New, used, or fix what you have — which one does your budget actually buy?
TL;DR: There are four rungs on the capital ladder: recover what you own (from US$60k), build with quality used equipment (40–60% of new), a new small line (US$150k–400k), a new mid line (US$400k–900k). Start on the rung your capital actually reaches — a smaller line that runs beats a bigger line that half-exists. Used equipment is a legitimate route only as part of a supported solution; bought bare at auction, it's how capital-constrained buyers lose the capital too.
Why this question decides more than the machine does
In the markets we serve, capital is the binding constraint far more often than demand. Nigeria's maximum lending rate is 33.16%; a large share of Zimbabwe's installed industrial capacity sits idle for want of recovery capital, not customers. So the honest first question isn't "which machine?" — it's "which rung of the ladder can your balance sheet stand on today?"
The capital ladder
| Rung | Equipment band | Landed & installed | Fits when… |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Recover what you own | US$60k–250k | ×1.15–1.25 | You have equipment producing below rate or not at all. Fastest payback in manufacturing — the market you built it for usually still exists. |
| 2 · Build with used equipment | typically 40–60% of the new equivalent | ×1.25–1.60 by geography | The business case is real but new-line capital isn't. Only as a complete, supported solution — see below. |
| 3 · New small line | US$150k–400k | ×1.25–1.45 coastal · ×1.45–1.60 landlocked | First line, proven demand, capital in hand or bankable. |
| 4 · New mid line | US$400k–900k | same | Second-line buyers adding capacity they can already sell. |
Two honesty notes that belong next to any such table. First, equipment is only 35–55% of total project cost — the landed-and-installed factor is not padding, it's the rest of the project (full breakdown here). Second, the ladder is climbable: recovering a line this year and buying new in year three is a strategy, not a compromise.
Rung 1: recovery — the rung people forget they're standing on
If you own equipment that limps, the cheapest capacity you can buy is almost always inside your own building. Most stalled lines in our markets stall for three fixable reasons: a part that never arrived, controls that became obsolete, or line-level know-how that left with one employee. Diagnosis, controls, mechanical remediation, re-commissioning to a verified output — the sequence is standard, and it starts around US$60k.
Rung 2: used equipment — legitimate, on one condition
Quality used equipment is a normal part of industrial life worldwide, and at 40–60% of new cost it puts real lines inside budgets that new equipment prices out. We build lines with it where budget requires. But the condition is everything:
Used equipment only works as part of a supported solution — inspected and tested before purchase, refurbished where needed, installed and commissioned to an agreed output, documented, and supported with the same parts and maintenance arrangement as a new line. The solution is the same; only the capital cost differs.
The failure mode is buying it bare: an auction machine, sight unseen, no test run, no parts trail, no commissioning. The purchase price looks brilliant until the machine meets your product, your power, and its first missing part — and a capital-constrained buyer is precisely the buyer who can't absorb that surprise. If a machine can't be supported with parts for the life of the solution, the honest answer is that it's not cheap at any price.
Three more honest limits: some sections of a line take well to used equipment and some don't — food-contact surfaces and controls are usually worth buying new; "as new" is a phrase to walk away from (used is used — inspected, refurbished, warranted as what it is); and nobody can quote used equipment from a price list, because the right unit has to exist and pass inspection first.
Rungs 3 and 4: new — when the numbers already work
New equipment buys you known condition, full documentation, current-generation controls, and the longest support runway. For a first line with proven demand and bankable capital, US$150k–400k in equipment (×1.25–1.60 landed and installed) is the honest all-in class to plan around — and the band where Chinese-sourced lines, properly delivered and supported, are a fraction of the European alternative for the same output class.
How to choose in one paragraph
Own stalled equipment? Start at rung 1 — nothing else pays back faster. Solid business case, thin capital? Rung 2, as a supported solution only. Capital in hand and demand proven? Rung 3 or 4, sized by the feasibility work, not by ambition. And whichever rung you pick, insist on the same three deliverables: an output commitment in writing, your team trained, and a spare-parts plan priced on day one.
Which rung is yours?
Tell us what you own, what you want to make, and the honest budget. We'll tell you which rung — even if it's the cheaper one.