I was curious to see what the price increase has been for combines over the past 3 model changes. I looked through the business system, locating customers who have rolled combines every year, trying to see how pricing has evolved over the last decade. What I found was not all that shocking, but at the same time I have to wonder how long trading the volume of equipment with high used pricing can be sustained. This is not to say a 2018 combine and 2008 combine are the same. The amount of technology and overall improvements in the past 10 years are tremendously vast. So, this goes without saying, R&D cost will be recaptured but with this comes a challenge of its own. When a manufacturer has a price increase, it does affect the used market but not the entire price increase. In the the last 5 years, the rate of price increase recapture has been less than the previous 5 years.

Much like with used iron, dealers need to be picky and “buy right” when it comes to selling and servicing used precision farming equipment. Among the top things to consider when it comes to taking in a piece of used precision technology are age and condition of the unit, who potential second customers are and how many of the same unit you have in inventory already.

Never have more tools been available to accurately value and sell used equipment while farmers’ online shopping habits continue to grow at a rapid pace. At the 2017 Dealership Minds Summit, five representatives of six marketing entities shared successful techniques that their clients are using to increase used inventory turns.

Representatives from Tractor House, Iron Solutions, Fastline, Iron Connect, Machinery Pete and Auction Time provide case study examples of how technology is helping market used equipment in a digital world.