peach

Yes, Robert, I know when to move on; when YOU decide its time to move on. You also have no idea what I do or know. And judging by your comments on this site, apparently YOU don't seem to think that I know much about anything.

Just for the record, I buy all of my beds used, and I have been checking out and tracking used equipment on the used market for 22 years. I have owned 100 beds or more at a time, and I have bought and sold a lot of equipment and salons during that time.

So whether you think so or not, I am qualified to have an opinion on the subject.

What determines the value of anything is what people are willing to pay for it. In other words DEMAND. The reason that most used equipment has little value in the market today is because there is NO DEMAND for it. And that is because the demand for indoor tanning itself is shrinking.

A perfect case study will be Parrot head. I wish the best for him, selling his equipment, but I am not optimistic that he will get much for them especially if he puts them in storage.

Your arrogance and sanctimonious attitude towards me is really getting annoying Robert, do you have to force people to agree with you all the time? Why can't we just agree to disagree?

sunrisetan

It's time to say goodbye to peach dog. Seriously Robert stop this mad dog.

tanu01

I think NOT

peach

I remember when you could sell a 32 bulb bed (the work horse unit of the industry) for $3000 a pop, 5 years after buying it for $4000. Now 2 years after you buy a 32 bulb bed you can't give it away. Why? Our industry is shrinking. There is fewer people starting new salons and there is practically no one new getting into the business. Those are the people who usually buy used equipment. So there is no one to buy this stuff. Yes, there are a few people upgrading but, they are in the market for higher end beds. But, with no new salons starting, it devalues all equipment out there on the market.

When the industry was growing, there was a robust used bed market, so much so that it was hard for private citizens to get a personal tanning bed. Now, you pick up a commercial grade bed for $200, anywhere.

Those are just the facts. I don't know how anyone can argue this. I don't know why they try,....unless........agenda.

sbt501

I don't consider a 20 year old 24 lamp bed a commercial bed. In my area that's all you will find for $200.

It is truly disappointing hearing so many doing so poorly. Parrot is a prime example of you can't cater only to a specific demo. I believe just because you did things a certain thing one way and were successful doesn't mean it will always work, you have to always be evolving. If I did the same things now as in 1997 or 2004 I wouldn't be in biz.

There are less tanners now, so adapt and make more $ or just complain about it and keep getting the same results..

peach

Evolve? You cannot "evolve" if you can't buy anything, and you can't buy anything if the stuff you have isn't WORTH ANYTHING! Is this really that hard to understand?

To "evolve" in this business, you either have to spend your business earnings, lease, or borrow the money. Why would Parrot want to do any of those 3 things?

His equipment is in good working order, and all together might be worth 15k in the used bed market today. That won't buy much "evolution" at todays bed prices.

Have you ever heard of craigslist? ebay?, amazon? have you ever tried selling YOUR equipment when you upgrade? We are literally swimming in cheap used equipment in this country.

I have 10 decent commercial 32 bulb VHO beds sitting in a warehouse right now that I probably couldn't get $200 a piece from a used bed wholesaler. They tell you that the acrylics are worth more than the bed. I will probably end up giving them away, just to clear out the storage building to avoid paying for it.

Talk about "evolution"; last year, I bought a brand new hydro-massage unit from someone who rented a space formerly owned by a planet beach-who left the unit sitting in the space when they abandoned it! That was a $22,000unit new; my cost $1,000. That tells you all you need to know about the used equipment market and the current state of the tanning industry.

Robert K

Listen you smelly, mange, no good mutt go back and read what you wrote and I quote:

"I hate to say this but, if anyone has a salon with equipment older than 2 years, your equipment is essentially worth zero. It costs more to disassemble and move it than its worth."

THIS STATEMENT IS 100% WRONG.

Your 10-20 year old VHO beds are worth nothing but that is not what we are talking about.

Beds that are 2010 or newer are in VERY high demand. I could sell almost any model by any of the bigger companies. Call these 5 years and under. They sell for 40-70% of original purchase price.

Beds that are 2004-2009 are still very sellable as long as they are from a manufacture still in business. They sell for 30-50% of the original purchase price.

We are not talking about the junk you have in your slumlon we are talking about real equipment bought in the last decade.

Go look on the for sale section and find all these beds that are 2010 and newer that people cannot sell!!

__________________
Robert Klem
Superior UV Technologies
(888) 526-7712 x77
robertk@superioruv.com

peach

Beds that are 2004-2009 are still very sellable as long as they are from a manufacture still in business. They sell for 30-50% of the original purchase price.

And who would that be? You can count on one hand the number of manufacturers still in the bed manufacturing business. There isn't a single US manufacturer of tanning equipment anymore. So, the ones who own the other stuff are just SOL.

So, what do these 3-4 companies who are left do? They jack up the prices so that very few of us can afford their beds anyway. We are forced to pay high prices for equipment or use ole brand X beds.

Sounds like a very unhappy scenario for the 99% of us. Whether you are willing to admit it or not Robert, you live in a fairytale bubble. The vast majority of indie salons do not own top of the line Ergoline or KBL beds. They own the brand X's and can't afford these 10-30k beds. You make your living off of the top 1% in this industry. So, of course, to you the world looks wonderful. You insult me, parrot head and most of the other people who are on this site. Shame on you. Your name calling is beyond bad. I can disagree with anyone and not berate or disparage them. You cannot.

You can always tell when someone is losing the argument: they resort to the name calling. Case closed.

peach

This industry is caught in a cycle where new equipment is getting more and more expensive AND your used equipment is worth less and less. So you won't be able to AFFORD to buy good equipment. Very soon the only way that you are going to be able to compete IS TO LEASE equipment, because you will not able to afford to buy the top of the line equipment. Leasing companies will own you and you basically have to profit share with them.

Same thing happened in the video rental business. Studios entered into profit sharing agreements with the big box rental companies. That allowed them to have virtually unlimited copies of videos and they split profits 55-45%. That will soon be the norm in the tanning business. Soon no one will be able actually buy new tanning equipment.

Robert K

Dog you are wrong again and I quote you:

"You can count on one hand the number of manufacturers still in the bed manufacturing business. There isn't a single US manufacturer of tanning equipment anymore."


Heartland / Tan America (US)
Suncapsule (US)
Hex (US)
MegaSun (US)
UWE
KBL
ProSun
Ergoline / Soltron
Sportarredo
ISO Italia
Tanses
Ultrasun

Not to mention the American Quality, ESB, Sunco and a few other US manufactures.


Dog you are the only one and I call you names because I have never seen someone who is so consistently wrong and even when show the light continues to claim their statements are correct. Here again you are absolutely wrong.

I have not insulted the Bird in the least. In fact I told him his equipment is worth about 30K. Which it certainly is. Once it was removed cleaned and new lamps installed it would sell for 50K+.

Here again you are wrong and I quote:

"His equipment is in good working order, and all together might be worth 15k in the used bed market today"

Doggie I deal with hundreds and hundreds of salons located across the whole country and Canada. You deal with your little one dimensional slumlon located in the holler and yet you try to impose your single minded beliefs on the rest of us.

Dog / Peach why don't you post the name of your salon and your website (assuming you have one) so we can see if you are actually a credible salon operator. You hide behind your screen name and post like you are an expert. If you are so knowledgeable you must be extremely successful so why not share?

__________________
Robert Klem
Superior UV Technologies
(888) 526-7712 x77
robertk@superioruv.com