A few times a year we’ll get an email or a call from someone who will ask about digital scales. Basically they are fishing for scale knowledge to determine if it makes sense for them to scrap their old hanging scales for weighing fruits and vegetables. In many cases they really want to buy the cool new digital price computing scale like their buddies at the farmers market. They just need a little justification in order to make it “legit”. Honestly, if the used hanging scale is still working it probably has a very long lifespan and could easily last for many years. However, the real selling point with the new and “fancy” digital retail scale is the fact that many of them can calculate the price per pound. This can be a real time savings and can make your operation seem a little more professional in the eyes of your customer. Let’s face it your customers have other options when it comes to buying fresh produce so you want to do everything you can to accommodate them and provide them with the product and service they expect. If you were to sell them some vegetables and then you take out a pencil and paper or you reach for a calculator, the customer is probably not going to be thrilled. Especially when your neighbor two tables down from you has three legal for trade digital scales up and running. His customers orders are processed quickly and efficiently. That is why sometimes we refer to the old hanging scales as vintage produce scales because you just don’t see too many of them. Or, they seem to show up in certain regions of the country. Some of you might be asking when exactly are produce scales used? The simple answer would be that you may use them in a buying or selling commercial situation.
We generally don’t get into the whole used produce scales for sale type promotions because we don’t have too many used ones available. Most of the time when we get requests for scales to weigh produce we usually recommend either a legal for trade digital scale or a legal for trade price computing scale. The difference is that the scale simply displays the weight. The price computing scale displays the weight, the price per pound and the total price. In the majority of cities from Tampa to Toledo you will want to buy a scale that is legal for trade. If you search around the auction sites you can find some rediculous prices for these scales but the problem is a) they are not legal for trade and b) they are usually terrible in quality. If price is a huge concern, sometimes you can take advantage of some sale prices or discount coupons which can make buying a legal for trade battery operated scale tolerable for almost any budget.