Starting a photocopier reselling business. Good idea?

[cyberguy]

Would like to start a photo copier business reselling the likes of Cannon, Xerox etc. What are your thoughts?

Initially I will be starting off as a one man band.

Thanks

 

[Mr D]

Would like to start a photo copier business reselling the likes of Cannon, Xerox etc. What are your thoughts?

Initially I will be starting off as a one man band.

Thanks

What will be your target market? How will you deal with competition who have already got a reputation?

Great if you can see a market for the goods and have access to a supply. Whether you can make money doing it - down to you.

 

[MBE2017]

Only problem I foresee is the idea is easy to copy.

 

[Alan]

What are your thoughts?

My thoughts are what are the market predictions for photocopiers?

My gut feel it is a declining market as businesses become more paperless.

A quick bit of research shows certainly shows on Google a declining trend.

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today 5-y&geo=GB&q=photocopier

 

[Mark T Jones]

The market has changed beyond recognition. Why do you think this is a good idea?

 

[Dimo]

I reckon photocopiers are a declining market given the abundance of printer-scanners and paperless billing. But perhaps there will be takers for used machines if the price is right. Another thing to think about is whether you can afford to offer any form of guarantee, and are you intending to go nationwide with deliveries?

 

[BLP]

Only problem I foresee is the idea is easy to copy.

 

[Financial-Modeller]

I imagine (but can't draw on specific expertise) that the model conventionally works with the supplier deriving more income from maintenance and consumables than from profit on the sale of the new copier(?)

If so, you are taking on the costly phase of the copier's lifecycle, without the benefit of controlling consumables (due to it not being new).

But the main impediment to sales is likely to be the move away from print in offices. Who buys a second-hand copier when printers today are better, cheaper, and more fit-for-purpose?

 

[prophet01]

@cyberguy

Would like to start a photo copier business reselling the likes of Cannon, Xerox etc. What are your thoughts?
Thanks

My thought is, why?

 

[Bluejen84]

There is a company in my town, all they do is photocopiers sales and repairs. They have a fleet of vehicles. Always fascinated me that it's an industry that supports this but hey I sell snakes so who am I to judge!

 

[Alison Moore]

I would have thought it was a declining market. There used to be a time when even a small office would have a photocopier in the corner, now most of it can be done using an all in one printer. Only the larger corps need photocopiers these days, and they're probably already signed up to lease and maintenance agreements, plus there is a massive push to have everything stored electronically and paperless, so even less need for photocopiers.

 

[wesaving]

Had a friend who worked for a subsidiary in a similar line of work, Dunder Mifflin inc., didnt end well

 

[BristolBiz]

We buy used copiers for our print business, it's not only about the machine, and, perhaps as importantly it's about the service contract. We would only consider buying direct from the likes of Xerox, Konica, Canon etc because they will offer same-day maintenance contracts.

 

[DavidWH]

Digital print is on the up I think.

Customers are buying lower quantities. Theres an expectation of speed.

Lots of large litho printers have gone bust, or downsized and outsource it. If you want sameday digital is the way.

People call in wanting flight tickets, passports, vouchers, CV's all printing but don't own a printer.

But agree with @BristolBiz for us the support is far more important.