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SAVE 65% on your next copy machine

An interview with Tony Capabianco, a copy machine expert

Most business owners choose to lease office equipment (copiers, scanners, fax machines, etc.) thinking it’s their most cost-effective option. This is usually not the case. Leasing companies charge you more over a 3 year period than it would cost to buy a machine. Tony explains why this happens and how his company saves firms a lot of money.

Q: What makes buying a copier so much more economical than leasing?
A: We get copiers for 75%-85% less than your best discounted price.  That means you can get a $15,000 copier for $5,000 or less. In contrast, many lessees only use 12% of a copier’s life but pay for 75%-85% of its original value, plus the finance charges.

Q: If it’s so much less expensive to buy rather than lease a copier, why do firms do it? 
A:  Three reasons. First, the attractiveness of just making a monthly payment instead of a capital expenditure. Second, some firms enjoy the luxury of passing on "the cost of doing business" to their clients. Third, many firms that should be concerned about their overhead are often unaware of the used copier market and are persuaded into taking short-term leases because of the apparent ease and convenience.

Q: How much does it cost to lease a copy machine over a 3 year period?
A:  A lessee pays more than 100% of the price of a copier on a 3 year lease. Leasing companies typically calculate your payments based on 76.5% of the original price, plus the finance charges, which are often more than a 20% equivalent annual interest rate. When the copier is returned to the leasing company’s receiving agent, the agent hopes to sell it for 23.5% of the original value, but often gets less.
                                       
Q: So how do I get a good copy machine just off a lease? 
A: We have been buying machines just off lease from receiving agents who recover the residual value of the machines on behalf of the leasing company for many years.  Like most businesses, it’s who you know, and the receiving agents call us when they get in good lease returns.

Q: Are the returned machines in good condition?
A: About 20% are returned after three years hardly used! It's corporate and institutional waste. We purchase only the lowest meter lease returns. Most machines have a conservative useful life of 750,000 copies. We buy machines with 20,000 – 199,000 original copies on them. This means the machine still has at least 70% - 95% of its conservative useful life remaining when you buy it.

Q: What’s done to the copiers before you resell them?
A: We refurbish to like-new tolerances. We replace all worn parts and make all required adjustments. We can then guarantee all parts and supplies for as long as we maintain the copier, and you get a guaranteed low cost per page.

Tony Capabianco has been in the copier industry for the past 27 years. He started Copy Quick Digital Solutions in 1998.  www.copyquicksd.com 760-744-9488

How to Validate Your AbacusLaw Backup Files Using a Second Computer

Dear Abby Abacus: My colleague’s computer just crashed and he lost all of his data! I’m worried the same thing will happen to me. How can I test my back-up procedures without erasing all the information from my computer?

Dear Backed-up: It’s always a great idea to test back-up procedures before you need them.

We have a detailed procedure in the Abacus online knowledge base for restoring your office data to your home computer or laptop. After you restore, run calendar, contact and matter reports. If all matches your original data, you don’t need to worry. If you encounter a problem, you know what needs to be fixed in case you ever really need to restore your information.