Are you asking the right question?

 

Hospital Departments and Supply Chain teams, are you still asking vendors to make you offers on devices you no longer use? 
 
Asking this question makes you vulnerable. It exposes you to receiving value the device is worth to vendors, not its market value. 
 
You must know your device's value.  Asking vendors to name a price for your device is the same as listing your house on Craigslist and asking home buyers to tell you what your house is worth.
 

We tested this theory last month while reselling highly demanded surgical device.
 
For the same device, we asked one group of vendors to submit offers. 


And, we asked second group of vendors to pay our asking price. 

Both groups were comprised of equipment dealers, brokers, remarketers, manufacturers and private 3rd parties located in various regions around the world.
 
Results were exactly as projected.  Vendors who chose to participate from the first group, gave offers that were considerably lower than our asking price. 
 
This is not because they were trying to be insulting, but because they gave us offers based on their perception of what the device is worth. 

We positioned this sale by stating: "Taking Offers! Make An Offer!"  Vendors from first group did just that, they made us offers that were marginally negotiable.
 
Vendors who chose to participate from the second group worked with us and agreed to asking price.  

Since multiple vendors agreed to pay asking price, it gave us leverage and position to negotiate with multiple parties.   
 
After negotiations, final price was 94% higher than the lowest offer and 41% higher than the highest negotiated offer received from vendors who submitted offers.
 
Takeaway of this experiment is simple.  Know the value of your device.  Don't ask vendors for offers.  Tell vendors your asking price.  
 
The only questions you should be asking vendors when reselling used medical devices are their expectations related to functionality, inspection and pickup.
 
This approach sets expectations, keeps you in control and makes resale process more transparent. 


EcoMed works exclusively with hospitals by reselling end-of-use medical devices. Even if your hospital has another service provider, you may still have questions, need validation, or resources.  Don't hesitate to reach out and ask.

 

To learn more about benefits of a managing resale of end-of-use medical devices, visit www.ecomedhtm.com or send an email to med@ecomedhtm.com.          

Negotiating Strategies or Excuses?

3 Minute Read | Decision Factors

“Asking price is too high. We buy same pumps for half the price.”

“Market is saturated with these modules. They are almost worthless.”

"System is old and worthless. Removal will be expensive."

 

Healthcare Providers and Supply Chain Professionals, do any of these sound familiar? 

How many of you heard these statements while selling medical devices after they were removed from use by your organization? 

 

Are these statements accurate, or is the buyer trying to corner you into lowering the price under pretense they know the market better? 

In some instances, yes, these statements are correct and your buyer is right.

 

However, that's not always the case. 

 

If your buyers are purchasing devices for inventory than it is unlikely you will receive fair market price.   These buyers have overhead expenses such as warehousing, transportation, refurbishing processes, etc. and there's never 100% guarantee that device will sell and their investment will be fully recovered. 

 

However, there are situations when devices sell at fair market prices or premium. This usually occurs when

• Buyer has an immediate need for device  
• Device is being purchased by an end-user

So how do you decide whether to sell the device, or keep it until the right buyer pops up on the radar?

 

Here 3 biggest factors that should influence your decision

1. Equipment type
2. Future use potential 
3. Timeline

Let's explore the Big 3 in more detail.

 

Device Type: 
There are many types of equipment - general, surgical, lab, diagnostic, the list goes on. 

Within this mix, there are individual unique devices such as O-Arms, Portable Heart-Lug Machines and Mobile Hyperthermia Treatment Systems to name a few. 

Provided such devices are in working condition and supported by their manufacturers, it is possible to sell them 25%-60% above fair market price.  

 

The keys to getting a good sale price are

• Correct Sales Strategy
• Global Market Use and Demand Knowledge
• Communications
• Targeting the Right Buyers
• Patience

Posting an Internet listing and sending few emails to vendors that fix medical equipment and soliciting an offer will unlikely yield any stellar results.

