Originally posted – Nov 01, 2013
I’ve found a coin laundry that’s been closed up. All of the plumbing and electrical are still intact. I only have to reequip it, and I’m in business. What should I look for or try to find out before I sign the lease?
I would proceed with extreme caution. My first question is why did the store close? If the location was doing any kind of business, it would have been sold. After all, why close when you can sell? Laundries can sometimes become so run down that they simply can’t be sold.
Thoroughly inspect the marketplace. Maybe a competitor is building a new laundry nearby. Or perhaps the rent was too high? Or maybe the neighborhood has changed. Be sure to get the very latest demographics for the area – because population shifts or decreases can kill a laundry business.
In addition, try to get the store’s last few utility bills so that you can gauge how much business it was doing before it closed.
I would do all of this before pulling the trigger and signing the lease.
We are considering closing our upstate New York laundromat, which we have run for that last 21 years. Our washers and dryers are clean and very well maintained. Is there any way to sell these machines, rather than just throwing them away?
Yes. If you want to sell the machines directly, you can always price out your equipment and put them up for sale online – either at PlanetLaundry.com, craigslist.org or some other online outlet. Of course, if you go this route, you have the issues of shipping the equipment and receiving the money.
Another option is to call a distributor that buys used equipment. There are a number of them in the New York area. Also, don’t neglect the classified sections of the industry’s trade magazines.
Rather than throwing your used washers and dryers away, go online or call some equipment dealers. I’m sure you’ll have no problem selling your equipment.
I recently purchased eight 50-pound washers from a used equipment dealer. The dealer told me the machines were four to six years old and sold them “as is” at a fair price. However, after I installed the equipment, I’ve had nothing but trouble. Most of the washers needed motor bearings, four needed main bearings, one had a cracked frame, and I had a number of electrical problems.
When I was buying parts for these machines, I was told they actually were more like 15 to 18 years old. So, I called the dealer, but he told me the equipment was sold “as is” and he couldn’t do anything about it. Do I have any recourse?
Unfortunately, unless you have something in writing, I don’t think you do. Verbal guarantees are meaningless unless you have a credible witness – and even then it’s not a sure thing.
If you purchase used equipment in the future, I would suggest the following guidelines:
- Get the model and serial numbers of the machines. Then, call the manufacturers of the machines, give them those numbers, and they will be able to tell you the true age of the machines.
- Find out where the machines came from. Was it a busy store? After all, some equipment in very busy stores can much older than its true age.
- Above all, get a written guarantee that will cover parts and labor for a certain period of time.
Sometimes the dealers are unaware of problems with the equipment they’re selling until after the machines are installed and running. When machines are held in storage for a while, the seals can sometimes shrink, which may result in the main bearings going bad. Also, moisture can affect some of the electronics, like you mentioned.
So, it’s always a good idea to get some type of guarantee in writing.
