Repricing Used Equipment: How to Reframe Risk and Unlock Inventory Movement
5/30/2025
You've got cash sitting on the lot and you've got to do something about it. You need to be strong and make that decision." – George Keen, Wise Wolf Consulting
Let’s be honest – repricing used equipment is rarely just about the numbers.
For many dealers, and especially used equipment managers (UEMs), deciding to reprice a piece of iron can feel like admitting defeat. Maybe it was a machine you believed in. Maybe you personally greenlit the trade-in. Maybe you stuck your neck out on that one and it just hasn’t moved. Now what?
You look at the combine that’s been sitting on the lot for nine months and think, “I know it’s worth more than this.” But the market’s not backing that belief, and neither is your sales team. Still, repricing it lower feels like taking a loss, not making progress.
As veteran dealer consultant George Keen puts it, “They took it in, they believed it would sell…now they’re afraid to let it go.” It’s not just “iron on the lot,” but personal pride in how it got there.
This feeling is understandable. In fact, it’s deeply human.
*In this episode of Beyond the Hood, Andy speaks with George Keen about optimizing inventory strategies and data utilization. Watch or listen to the episode.
The unexpected psychology behind the pain of repricing
There’s a reason this decision weighs heavy, and it’s not just dealership politics or market volatility. It actually comes down to basic psychology, the mechanism of which is laid out in Prospect Theory, which attempts to explain how people make decisions when faced with uncertainty.
First, a little technical background (scroll to the next section if you’re only looking for actionable steps). Behavioral economists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky studied how people make decisions under uncertainty. One of their biggest findings? Losses feel about twice as painful as equivalent gains feel good. This is known as loss aversion. It’s why taking a $15,000 haircut on a combine feels worse than the thrill of making an extra $15,000 on a sale. Even if the math nets the same, we feel the potential pain more sharply than the potential gain.
When we add in other common mindsets like “status quo bias” (sticking with past decisions) and the “endowment effect” (overvaluing what we already own), it becomes clear why repricing feels so hard for many dealers.
But the truth is, holding on too long can quietly cost more – through floorplan interest, missed trades, or stale leads. That’s why reframing how we look at repricing decisions matters. In this business, waiting isn’t free, and pride definitely doesn’t pay interest.
“Some owners, sales managers, even salespeople, get emotionally attached to the equipment when they take it in as trade because they made the decision. It's their reputation on the line.” – George Keen on the Beyond the Hood podcast
The real consequences of holding too long
It’s easy to rationalize putting off repricing. Maybe you’re hoping the right buyer will walk in. Maybe you’re waiting for auction values to rebound. But while that unit sits, the clock (along with the costs) keep ticking.
- Inventory ages → cash flow tightens → confidence erodes. It’s a quiet chain reaction: The longer a machine sits, the less liquidity you have to take new trades, stock the right equipment, or react to opportunities.
- Floorplan interest rates can add real cost. If interest rates are sitting at 7-8%, that $200,000 combine could be costing you over $1,100 a month in interest alone. And that’s before you factor in depreciation, insurance, and opportunity cost.
- Aged inventory also clogs your sales funnel. Sales reps naturally tend to ignore what they view as stale iron. New trade-ins get passed on and high-interest buyers get steered elsewhere, which slows down the whole flywheel.
*In this episode of Beyond the Hood, Andy speaks with George Keen about optimizing inventory strategies. Watch or listen to the episode.
Reframing the decision: Shift from “loss” to “opportunity”
Repricing doesn’t have to feel like giving up. But for many dealers (especially the ones who took the trade), it often does. Dropping the price can feel personal, like admitting a bad call.
Here’s a simple way to think about the upside:
- Repricing is not about losing margin; it’s about unlocking cash.
- You’re not pricing iron – you’re freeing up working capital.
Focusing on the loss in potential revenue leads many dealers to hold on too long, waiting for what something was supposed to be worth, rather than what the market says it’s worth now.
Time to flip the frame:
- Instead of seeing a decreased margin as merely a loss (“We’re taking a $15K hit!”), ask, “What can we do with that $15K once it’s back in play?”
- Reframing the situation from “loss” to “opportunity to increase turns” helps move equipment, as well as move your business forward. After all, there is no reward without taking a little risk.
In other words, that price drop that might at first appear to be a pure negative may end up being your best investment this quarter, depending on what you choose to do next after it sells.
The right tools and a solid plan can remove emotion from the equation
It’s human nature to rely on gut instinct, especially where experience makes a difference. But when you’re trying to manage dozens (or hundreds) of stock units, that gut feel isn’t always reliable.
Fortunately, accurate data provides the antidote to uncertainty, and that’s where using the right tech tools for the job can be a game-changer. Dealer intelligence platforms and real-time equipment valuation tools are already helping dealers replace emotional decision-making with clear, data-driven insights.
Here are a few tips and steps you can take, both inside and outside of these platforms, to set yourself up for success when repricing:
- Set regular review cycles: Establishing periodic benchmarks for price reviews prevents inventory from quietly aging out of sight. Aim to reprice units that are beyond 90 days based on regional auction and retail comps.
- Create margin models that factor holding costs, not just trade variance. Letting machinery sit on lot is one of the surest ways to drain your coffers. Therefore, keep these baked-in costs in mind when setting your pricing. If a piece doesn’t sell, it doesn’t matter how big the margins are.
- Centralize data accessibility: Pulling in auction comps, retail values, and dealership history in one place gives you the full picture of what you paid, what it’s worth now, and what the market’s doing now.
- Use data to understand buyer patterns: George Keen stresses that “you’ve got to look at your data. Do your customers buy every 7 years or every 10?” Using a dealer CRM or sales ops system lets you track purchase cycles and informs future trade decisions.
- Take the pressure off individuals: Using a system-driven process makes repricing feel less like a personal decision and more like a collaborative project. Making this effort a team responsibility reduces decision silos and internal hesitation.
Repricing should be a workflow, not a debate. Employing data tools in your repricing process makes it easier to move past pride, opinion, or fear and make an objective decision with confidence. If you’re still learning about the ins and outs of repricing, read more about why, when, and how to reprice your inventory.
Remember: Repricing isn’t failure – it’s forward motion
While repricing can feel like taking two steps back, in reality, it’s a decision to keep your business moving forward by unlocking cash, creating space for better trades, and protecting your team’s momentum.
Successful dealers take the long view, understanding that holding out for perfect conditions to sell is rarely a winning strategy. Markets shift, interest rates change, and buyer demand cools or surges. What you can control is how quickly you respond, and repricing plays a critical role here. The key is to turn this process into a habit where all stakeholders understand the direct benefits to their business
Start with one small, high-risk category of inventory this week and pull the data. Review the comps. Talk with your team. Make the call.
You’re not falling behind by repricing. You’re positioning your dealership to move ahead and become leaner, sharper, and ready for whatever comes next.