How about buying a second-hand EPE extruder if I don’t have enough investment?
Many people, especially those who are new to the EPE foaming industry, may have thoughts of buying a second-hand EPE foaming machine. The fundamental reason is that second-hand machines are cheaper. They think that they can use a second-hand machine to practice using it, and then he can buy a new machine after he masters the technology.
My suggestion is not to buy a second-hand EPE machine if you have sufficient funds. Some people may say, "My friend bought a second-hand machine, it is working well”. Well, let’s discuss this. If you know well about one second-hand machine, for example, you know when he bought the machine, and you know he always uses new material during production, and you know that he didn’t produce a lot after he bought it…. then you can consider buying it.
The truth is that the final cost of buying second-hand epe extruder is higher than buying new ones. Why?
First, if you don’t know the details about the second-hand machine you are going to buy, whether it can work well depends on your luck. The seller will definitely not tell you the shortcoming of the machine, and only he himself knows the real condition of it. As for the buyer, only after you buy the machine can you know its shortcomings. 
Second, the parts of the EPE foaming machine will wear out after some time. If you buy a second-hand machine, the maintenance cost will inevitably increase. The most important part of the foaming machine is the screw. The screw has a certain service life while the wear of the screw varies according to whether it uses new material or recycled material. Besides, recycled materials also have different grades.
In some places where there are more EPE manufacturers, the competition is fierce. In order to increase profits and reduce costs, many EPE manufacturers use very cheap recycled materials. The cheaper the recycled materials, the more serious the wear of the screw will be. Severe screw wear will affect the thickness and stability of products and the output of the machine.
Third, the products made by second-hand machines are definitely not as good as those made by new ones. It may save some money when buying equipment in the early stage, so the buyer might feel that he has taken a good advantage. However, after production for only a few days, problems occur. Repairing the machine or waiting for the parts must delay the delivery time of products that you promised to your customers.
It may cause the loss of customers. Besides, the products made by second-hand machine may have a higher density because the screws have been worn to different degrees. For example, your competitors make products with the density of 16kg/m3 while you make the products with density 18-20kg/m3.
So with the same 1 ton of material, your competitors will make more volumes of products than you. Soon the profit you lose will offset the money you saved on buying the machine, and you always have lower profit than your competitors which may cause the closing of the factory.
Based on the above three points, it is not worthwhile to save the money. You had better buy a new machine which has good after-sale services to ensure you develop a good market.
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