If you are ready to purchase a scanner and are looking around at what various vendors have to offer, don´t be fooled by what may seem to be a remarkably low price tag. Often vendors quote you only the bottom line price of the scanner itself but leave out the additional costs of hardware (PCs, floorstands, paper baskets), software and accessories which are required to operate the scanner properly. Costs incurring later in the life of a scanner for consumables and spare parts are almost never a part of the sales discussion. All of these costs together make up the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of a scanner and should be considered before making a purchasing decision.

Image Access has developed a new TCO calculator, now available free of charge, to help you calculate various total costs of ownership scenarios. It also includes different models from main competitors and computes the real cost per year, depending on various usage patterns. The calculator uses published US$ list prices and is very flexible yet simple to use.

Click on the magnifying glass in the graphic to your left and you will see an enlarged version of the first page, summarizing the initial cost of the purchase. Our WideTEK 36C starts at $ 7,990 or € 5.990 but already includes software and PC. The competitor´s offer on the right side of the Excel sheet seems lower at first glance but if you factor in the necessary software and the PC required to operate it, you will see that even the TCO of the initial purchase is 12% higher than our WideTEK 36C.

In order to lower the total cost of ownership of an Image Access scanner, we offer an all-encompassing Full Coverage Warranty Program for the first years of a scanner´s life and up to five years. The Full Coverage Program guarantees all parts free of charge. This offer applies to any WideTEK or Bookeye scanner if used at a rate of up to 10,000 scans per month. Image Access´ Full Coverage Warranty Program ensures a protected investment at no additional cost. You can read more about the Full Coverage Warranty Program here.

Competitors have similar warranty programs and offerings but they all exclude glass plates, lamps, transport and pressure rollers or other consumables. This means that the total cost of ownership for the scanner over its lifetime is considerably higher than the purchase price, when taking the cost of all spare parts into consideration. What might look like a low initial price tag can be deceiving. Replacement parts and consumables increase the total cost of ownership significantly.

Download our TCO Calculator and see for yourselves what costs are coming your way if you purchase a scanner from one vendor versus another.