Fluke Multimeters - Discovering The Secondhand Options
If you’re looking to pick up a multimeter, but find yourself balking at the cost of the superior brands like Fluke and Fieldpiece when brand new there’s a variety of options that’ll help you manage to get one even on a tight budget. Give one of them a shot before you resign yourself to using an inferior tool. Before purchasing, I trust you've done your research to find the best multimeter for your tasks: The Multimeter Guide
Craigslist
Craiglist can be a bit sketchy, but if you’re looking to find a cheap Fluke multimeter then it’s a great place to start. If you live in a big area you’ll probably be able to find one much cheaper than you thought pretty quickly.
The key here is to haggle. Don’t go too lowball under what the person wants, though, or they’re not even going to bother responding. The key is to find someone who really doesn’t know what they have but knows its worth a little bit of money.
If you’ve got the time to spend before you decide to pick one up, then you might be looking at some serious savings at the end of the day. Try using a Craigslist aggregator like Searchtempest for the best results.
Ebay
Ebay is another great option for those of us who are trying to save some money. While the new ones will go for at or near the manufacturer recommended price, you’ll actually be able to find some lightly used ones for fairly cheap. The trade-off is that you’ll need to search fairly often in order to make it happen within a reasonable amount of time since cheap tools with a “Buy It Now” option will tend to fly off the shelves almost as quickly as they hit the marketplace. Of course, you do run the risk of getting something non-functioning if you go this route so be selective about who you buy from. Most sellers don’t want bad feedback, but new sellers might just be trying to turn a quick buck.
Refurbished Multimeters
The best way to get a cheap Fluke multimeter is probably to find a place that specializes in refurbishing them. When refurbished they’ll generally work as good as a new one, although in some cases it will void the warranty. There’s plenty of places that sell them online and a quick Google search for “refurbished multimeter” will return hundreds, if not thousands, of results. Give it a shot for yourself and see. Make sure you vet the company though, searching for reviews of the company itself is the best way to do this. Thankfully, the internet rapidly puts shady businessmen out on the street, so you shouldn’t have too hard of a time finding one.
Conclusion
If you’re dying to get a less expensive Fluke multimeter but don’t have a lot of cash to spend, there’s a lot of options available to help you get the tool without much hassle. Give one of these a shot, it won’t be the best you’ll ever find but the tools are hardy and can stand up to a lot of punishment and second-hand is a great way to go if you’re concerned about saving some money.
The best way to get a cheap Fluke multimeter is probably to find a place that specializes in refurbishing them. When refurbished they’ll generally work as good as a new one, although in some cases it will void the warranty. There’s plenty of places that sell them online and a quick Google search for “refurbished multimeter” will return hundreds, if not thousands, of results. Give it a shot for yourself and see. Make sure you vet the company though, searching for reviews of the company itself is the best way to do this. Thankfully, the internet rapidly puts shady businessmen out on the street, so you shouldn’t have too hard of a time finding one.
Conclusion
If you’re dying to get a less expensive Fluke multimeter but don’t have a lot of cash to spend, there’s a lot of options available to help you get the tool without much hassle. Give one of these a shot, it won’t be the best you’ll ever find but the tools are hardy and can stand up to a lot of punishment and second-hand is a great way to go if you’re concerned about saving some money.