One thing I have learned in the past couple of years in this economy is that eye care professionals are willing to get creative when it comes to selling something of value that is not being used in order to get something they need. When i have brought up the idea of swapping PRODUCT X for PRODUCT Y, often that is what gets the deal done.
For example, I have a customer who had an older Zeiss IOL Master. She was not thrilled with the wholesale value through brokers and did not want to be in “selling mode” while running a busy practice. When I asked if there was any other piece of equipment she was looking for, she said a good corneal topographer. The end result was the swap of a Zeiss Atlas 995 for an IOL Master. Customer was happy, the relative value was equal and the deal was done.
Another creative swap that I can use as an example is an eye care professional who had a lease on imaging equipment. She wanted to sell it, but was tied into this lease for three more years. She was interested in a fundus camera that actually had greater value than the imaging equipment. Because of this, the lease company was open to swapping the equipment because they would now hold title to something of greater value. We then took the imaging equipment and sold it to someone who happened to be looking for that particular item.
What ingredients are necessary to make this work?
1. You need to have an idea of the relative value of the product you want to trade.
2. You need to have an idea of the relative value of the product you want.
3. You need to find a willing seller.
Of course, this is not a simple proposition, but with thousands of eye care professionals that browse the Equipment Exchange every day, it is indeed possible.
Bottom line, be creative and let everyone know you are open to a trade.
As always, if you need assistance in navigating this trade or help determining relative values, please ask a question on the exchange or click on the email addresses for Bob or Todd above at the Eye Care Alliance.

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