers are depending on your recommendations for a reliable — and affordable — printing solution.

Some remanufactured printers perform with the same high quality as OEM. This is the kind of performance your business-based customers expect from you. And, they expect you to support the equipment you sell, so a low-quality remanufactured printer will not only frustrate your customer but add a maintenance and troubleshooting burden to your end.

The remanufactured equipment industry provides variable quality, most of which is entirely dependent on your source. This is much the same in the accessory industry, the primary example being remanufactured toner cartridges.

Poor quality will eventually show through product performance and affect your relationship with your customer. Some dealers — and customers — shy away from remanufactured equipment due to rumors of unprofessional remanufacturing procedures.

Others, however, take a close look a product quality first, and then consider both new and remanufactured lines as standard protocol.

As long as you choose only high-quality remanufactured printers, they can be the best choice for both your customer’s bottom line — and yours.

Why the Right Remanufactured Printer Can Be the Best Choice

A high-quality remanufactured printer will look and perform as well as a new one, increasing reseller profitability.

For the customers, remanufactured equipment offers money savings plus the additional benefit of tremendous sustainability benefits. Sustainability and environmental responsibility is a hot-button topic for today’s investors and consumers, and businesses who commit to these practices can elevate their reputations — and profits — in a competitive market.

However, there are myriad other reasons to suggest a remanufactured printer rather than a new model for your customers. They include:

• Better Value – The ratio of price/performance with remanufactured printers is unbeatable vs. new printers
• Lower Cost-Per-Page – The initial investment is smaller and, if coupled with aftermarket cartridges, can amount to an enormous CPP cost savings.
• Outstanding Service Readiness – Remanufactured models are easier to troubleshoot and repair because technicians have a product history to work with
• Contributes to Fleet Simplification – It’s easier to standardize and simplify a customer’s fleet design — and increase their staff productivity — using one make and model of printer.
• Increased Sustainability – Almost all printer components can be reused or recycled, making remanufactured printers extremely eco-friendly. When coupled with remanufactured cartridges, this simple change can increase a company’s sustainability profile and reflect a commitment to corporate responsibility.

Remember, however, that the quality of remanufactured printers is directly related to the how the company performing the remanufacturing process operates. Remanufacturing is labor intensive. It requires the right skills and technology, as well as competent quality assurance.

If you’ve already had experience selling quality remanufactured printers, you already understand how valuable they are to your customers. Remanufactured units are affordable to keep their budgets on-target, they deliver excellent quality output for increased productivity, and, best of all, they keep avoidable waste out of landfill sites and contribute to a company’s sustainability efforts.

In truth, many customers find it difficult to tell the difference between a new printer and one that has been professionally remanufactured. Remanufactured printers are made to look and perform like their brand-new counterparts – all while operating at a fraction of the cost.

If you haven’t considered adding remanufactured printers — and cartridges — to your Managed Print Services (MPS) product portfolio, start leveraging the benefits now and watch your market penetration — and revenue — increase.

Clover Imaging Group Gives You Everything You Need to Sell MPS

Clover Imaging Group is always looking for new ways to help resellers and dealers increase revenue and excel in the managed print services marketplace.

Remanufactured printers are a great way to give your customers access to cost savings without loss of productivity — or quality. Plus, the sustainability benefits are a positive. And, if you combine remanufactured printers with remanufactured cartridges, your customers can look forward to a positive reduction in carbon footprint and a boost for their corporate responsibility program.

Sustainability is a current hot-button topic in our market, and your customers will be thrilled about the added value MPS programs that rely on remanufactured equipment can offer to their efforts.

Skyrocketing sustainability for dealers and their customers is a critical element of our mission to help you become more competitive in today’s crowded marketplace.

For example, our high-quality remanufactured cartridges are the perfect partner for a value proposition featuring a fleet of remanufactured printers. Our cartridges provide your clients a mix of increased cost savings, excellent performance, and sustainability. In fact, our remanufactured cartridges reduce material usage by 79%, resulting in half the environmental impact of standard cartridges. In addition, Clover has a variety of collection, recycling, and reforestation solutions to help resellers increase their environmental responsibility.

To make it even easier to sell an MPS solution to your customers, Clover offers several partner programs that allow our dealers to leverage the power of ecommerce, take advantage of high-value pricing reductions, and offer customers unparalleled cost savings while providing the highest quality products and services.

If you’re ready to discover the many ways Clover Imaging can assist your organization in developing a strong value proposition featuring remanufactured products, contact a Clover representative and get started today.