 

Future Use Potential:

Yes, your organization may have paid a lot of money when they purchased this device. Yes, it may be in pristine condition and well maintained, but offers you are receiving don't come close to what you feel the device is worth or asking prices you see on the Internet for same device so you decide to keep it.

 

It's a tough predicament but if you're not going to use this device, you should entertain a lower offer as it sits there, it will loose all remaining residual value and in the end, you will pay to have it removed and scrapped. 

 

Please don't assume you will get 40-50% of what you paid in 1995 especially if the device is no longer supported by the manufacturer. 

 

Also, keep in mind MD Buyline and asking prices on DOTmed do not reflect fair market price for end-of-use medical devices.  You will need to determine fair price by doing your own analysis, monitoring the market, following auctions and constantly communicating with multiple buyers.   

 

Timeline:

Occasionally, even with a good strategy, you will have no choice but to cave in to your timeline. Most unique devices eventually sell. It’s just a matter of time it takes to find the right buyer willing to pay the right price.

 

However, if space is an issue or an asbestos abatement project is underway, time may not be on your side. Therefore, timeline will impact duration of the selling cycle.

 

If you pull the plug on selling cycle because you don't have time to chase buyers, answer their questions or just want device out, then you should probably delegate or outsource this job. 

 

Premature sale of medical devices only limits revenue that can be generated from capital investments made by your organization.    

 

At the end of the day, everyone wants a good deal. Everyone negotiates. Everyone hustles.  Ultimately, it is up to you or your trusted partner who works on behalf of your organization to sell end-of-use medical device equitably and smart.

 

 

We are here to help you decide the best way to decommission medical devices your organization no longer uses. Even if you work with another service provider, have questions, looking for suggestions, ideas or resources, please contact us and we will be glad to be a resource. 

 

To learn more about benefits of a managed Medical Equipment Decommission Program, please visit www.ecomedhtm.com or send an email to med@ecomedhtm.com. 

This No Longer Best Practice is Now Getting Old

Trading-in older medical equipment for new medical device, is an aging and unfruitful practice of a Healthcare Supply Chain.  Healthcare systems that separate these two acts have a financial advantage because they can

1. Resell older equipment at market price, rather than nominal price paid by OEM 
2. Calculate true cost of equipment ownership
3. Maintain leverage in negotiating best price for the new device

Acts of procurement and trade-in are like “bride and groom,” it appears one cannot exist without the other.  But in reality, it is a poor marriage of incompatible entities, destined for cataclysm from the beginning. 

Trading-in equipment only complicates an already arduous process of procuring new medical device.  Among many dissatisfactions shared, the single, most frequent frustration expressed by 100% of Healthcare systems surveyed on this topic was

"Receiving substantially less than the Fair Market Price for trade-in equipment from OEM"

There are a multitude of reasons behind low prices paid by OEM for trade-in equipment but the most common one is due to OEM Trading Desk process.  Most OEMs have a Trading Desk that is responsible for collecting trade-in equipment details from all sales reps. 

These details are than distributed mostly to OEM-only contracted vendors who bid on available trade-in equipment.  Vendor with the best offer gets awarded the equipment. 

Of course, this is an oversimplified glimpse of what actually takes place.  But, without getting into semantics of the bidding process and how much of the vendor’s received offer is in fact given to the Healthcare system, this process devalues trade-in equipment at least twice from its fair market price.

Knowing about the general Trading Desk process, is the first step in recognizing that the relationship between procurement and trade-in acts is toxic. 

By separating these two acts into independent tasks, Healthcare systems can

1. Maintain an advantage during purchase negotiations for new device while
2. Retaining full control over resale of older equipment  

While it may not always be possible to divorce these two acts due to prior contractual obligations, it is certainly advisable and financially advantageous (in most cases) to explore and establish a formal, internal process going forward.  

In the past, trading-in older equipment was customary.  Today, in the age of value-based healthcare, continuing this aging practice is equivalent to mishandling organizational capital assets and funds. 

Managing and controlling resale of older equipment earmarked for OEM trade-in, is one of the simplest and guaranteed ways of creating additional revenue from an already existing and owned resources.