Should I Buy Used Pedicure Chairs? Why second hand is risky business.

On why you shouldn't buy used pedicure chairs for sale

Certain products in our lives are much more second-hand-friendly than others.

Some items barely lose value, such as houses which often even rise in value. This is not the case with cars or pedicure chairs. It is also much harder to estimate the value of a second-hand car or pedicure chair compared to houses. Therefore one can argue that for the purchase of a pedicure chair, it is better to go for a new one.

It helps to look at the purchase not as a terrible cost you have to endure, but more as a long-term investment for your business. When you invest in quality gear, usually Made-in-the-USA with good after-sales service, then you won't have to look for a new pedicure chair for the next decade at least. When taking good care of your pedi chair, it can even last much longer!

Since quality pedicure chairs can last ages, this obviously means that buying a used pedicure chair can be a good choice as well. And we get it! Who wouldn't want cheap pedicure chairs? If you know a lot about pedicure chairs and you are technical then you can certainly sniff out a lemon from all the used pedicure chairs you're viewing. Who knows, you might even find a unicorn!

So what are used pedicure spa chairs worth after 2 years? Clearly it greatly depends on how the used pedicure chair has been treated by its pervious owner. And if you are less experienced with pedicure chair systems, definitely read more of our blog posts about the technical aspects of our beloved spa pedicure chairs.

Here is a short list of things you need to look out for when buying a second hand pedicure chair:

How well has the pedicure chair been maintained?
Unfortunately, just like with our car analogy earlier, there are even less ways to know if the pedicure chair has been taken care of properly. With a car you at least may have a service history record of some sorts. As a salon owner you know how strict state and county sanitary laws are and cleaning the foot spa tub and pipes regularly is an important process. You definitely don't want to give any infections to your clients and possibly face a lawsuit. So unless you buy a used pedicure chair from a friend or salon you are affiliated with, you can only do a surface check and let it runs to inspect the water coming through the pipes. With often no information on products warranty you're also being put at risk of getting bad used pedicure chairs.

Is the chair still being made or discontinued?
While at first sight this may not seem like a really big deal, until you need spare parts for the pedicure chair. Then you find out that there are hardly any available parts and you're stuck with your used pedicure chair. Unfortunately sometimes people ask us about certain remote controllers of older models and the manufacturer has discontinued those completely. This wouldn't mean you have to buy a completely new pedicure chair. You could just get a new pedicure massage chair to put on the existing base. Most of these chairs are universal and may be able to work for your used pedicure chair base. This could completely revamp the pedicure station for an ok investment. Cost-wise you're looking at $800-$1,200 for a massage pedicure chair only.

Does it come with all the modern or necessary features?
Often used pedicure chairs sellers won't list the features correctly, or have limited color options available. This gives you little chance of comparing or even having buying options. Every state and county in the US has their own laws surrounding spa salon sanitary regulations. These get updated regularly, especially in times of Covid19 this has become quite important. You could buy a pedicure chair without a backflow preventer and then suddenly your county demands you to install a backflow preventer in your plumbing to decrease the chance of contaminated water to run back into the water system. Or if you find out you don't have drains available on the space where you will put your chair and you need a discharge pump. Finding the part and installing it afterwards is not that straight forward.

Obviously purchasing a new pedicure chair is much more more straight forward. Everything you order from us is brand new and most of our pedicure chairs are even built-to-order, so you can rest assured that these pedicure chairs will have parts available for a long while coming. On top of that you'll be sure to have a brand new and clean pedicure chair that still has the smell of brand spanking new coming off of it!

Here are a few more benefits of a new pedicure chair:

Limited choice upon colors of the seats
Most used pedicure chairs sellers put a fee upon shipping the items
Every additional item you need to have together with the used pedicure chairs, they charge you for, even the stool.
Are you second, third, or maybe even the fourth owner?

Considering all the pros and cons we mentioned we found out that many people realize they prefer a new pedicure chair. But in the end, the choice is yours and we hope that this blog post can help you making an informed decision!