Last February, our line went down at 10:40 on a Tuesday. The date coder—an old Videojet continuous inkjet printer—just stopped making legible marks. The boxes kept moving, but the codes looked like smudges. I got the call because I am the office administrator for a 180-person company that does custom packaging and light metal fabrication. I manage roughly $350,000 in annual purchasing across 20-odd vendors. I report to operations and finance. I am not an engineer. I do not speak fluent PLC. But I know how to buy things without making accounting want to cry.
That experience turned into a lesson about used Videojet inkjet printers, the real cost of downtime, and the difference between a price and a total cost.
The $4,200 Assumption
Our packaging line needs date codes, batch numbers, and QR codes on about 2,400 boxes a day. When the old unit died, we asked for a replacement quote. A new Videojet continuous inkjet printer with the printhead we needed, installation, and a basic service package came in around $18,500.
Then I did what any cost-conscious buyer would do. I searched for a used Videojet inkjet printer.
I found one fast: a 2020 model listed at $4,200. The photos looked good. The description said "in working condition." I assumed that meant ready to run. That word—assumed—was doing all the work, and none of it was good.
I didn't ask about printhead hours. I didn't ask whether the seller had a service record. I didn't ask what kind of fluids the machine had been fed. The seller said he'd shipped units to several countries, which honestly sounded encouraging. It should have sounded like a red flag. "Several countries" is not the same as "local support."
When Cheap Stopped Being Cheap
The machine arrived reasonably fast. Installation was handled by a freelance technician who had "worked with inkjet printers before." The first week, the codes looked fine. Then the nozzles started dropping channels.
We bought a bottle of non-Videojet cleaning solution because it was cheaper and in stock. I'm not saying the fluid was bad. I'm saying it wasn't what the printhead had been set up with, and we had no way to verify what the previous owner had run through the system. The codes got worse. We spent two weekends troubleshooting. I spent hours on invoices that didn't match what accounting expected. By month two, we had paid about $1,800 in extra labor and overtime, plus $900 in supplies that ended up in a bin. The machine still wasn't reliable.
Then we missed a deadline. The customer order was only $15,000, but the phone call that followed made it clear what uncertainty costs. The operations manager had to move two other jobs. The delivery van left late. The customer promised to keep the account, but nobody felt good about it.
When I compared that failed used Videojet inkjet printer with a properly certified unit later, I finally understood the real difference. It wasn't the age. It wasn't even the price. It was the certainty.
The Certified Used Videojet Continuous Inkjet Printer
In March 2024, I bought a certified used Videojet continuous inkjet printer from an authorized reseller. The price was $11,500. That was 2.7 times more than the first used machine. Put another way: it was an insurance premium.
What did we get for the extra money? A 90-day warranty. A written service history. A test print we could inspect before payment. A factory-trained technician who spent half a day on installation and showed our operators how to clean the printhead correctly. A service schedule that uses original Videojet ink and cleaning solution.
The first machine was basically a lottery ticket with a brand name on it. This one was a known quantity.
Since that installation, we have not had a production stop caused by the coder. I should note: an operator once left a fluid hatch open and the machine beeped for twenty minutes. But we have not had a printing failure. For a packaging line that cannot tolerate surprises, that kind of certainty is worth more than the price gap.
What This Taught Me About Other Equipment
The same logic has changed how I buy other production equipment. Our metal shop already runs a CNC laser plasma cutting machine for steel plate and a laser CO2 cutting station for acrylic and gaskets. When we briefly looked at a laser marker for serial numbers, I talked to a few suppliers in the fiber laser Benelux market. The fiber laser option had real advantages—no consumables, less daily maintenance—but the upfront cost was higher and the lead time was longer.
For our packaging line, the certified Videojet continuous inkjet printer was the better fit. For another line, I'd probably choose the fiber laser. The point is not the specific technology. The point is how I evaluate the decision.
Most buyers focus on the purchase price and completely miss setup, consumables, support, and the cost of the line stopping. The question everyone asks is "How much does it cost?" The question they should ask is "What happens when it stops printing?"
Uncertainty has a price. The problem is you only see the invoice after the fact.
If you are considering a used Videojet inkjet printer, I am not telling you to avoid used equipment. I'm telling you to verify what the word "used" actually includes. Ask for the service record. Ask about printhead hours. Ask whether the unit has been run with original Videojet fluids. Ask who will install it and what happens in week three if a nozzle clogs.
Videojet's published specifications and service terms change, so check the current details on videojet.com before you commit. I accessed the specs on January 15, 2025, to confirm printhead options for the model we bought. Get everything in writing.
In the end, the cheap used Videojet inkjet printer cost us well over $7,000 in downtime, labor, and garbage supplies before we replaced it. The certified used Videojet continuous inkjet printer cost $11,500 and has run for eleven months without a failure.
I used to think paying extra for certainty made me look soft in front of operations. Now I think of it as buying time. And time, on a deadline, is the only thing you cannot renegotiate.
