With Christmas services coming up fast, Production Resource Group LLC (PRG) is a significant option for churches that need gear and are open to the serious benefits inherent in the purchase of used AV equipment. “We’ve been around for more than 30 years," says Aaron Shefsky, director of used gear sales, North America, for PRG. "We’re not going to sell you something and disappear. It’s the opposite, really, we want to build a relationship with all our clients and especially churches.”
Employing used equipment can provide significant savings for churches, but sometimes the concept of not buying new flies in the face of good stewardship. Yes, you can save money buying used, but there is risk. Are you “buying someone else's problems,” or taking a bigger step than you have to towards obsolescence? Where you stand on the question of used equipment at your church probably has a lot to do with your personal experience, but is used gear something houses of worship should consider?
Check out PRG's smart options for churches.
I recently spent time with Aaron E. Shefsky, the director of used equipment sales – North America for Production Resource Group LLC (PRG), to learn more about the used gear market. PRG is the world’s leading supplier of entertainment and event technology, and I fully expected that our time would be spent talking about the best ways for churches to save money by looking into buying used equipment vs. new. However, what I learned was that I was looking at buying used equipment all wrong.
You are not alone
My first mistake was thinking about buying used in the context of the typically lonely, buyer-beware climate of social media markets, online lists, equipment brokers and liquidators. Shefsky started by explaining how buying used equipment from PRG differs from bargain hunting online. “The PRG name might not be familiar to you,” he started, “but we’ve been around for over 30 years. We’re not going to sell you something and disappear. It’s the opposite, really, we want to build a relationship with all our clients and especially churches.”
Having been “a player” in so many professional productions for so many years, one of the things that PRG can offer with their used equipment is their technical and design expertise, the result of working with top-flight production equipment and leading production designers, and it comes for free. “Very often what our customers want to accomplish doesn’t require new equipment,” says Shefsky. “Taking the extra steps to understand our customers and applying our experience is the key to matching up what is in our used inventory with their budget and needs, then putting together a professional solution and quote that can also save them money. That could be for one piece of equipment or a quote for an entire production.”
Having been “a player” in so many professional productions for so many years, one of the things that PRG can offer with their used equipment is their technical and design expertise.
Know what you’re buying
Shefsky continued by explaining where his used inventory comes from. “You can find our rental equipment around the globe at concerts, on network awards shows, in film, and on Broadway productions,” he offered. I also learned that past stage productions are a source of the company’s inventory, since PRG provides the latest technology for major corporate and sporting events, too—including the Superbowl. As you might imagine, the world’s leading supplier of entertainment and event technology to such a wide range of productions amasses a lot of gear to satisfy their clients' ever-changing needs. Their inventory includes all major audio, video, lighting, rigging, scenery, and automation systems components right down to the wires, hardware, and cases.
“Taking the extra steps to understand our customers and applying our experience is the key to matching up what is in our used inventory with their budget and needs, then putting together a professional solution and quote that can also save them money," says Aaron Shefsky, director of used equipment sales, North America, for PRG.
As their clients' requirements change, equipment aggregated in PRG’s equipment hubs around the globe (40 of them across North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia) has to be refreshed. And, as equipment from PRG’s global rental inventory changes over, PRG makes the older gear available for sale as used. Of course, this offers an opportunity for customers including houses of worship to acquire top-of-the-line, professionally maintained production equipment economically, but there is much more to it than savings.
Their inventory includes all major audio, video, lighting, rigging, scenery, and automation systems components right down to the wires, hardware, and cases.
Because PRG does not broker used equipment from other rental concerns, their regular equipment updates offer some serious benefits to the future owners of this used equipment. First, since every piece of gear in PRG’s inventory is regularly inspected and maintained per the manufacturer's specifications by PRG technicians, the potential buyer can learn a lot about where the equipment has been and how it was used (something you rarely get from independent sellers of used equipment). You also can be confident that it has been properly maintained, as PRG has dealer status and close ties with all the major manufacturers for parts and service bulletin information, etc.
Another benefit of buying equipment that has previously been deployed by PRG is that everything you need to make it work will be included, often at no additional charge. “Depending on the unit, that might include mounting and other hardware pieces, special cabling, and even cases for the equipment,” says Shefsky.
Making it work
Purchasers of used equipment often overlook the additional costs in getting equipment to where it’s needed, especially where there are weight considerations and when equipment can’t be sourced locally. Shipping costs can seriously cut into whatever savings buying used might offer. PRG has an answer here, too. In the course of their rental business, logistics is something that they have had to conquer. “Twelve of our 40 equipment hubs are located strategically throughout North America and that helps us to get our rental gear where it’s going affordably,” offers Shefsky. “We’re happy to work with customers to ship equipment to the closest location to them. Reduced freight costs can represent a significant savings.”
Since every piece of gear in PRG’s inventory is regularly inspected and maintained per the manufacturer's specifications by PRG technicians, the potential buyer can learn a lot about where the equipment has been and how it was used (something you rarely get from independent sellers of used equipment).
Once equipment from PRG arrives on the customer’s site, buyers are afforded a 48-hour inspection period to be sure that the order is right and no damage has occurred during shipment. After that and throughout the life of the equipment, PRG stands behind the sale, ready to work with customers on repairs that might be required. Repairs for used equipment customers are handled in much the same way as for PRG’s rental gear, but on a parts plus labor basis, employing its own network of technicians for the repair at a reduced rate.
More than equipment
Because the customer relationship is so important to PRG, they offer to go the extra mile to be sure that their customers get the right equipment at the right price. “We watch the used equipment market carefully to be sure our prices are in line based on all the factors,” says Shefsky. He and his team are also willing to help their customers by finding answers to questions about the history of a piece of gear and details about its use from PRG project managers and production designers who have had first-hand experience with the gear. “For me, it’s just a phone call to get the information,” says Shefsky, “and well worth it. It’s important to us that our customers have all the information they need to feel comfortable with a purchase.”
PRG's ever-evolving inventory realized directly from their global rental operations all but guarantees that they will have the equipment churches need when they need it and at a more affordable price than new equipment.
Other interesting options that PRG offers are to quote customers for a rental first, allowing them to check out the equipment in their own environment prior to purchase, and to have gear set up for them onsite, bringing PRG’s technical expertise to the customer’s location for set up and training.
With the world’s largest used production equipment inventory of production lighting equipment, production audio equipment, production video equipment, and production staging equipment for sale, PRG stands ready to help churches meet the growing demands for professional quality productions on a number of fronts. Their ever-evolving inventory realized directly from their global rental operations all but guarantees that they will have the equipment churches need when they need it and at a more affordable price than new equipment. That, along with their concern for their customers, makes buying used equipment from PRG an alternative to seriously consider.
