Commercial Printers?

So I recently got a hit on a CL ad I posted in the automotive section. In the ad I offered a share in the profit for shops that need their scrap hauled to the yard.

Well I got a response from a property management company who needs a business suite cleaned out. The business was a web and graphics design company but from the limited info I can find about them, they were mainly a printing business. " We print on newsprint and offset paper rolls up to 34" wide, folding to newspaper tabloids sizes or down to 8-1/4" x 10-3/4" (or smaller) booklets, glued and trimmed inline."

I explained I can't do a profit share on electronics because they need to be broken down and shipped out but that I would purchase computers/servers based on scrap value. I explained how printers are mostly plastic and therefor I don't buy them but I would haul them off for free. Which will be good for me if they have a decent resale value. They also have a bunch of trash they want hauled off so I am hoping to just trade that out so I am not out of pocket on anything.

My question is about the printers. I have never touched a commercial grade printer. The company had been in business for almost 30 years so I assume their equipment is a bit dated. So I am wondering if older printers are worth anything above scrap value? Or would only the newer stuff be worth anything above scrap? Are there certain types of commercial printers that are more valuable than others?



Lots of info on the forum about copiers, inkjet and laser printers but I couldn't find anything on commercial printing equipment. If anyone had dealt with them I would appreciate some advise. Thanks!

*not sure why the text changed in the middle of my post...

There is A LOT of money in commerical printer sales and disassembly. Just the printer heads on a 44" printer can sell for $350-2000 used if working and clean. The plastic casing parts even sell for good money. Do the usual by taking note of the models and checking ebay's sold listings for whole machines and parts. That'll give you an idea for what you might expect. As scrap they're not generally any more impressive per pound than office or desktop printers.

Well I did a quick search for offset printers for sale and I am definitely sensing money to be made! Now of course these are "asking" prices on ebay. But the cheapest offset printing press I found which was inoperable was listed for $700. As long as I buy at scrap prices this should be a decent payday!

Originally Posted by JJinLV

There is A LOT of money in commerical printer sales and disassembly. Just the printer heads on a 44" printer can sell for $350-2000 used if working and clean. The plastic casing parts even sell for good money. Do the usual by taking note of the models and checking ebay's sold listings for whole machines and parts. That'll give you an idea for what you might expect. As scrap they're not generally any more impressive per pound than office or desktop printers.

As far as I can find online about the business they had a 34" offset printer. Beyond that they also fold paper, trim paper and glue booklets. Those machines all seem to have good value as well.

Huh. Do you have specs on the equipment?

Originally Posted by Breakage

Huh. Do you have specs on the equipment?

No I won't know anything about it until I go to pick it up. I am dealing with the property management company who just wants all the equipment gone. It was described to me as a large printer and other pieces of large electronics. After getting the name of the company that went out of business i was able to find out they had a 34 inch offset printer but beyond that i really have no clue what i am going to pick up. So I guess this thread was a little premature. I have never messed with any commercial grade printing equipment so I figured I would see if you all had some advise for me.

One thing I do know is that the new shed I just built and promised my wife I wouldn't use for scrapping is about to be used for scrapping/printer storage!

in May last year i stripped 7 commercial printers- they were basically obsolete so i just stripped them.

as JJinLV said, the heads are worth some money- i was asked to give them the heads when i had removed them but was allowed to take the rest

i made good money in about 4.5 days of work- there was a LOT of screws to remove.
most was shred
then some steel and a good amount of extruded aluminium & s/steel.

Originally Posted by 520

Well I did a quick search for offset printers for sale and I am definitely sensing money to be made! Now of course these are "asking" prices on ebay. But the cheapest offset printing press I found which was inoperable was listed for $700. As long as I buy at scrap prices this should be a decent payday!

Don't go by listing prices, go by sold prices. Lots of stuff is listed at wildly inflated prices. Sold listings will give a better idea of what folks actually pay for it.

Just a side note: scanner heads can have gold filaments in them.

Originally Posted by Faceball

This is going to be your biggest problem. My advice, brake these down quickly. Try not to sit on this project. What profit you make, if any, deposit in the "Happy Wife, Happy Life" fund. That will ease any grief on future projects. Good Luck

I say that because I'll need a place to store the printer while I figure out if I can resell the complete unit or maybe resell parts.

Some of that stuff might not like sitting in a sub zero non climate controlled shed for very long.

Good point! But it shouldn't be that big of a deal down here in southern AZ. Being that it's winter though...if it gets too cold I might throw on a space heater. Thanks for the advise on that. I honestly didn't think about considering the climate down here. But it would only take one cold night with a bit of condensation to screw up some of this equipment.

Did you pick these up yet? Just curious to see the haul..

I pick them up on the 17th. I'll post pics.

He's in Tucson, closest they get there to sub zero temps is by watching the weather channel.

I know, I lived there long enough.

If those printers are that fragile they can't sit in your shed in Tucson of all places, for a night or two, you might have some problems. Buy a heater at a local thrift store or yard sale. Put in the shed on a cold night. Problem solved. Moving pads/blankets also on top will keep the cold out. This doesn't apply to places that get real winter weather an temps. Only to Tucson an other places in the desert that see snow once every dozen years or so. If you live on Mt. Lemmon, then yea...it gets cold. Or Flagstaff.


YMMV. The above worked for me while I was out there. An I kept a bunch of electronics in a non-climate storage shed while I was out camping for 3 months. An my computer at the time went with me, it held up quite well in a tent in january in Tucson, Oracle, Catalina, Phoenix, an other places in southern AZ. Desktop to boot. Lots of fun hooking that sucker up an playing around on it while sitting at a camp site. LOL.


Good luck, an I hate printers. Heh.

Sirscrapalot - Hobo..where is my tequila, cactus, an taco? Your letting me down man.

if it's obsolete, find out what pars break regularly and save them for resale