Anywhere to buy used fiber lasers?

[Bert McMahan]

I use my CO2 laser to run a small hobby business in my spare time, not for a living, and I'd like to expand to a fiber laser. I have a few ideas for products and things, but the current ~$5k entry cost for a new fiber setup is hard to swallow on a "just screwing around in my basement" budget. I know the machines can easily pay for themselves over time if you are running a business with them, but alas I don't have a cost justification to buy a new machine.

With new fiber lasers starting ~$5k at bare minimum, one would think there would be a few used ones for sale *somewhere* for maybe $2-3k (depending on power, age, etc). Unfortunately I don't see *anyone* selling used Chinese fibers on ebay, Craigslist, or on the forums I've seen. You can find used Epilogs and Chinese CO2 machines all over the place, but not fibers. I've seen a couple used equipment dealers that'll sell industrial grade fibers and maybe one or two American made galvo fibers, but they're still far out of my budget.

Does anyone know of a place people sell these things? Or do they just run so great that no one ever wants to sell their machine?

[Gary Hair]

The market has been flooded with cheap fibers and anyone who bought one in the last year or two wouldn't be able to sell theirs for anywhere near as cheap as the ones available now. At $5k they are pretty much throw away, but give it another year or two and the $5k lasers today might be available for the $2-3k you are looking for.

[Jacob John]

I use my CO2 laser to run a small hobby business in my spare time, not for a living, and I'd like to expand to a fiber laser. I have a few ideas for products and things, but the current ~$5k entry cost for a new fiber setup is hard to swallow on a "just screwing around in my basement" budget. I know the machines can easily pay for themselves over time if you are running a business with them, but alas I don't have a cost justification to buy a new machine.

With new fiber lasers starting ~$5k at bare minimum, one would think there would be a few used ones for sale *somewhere* for maybe $2-3k (depending on power, age, etc). Unfortunately I don't see *anyone* selling used Chinese fibers on ebay, Craigslist, or on the forums I've seen. You can find used Epilogs and Chinese CO2 machines all over the place, but not fibers. I've seen a couple used equipment dealers that'll sell industrial grade fibers and maybe one or two American made galvo fibers, but they're still far out of my budget.

Does anyone know of a place people sell these things? Or do they just run so great that no one ever wants to sell their machine?

I've looked as well and can't find any at all. It's strange because you can find CO2's all day long. I wish we had a central Chinese fiber laser thread that had all the recommendations and reviews from guys like Gary. It would make buying a Chinese laser so much less stressful.

[Bill George]

I purchased my fiber a few months ago and it has a place, but you still need a co2. Yes the purchase price on fibers has dropped just like anything else on the market the first ones you pay a lot more for than the ones later on. Mine has the same power source, galvo lens and software as the $10 - 12K ones from China a couple years ago.