Startup Roasting Business: Pros and cons of purchasing a new or used roaster?

[CoffeeAtMidnight]

Hello all,

I am starting a coffee roasting business and am currently weighing the pros and cons of purchasing a new or used roaster. I realize that there is not one correct answer, and the choice will depend on myriad factors, but I was hoping to hear some of your opinions and experiences.

Furthermore, if any of you would happen to know of the best places to search for used machines, that info would be helpful as well.

Thank you!

[Musicphan]

What is your experience level running a commercial roaster?

[almico]

And who is going to be installing and servicing it?

I purchased my 1st 5kg commercial roaster used: 1-year old, $6k instead of $15k. I didn't know what to look for and it had seen a few fires. But I'm pretty handy and after a couple of months I had it customized to do everything I needed it do to roast amazing coffee.

I just bought a 25kg roaster used because it was 1/4 of the price of a new one. It was only 6 years old, but it had at least 1,000,000 pounds of coffee through it. I'm in the process of setting it up, rebuilding, re-ducting it and customizing it now.

Point is, if you're not handy, or don't have a handy, mechanically-oriented person working with you, find another career path, or buy new and spend the money for someone to install and maintain it for you (big bucks).

Oh yeah, it took a year of searching to find the right deal on both.

[CoffeeAtMidnight]

What is your experience level running a commercial roaster?

None.

I will be looking for instruction before opening the business, and I have done extensive research regarding the chemical processes involved.

[CoffeeAtMidnight]

And who is going to be installing and servicing it?

I purchased my 1st 5kg commercial roaster used: 1-year old, $6k instead of $15k. I didn't know what to look for and it had seen a few fires. But I'm pretty handy and after a couple of months I had it customized to do everything I needed it do to roast amazing coffee.

I just bought a 25kg roaster used because it was 1/4 of the price of a new one. It was only 6 years old, but it had at least 1,000,000 pounds of coffee through it. I'm in the process of setting it up, rebuilding, re-ducting it and customizing it now.

Point is, if you're not handy, or don't have a handy, mechanically-oriented person working with you, find another career path, or buy new and spend the money for someone to install and maintain it for you (big bucks).

Oh yeah, it took a year of searching to find the right deal on both.

I've bought and fixed my fair share of used machinery. I'm not keen on doing it again, but I can if I have to. Used equipment often seems to end up as a money sink, and without any kind of warranty I get a little nervous. I've also noticed problems moving machines from their originally installed locations, but then, none of these were coffee roasters.


Do any of you happen to know what sort of immediate resell value loss you take when buying new? And if you know of any equipment brokers or places to find the used machinery, I would love to hear those suggestions as well.

[Ansand]

I think that first, you can choose a used one because you are at the beginning of the path, it's better to look for something cheaper, not to invest right away in new types of machinery. But this is your choice and you need to look closely to understand what your business really needs. It seems easy to take such decisions but for starting a business you need to pay attention to all the details. When I started my business I was helped by the guys from carepital.com and they gave me excellent pieces of advice and helped me grow my business in the way I wanted.