Learn from the mistakes of others. You can never live long enough to make them all yourself.

– Groucho Marx

In business and in life, paying for the experience of others is often money well spent. If you are reading this blog because you want to sell your CEREC, you’re in luck. I am sharing my experience for free! In this blog, I provide a summary of options for selling your CEREC system.

Option 1: Sell it Yourself (a.k.a. the hard way)

There are no shortage of options when it comes to selling things on the Internet, but when it comes to selling CERECs, eBay has no equal. I have tried everything from Facebook, Adwords, DentalTown, DotMed, Craigslist and various other used dental equipment sites. None of them offer the worldwide platform, payment systems, listing capabilities or general all-in-one sales solution that eBay provides. Now, this is not to say that selling your CEREC on eBay is easy. In fact, it is very difficult, but that’s not the result of a deficiency with eBay, but rather with the seller. Let me explain.

If you are not a regular eBay user, you will be challenged with zero to little positive feedback and/or a low rating. You haven’t necessarily done anything wrong, but in the eyes of shoppers you are a high risk seller. That feedback rating is like your credit score; and nobody wants to give money to people with low credit scores. Even if you are a regular eBay user and may have great feedback ratings, chances are it is as a consumer, not a seller. Most buyers don’t care if you paid for that vintage action figure in a timely manner. They want to know what you have sold lately. How many items have you sold? What are the value of those items? Basically, buyers want to know if they can trust you with a big ticket purchase. In most cases, a CEREC machine will be far and away the most expensive thing you have for sale, if not the only thing. With the number of eBay scams involving CERECs going around these days, low feedback and a meager sales history is enough to put you at a serious disadvantage right out of the gate. Poor or scant seller feedback affect buyer confidence, which goes hand in hand with price. This is because peace of mind is a commodity in and of itself. As a result, most individual CEREC sales on eBay are undervalued.

Perform a search for the same type of CEREC you have to sell on eBay and filter the results to show “Sold Listings” only. You will find that most of the listings populated by the search were sold by dental equipment companies. If you are able to locate an item from an individual seller, I am confident you will find the sales price to be noticeably lower than its peers. With so many options available from established businesses with a solid track record of sales, many buyers don’t seem to be interested in taking their chances with an individual seller.

But for the sake of argument, let’s say that you create a visually appealing, thorough and compelling listing. You develop a solid rapport with a buyer through the messaging system and made them an attractive offer, which was accepted. Woohoo! You did it!

Well, hold on there just a minute partner- now you’ve found out that eBay charged you a $750 final value fee, PayPal took an uncapped 3.9% off the top, and 100% of the funds have been placed on hold for 21 days, pending your ability to provide proof of delivery. Now what? The CEREC system is too large and heavy for USPS, UPS or FedEx. So how do you pack it? Who do you ship it with? What’s the freight class? What on earth is an NMFC code? How much does this weigh? Do you need a liftgate? What’s considered Limited Access? How do you fill out a Shippers Letter of Instruction? How much does it cost? This is the part where experience, earned or bought, pays dividends.

Aside from the riddle that is CEREC shipping, there are common frustrations that both professional and amateur eBay sellers must deal with from time to time, including disputes with a buyer. Amateur CEREC sellers are more prone to disputes because they have a tendency to be light on the details in the item or condition description fields. Buyers typically shy away from listings that are lean on the details anyway, but if someone does purchase the system and you were a little careless with describing your item, then you have almost guaranteed yourself a problem down the road. Buyers have up to 30 days after delivery to open a case or request a refund under eBay’s Buyer Protection Policy, in spite of your claims of “no returns” or “sold as-is”. After a case has been opened, PayPal will freeze your funds (again) and give you and the buyer 3 business days to come to a solution. If you can’t, eBay will step in and force a solution upon you, which is usually not seller friendly. In situations like these, the effort you put into the listing on the front-end could be your saving grace.

To sum up the do-it-yourself option: this offers perhaps the largest potential return, but comes at the considerable expense of time, effort and risk.

2. Wholesale it to a Used Dental Equipment Company (a.k.a. the easy way)

This strategy is perhaps the fastest way to get rid of your CEREC, but it comes at a price. The dental equipment business is a high overhead business. Maintaining an inventory requires a sizable investment, so businesses have to be selective. This is especially true when dealing with CEREC. Most used dental equipment companies won’t touch the technology. A select few will, but only if the price is really attractive. Essentially, if there’s no chance they’ll hit a home run, they won’t bother swinging. Most times, a cash offer will be 50-60% or less of the resale value of the equipment. For most sellers who’ve paid $100k+ for their CEREC, selling at wholesale prices isn’t going be an appealing option. However, if you are in a situation where you have relatively little invested into the product or money is tight, sometimes speed is more valuable than return.

There are three companies known to purchase used CERECs with cash: CAD/CAM HERO (Texas), Atlas Resell (Idaho) and 4 Star Dental Equipment (Florida). I’d suggest contacting all three to compare offers, terms, the process, etc.

In summary, wholesaling to a used dental equipment company is recommended for anyone with minimal investment into the machine or those that require fast cash as a matter of preference or need.

3. Consignment (a.k.a. working smarter not harder)

The simple definition of consignment is the agreement to pay the supplier of goods after the goods are sold. It is a very appealing option for those with high value systems or for anyone who would prefer to let someone else do the heavy lifting in exchange for a slice of the pie. The following companies will sell your CEREC on consignment:

Atlas Resell Management (atlasresell.com)

O3 Asset Management Group (o3amg.com)

Global Imaging Resources (globalimagingresources.com)

And of course, there’s CAD/CAM HERO. We are extremely confident that we offer the most seller-friendly consignment program available (that’s why we just supplied you with links to our competitors).

Some highlights include:

A no cost, in-person inspection.

A no strings attached “handshake agreement” until your CEREC is sold.

A return visit by a CAD/CAM HERO representative to pack and ship the system.

Up front payment (some deals may involve alternative arrangements, but you will know beforehand and have the option to decline).

Industry low consignment fees of 10-15%.

In Conclusion

For the do-it-yourselfers out there, eBay is your best bet. Although eBay and PayPal fees will take a good chunk of change out of the deal ($1,420 on a $30,000 deal) and they will probably hold onto the money for a few weeks, it will still offer the highest potential return in exchange for considerable effort. Wholesaling your CEREC for cash is going to be the fastest and most convenient way to liquidate the asset, but you’ll also be giving up on 50% or more of the value. Consignment will be the preferred strategy for those with high-value equipment or who don’t have the time or will to do it all by themselves. No matter which way you go, CAD/CAM HERO is available to provide you with honest feedback and guidance to assist you with making the right decision for you.

Thank you for reading.

For prompt, professional and effective help with selling your CEREC system, call the CAD/CAM HERO at (844) DTL-HERO.