Copier manufacturers work quickly to get their new copiers out on the market, and they’re equally fast when working to take their old copiers off the market.

Why are they so fast to do this?

When a copier company discontinues one of their older models, they are required by law to keep parts for that model in circulation for up to five years from the day they discontinue it.

Once that fifth anniversary comes around, copier companies immediately remove every last part from circulation. Once these parts are taken out of circulation, getting parts and service for these discontinued copiers becomes far more expensive.

By aggressively stripping parts from the market, they force you to buy a new copier if you want to get support for it.

How Disreputable Copier Reps Will Take Advantage of This Situation

There are two situations that copier reps will use copier discontinuation to pad their commission checks:

1. They Try to Get You to Upgrade Your Old Copier Mid-Lease

Copier reps will take full advantage of this discontinuation to try to get you a new copier. They’ll call you up and mention how the copier model you have got discontinued by the company, therefore obtaining parts and service will be harder and more expensive.

However, they will have a brand new copier to sell you for only $50 more each month. Such a great deal. Right?

They conveniently forget to mention your recently discontinued copier still has five years of service life left on it. You can still get everything for the same prices that you would before the copier company discontinued the copier.

2. They’ll Try to Put You On a Lease For a New Copier Instead of the Cheaper Discontinued Copier

Copier reps get more money if they sell you a brand new copier. If they see you eyeing a copier that they know has been discontinued, they’ll try to steer you away from that one, and they’ll present to you the newer, shinier, and more expensive model.

They’ll never volunteer information that a copier that’s been discontinued for two years still has three years of service life left on it.

The Only Time You Should Listen to Your Copier Rep and Get a Newer Model

If the copier you’re looking at has been discontinued for four years, leasing it wouldn’t be a good idea, as it only has one year of service life left on it.

However, if the copier you’re looking to lease has more than three years of service life left on it, you can lease that copier for the remainder of its service life and save hundreds of dollars on your copier purchase.

Make sure you buy or lease a copier with plenty of service life left on it. Don’t buy a brand new copier to pad your copier rep’s commission check this month.