PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2019

USED MACHINERY PET planet Insider Vol. 20 No. 10/19 www.petpla.net 38 Trading with used PET machines A new life for old machinery For almost three decades it’s been a success story for PET Machinery, the first to market, identifying the opportunity to sell used PET machinery. PET machinery’s founder, Anthony Thompson, recaps the story of the first PET machine he sold back in the early 1990s. Anthony Thompson, founder of PET machinery at his daily work: inspecting used machinery. “It was a Nissei ASB650 – an old contact relay machine being sold by Constar at their UK plant in Sherburn- in-Elmet. I was told the machine had been stored outside but under tarps at what was ominously called the ‘scrap yard’. It was a typical August morning, raining heavily, and as I came around the main building was greeted with the sight of several ducks happily paddling around in the pool made by the col- lapsed tarpaulin. A base cup applicator stood rusting a few yards away, perch for another duck which promptly flew off, annoyed by our intrusion. Such was the demand back then for afford- able PET bottle making equipment that I immediately agreed the purchase, ducks and all! The machine itself was cleaned up, tested and subsequently shipped off to Kampala, Uganda.” Since that first venture Thompson and his co-director since 2008, Erik Van Bommel, have sold machines to around 135 countries. Thompson con- tinues: “We have had the satisfaction of helping many start-ups off the ground and many of these are now national or internationally recognised players in the business. Our relationship with these companies has come full circle as they have now become our suppliers of used equipment. To assist sales where local knowledge is essential, we have appointed agents or on occasion, set up offices in different regions, most notably PETAnker Chile Ltda.” The internet has definitely changed things for the PET Machinery Industry. It has become easier for buyers and sellers to connect and many manufac- turers, particularly larger multinationals with lots of potential equipment, have tried to exploit this by posting their own equipment online. However, as many have discovered, listing the equipment is the easy bit. Responding to the many (often fruitless) requests for information takes time, especially as many potential buyers require costs for dismantling, loading, packing, shipping, insurance, and subsequent start-up and training. Then comes price negotiation – often very convoluted and finally, many overseas buyers need to pay via letter of credit or other fiscal means due to exchange rate controls. “This is where we come in,” says Van Bommel, “we have been doing this for almost three decades now and have learned a tremendous amount in that time. We can usually weed out the tyre kickers from the ‘real’ buyers and we can establish the ground rules to manage a smooth sale. Unfortunately, sales margins aren’t what they used to be and typically we work on a tight percentage in order to move machines quickly for the sellers. We still see many brokers hiking up the prices on equip- ment, including our own offerings, in the hope that a buyer will come along and pay a premium. That is not our style. Our suppliers appreciate that we are actively selling the equipment at close to base cost and of course this also benefits our buyers. We can be very competitive because we run a very lean business and try in so far as possible to broker machines from seller to buyer.” To positioning themselves as a uniquely PET reseller, the company has recently invested in the launch of a new website. This extends their services to other dealers or direct sellers via a dedi- cated area of the site where dealers can add their equipment for sale, for free and take advantage of their digital mar- keting tools to showcase their machines to a wider market. Van Bommel comments, “Our data- base is comprised of customers who have actually dealt with us in one way or another over the years and is con- stantly updated to ensure all the data is real. So, it is a very valuable resource to us. The recent GDPR requirements allowed us to re-engage with clients old and new to establish whether they wished to remain on our database and as such receive our regular emails flyers. Nearly all respondents confirmed to remain which was very pleasing.” It’s a win-win situation with the sellers benefiting from a professional marketing process and customers being assured they are dealing with an estab- lished and reputable brand in terms of reliability, investment control and logis- tics to ensure as safe a transaction as possible. The directors will be attending the upcoming K’ show via Sipa stand hall 13, booth B11. www.petmachinery.com