View from my window….2021

One constant in my business is that every year brings new opportunities and new surprises.  As most of you know, my brokerage work focuses on the types of products the independent x-ray dealer sells.  I do on occasion sell CT’s or MRI’s and x-ray equipment from the majors, like GE, Siemens and Philips.  Mostly, though, I focus on x-ray rooms, CR, DR, C-Arms and mammo equipment.  I spend a great deal of time on equipment from Del Medical, Universal, Quantum (Carestream), Agfa, Fuji and Konica. 

So, as we ramp up for what we all hope will be a traditional busy fourth quarter, let me tell you what I have experienced so far this year with these dealer-centric products.

X-Ray Rooms – My supply of good x-ray rooms (DOM 2010 and newer) has been more limited this year than in the past.  Prices have been higher, and rooms have been selling faster than in the past few years…except for those that don’t.  And those that do not sell can be very nice rooms but are generally in the far Northwest.  Everyone apparently thinks the Northwest is as far away as Alaska!  But the Rockies do not add much, if anything, to freight rates.

There continue to be better bargains with 3-phase and OTC rooms.  As you know, I know just enough about x-ray to be dangerous, but I have never gotten a good answer as to why people do not buy OTC rooms, keep the cables, tube, and collimator, throw away the overhead and find a floor-mounted or floor-to-wall tube stand to use with these great rooms. Is it that difficult to do this?  Those willing be creative can find some nice bargains, I believe.

DR’s – There are an increasing number of pre-owned DR systems on the market.  Sellers are competing with lower wholesale prices on wireless DR from Korea and, especially, China.  However, sellers have not gotten the message that their asking prices have to drop as the Korean/Chinese prices for new DR’s continue to plummet.

Another issue the DR market faces is software support.  The trick is finding buyers who can support the software of the pre-owned panel.  There is a high demand for pre-owned DR’s but because of this “knowledge gap,” while matching buyer to seller is much more difficult. 

With both DR and CR, we continue to have the problem of users wanting to keep their computers or wanting to pull hard drives from computers to “guarantee” that patient information is secured.

Different brands pose different challenges.

• Vieworks – We simply can’t find many used panels.   I could use as many as I could find.
• 20/20 – I find that 20/20’s strict service contract policies push prices down as buyers assume they will have to sign up for a service contract should anything go wrong.
• Konica – Dealers seem to play the “license matching game” – needing to make sure a panel has the needed acquisition software license attached to it.
• Carestream, Fuji, Agfa – no major issues, although sellers really think Fuji and Agfa units are made of gold.
• iRay – Since many of these panels use 20/20 software, prices are lower than I would expect.
• Rayence – You need to find the right Rayence dealer. There seems to be a real love/hate relationship with this product/manufacturer/service provider. 

So, the DR game is like a Venn diagram (remember those?), where none of the circles overlap.

CR’s – We are still selling dozens of these.  Prices keep falling.  I advise dealers to sell them as fast as they get them if they are not a brand they typically support.  There are a few domestic dealers still buying CR’s, but most of my buyers are international or big domestic consolidators who ship systems overseas. If you have more units that you can sell locally (and made a great margin since you are most likely picking these up for very little), call me.  I like finding them in “herds” of three, six or even more.

CR’s fall into three categories:

Portables –SourceRay, MinRay, Dynarad, etc.  These sell well although cosmetics is a big issue in pricing.  The prettier, the higher the asking/selling price.  The units coming out of the mobile companies can look fairly beat up, and there is a good chance they also have some other issues.  We have one seller, however, who makes sure his units are working before he offers them for sale. 

The hotter market is for pre-owned DR/Portable units.  They move much faster.

Other craziness – Just so you know, I continue to sell dozens of X-Cel podiatry x-ray units.  I’ve been accused of having a foot fetish, but that is really one of my client’s problems.  He will travel the lengths of the country to pick up a nice unit, even as old as 1995.  I have another guy who loves Fuji One Shot x-ray phantoms. There is no telling what someone will collect.

Well, this blog is getting near my word count limit so although I could talk about other equipment, I will end here.

I hope you have a very active and profitable fourth quarter.  I am here to help.  Remember that in addition to selling products, I will also search for equipment you need. 

Wishing everyone a very happy Thanksgiving.  Be safe out there!

Daniel Giesberg