Why Used Kitchen Equipment Is a Wise Investment for Restaurants
Commercial restaurant equipment is expensive. Outfitting a professional kitchen takes time, effort, and money, particularly if you spring for new kitchen equipment, which many restaurant owners do, not realizing there’s an easier way.
Fifty-nine percent of restaurants close within the first three years. These restaurants then sell their old equipment back to restaurant supply stores, which offer the used restaurant equipment at depreciated prices.
If you buy used equipment instead of new, you can save on your upfront costs and invest in more important aspects of the business. You don’t necessarily need new kitchen equipment, especially when used equipment is only a few months old and just as good as new equipment but at half the cost.
Let’s take a look in detail at why you should invest in used kitchen equipment.
Buying used restaurant equipment can save you a lot of money when you’re first investing in your business, money that can go toward things like marketing or hiring staff and other critical aspects of starting a restaurant.
By investing more in marketing, ambiance, food, or waitstaff, you make a better impression on customers and have a better chance for success. Then, as your business picks up and you begin generating more profit, you can reinvest in buying brand-new equipment or simply replace your kitchen equipment as you go along.
Essentially, your invest money into more complicated aspects of the business by saving money on equipment, one of the most expensive upfront costs of starting a restaurant.
With new equipment, the prices listed on them are often the prices you’ll have to pay. There’s little room for negotiating prices or asking for extras. But that isn’t the case with used kitchen equipment.
You can talk to the vendors about pricing, throwing in extras, or getting deals on kitchen equipment bundles. You get more value for your money than if you buy all new.
Of course, you should also consider the condition and quality of the equipment you buy. Restaurant equipment depreciates after its use, but going for the cheapest of the cheap will only land your business in hot water when it needs replacing.
But if you inspect the machines and ensure they’re in proper working order, not too old, and how much they’ve been used, you can get incredible deals on whole kitchens.
When you’re buying used equipment from a restaurant supply and negotiating the prices, you can ask for small complimentary equipment, like spoons, utensils, cooking utensils, and much more.
Besides bundling together equipment, you can save a lot of money by sourcing a lot of more minor, easy-to-forget equipment from the restaurant supply. Moreover, this equipment is frequently new or barely used by restaurants that shuttered their establishments, so you can get quality equipment for free.
New equipment frequently has hidden fees or one or two complimentary pieces with purchase. More often than not, you have to buy them separately, which produces extra strain on your restaurant budget or might crop up as surprise expenses.
Outfitting kitchens is a lot of work that you may or may not be anticipating, but complimentary equipment included in negotiations can make the entire process smoother.
Used restaurant equipment doesn’t come with warranties, so if it breaks, you’ll be on the hook to replace them. But if the problem is fixable, the vendor, like Texas Restaurant Supply, will send someone out to look at your equipment and fix it.
This is huge, as most commercial restaurant equipment doesn’t have personal maintenance specialists. It’s the difference between closing the restaurant a week and waiting for a layperson to charge you through the nose to get it fixed and opening up within a day because there’s someone ready and waiting to help you.
That’s big for restaurants, and used restaurant equipment frequently comes with on-site maintenance for any issues that might crop up. So before you buy new just for the warranty you won’t need for five to ten years, consider the flexibility and affordability of used restaurant equipment for your brand–new restaurant.
Wrap Up
So, considering that you’ll save some money, will be able to negotiate the price, will receive some extra equipment for free, and will have access to on-site maintenance, buying used kitchen equipment is a no-brainer.