How Much Is My Used HPLC Worth?
There is no honest single answer to this question, and any site that gives you one has guessed. What can be answered precisely is which factors move an HPLC's value most, and what to supply so a dealer can quote your specific stack.
Why we do not publish a price
Real transaction values depend on configuration, condition, accessories, software licensing, service supportability, location, removal cost and timing. Any single published figure would be wrong for most units. What follows is what actually moves the number, and what to supply so a valuation can be given against your specific instrument.
The factors that move an HPLC's value most
- Whether the stack is a matched system or modules assembled from several instruments
- Detector fitted: variable wavelength, diode array, fluorescence, refractive index or other
- Pressure class: conventional HPLC versus UHPLC-capable
- Chromatography data system, its version, and whether the licence transfers legally
- Whether the manufacturer or a third party still supports and stocks parts for the model
- Documented recent operation — a system suitability or performance check dated this year
- Consumable state: pump seals, check valves, lamp hours, injector wear parts
- Included accessories: column oven, extra detectors, columns, computer, spares
- Removal cost and access difficulty, which are netted off in practice
- Where it is, and therefore who can economically collect it
What raises a figure
- A current, supported CDS licence that transfers with written confirmation
- A recent performance check report with the serial number on it
- Full module set from one system, with the controlling computer
- Service records from a recognised engineer, and a transferable contract
- Fresh seals, a low-hours lamp and clean flow-path hardware
- A realistic removal window rather than a 48-hour deadline
What reduces a figure, sometimes to scrap
- Discontinued modules with no parts or engineer support
- Software that cannot be licensed to the next owner
- Missing controlling computer or dongle
- No evidence of operation, and nobody able to power it on for a viewing
- Biological, radiological or unknown chemical exposure without a signed declaration
- Difficult access, high removal cost, or a deadline that forces scrapping
Information to send with a valuation request
- Photographs of each module including the serial-number plate
- Module list with model numbers, detector type and options
- Software product, version and licence details
- Last date used, known faults and any recent performance report
- Location, access constraints and the date it must be gone
- What was run on it, and the decontamination or release position
Documentation that changes the outcome
- Nameplate photographs showing manufacturer, model and serial number of each module
- Configuration list: modules, detectors, probes, columns, tools, accessories, spares
- Software product, version, licence number and written confirmation of transferability
- Service history: who serviced it, how often, last visit, contract status
- Most recent performance check, calibration or qualification report
- Signed decontamination or release declaration
- Weight, dimensions and the access route out of the building
Risks and common mistakes
- Valuing your unit against an online asking price for a different configuration
- Selling the computer separately and halving the system's appeal
- Letting seals dry out in storage before sale
- Leaving the sale until the room has to be empty next week
Safety, clearance and professional advice
This page is general information, not legal, environmental, biosafety, radiation-safety or regulatory advice, and it deliberately gives no decontamination method detail. Chemical, biological and radiological clearance must be assessed and signed off by qualified EHS, biosafety, radiation-safety and licensed waste professionals for your specific instrument, materials and jurisdiction.
How Laboratory Vortex fits in
Laboratory Vortex is an independent laboratory sourcing, marketplace and intelligence platform. We are not an equipment dealer, we do not take possession of equipment, and we do not publish what you submit. You describe the requirement or the asset once; we review it and use it to identify appropriate sourcing or disposition routes.