Second hand hearing aids?
Mar 20th, 2008 | By Steve | Category: ThoughtsWhy is there no established market for second hand hearing aids? Given the high price of a new aid, you would think that a cheaper second-hand model would be very tempting to a lot of people.
It’s not so different from buying a second hand car
The second-hand car market is huge. People have the option of buying privately and taking some risk on the quality of the car or they can buy a re-conditioned/serviced/checked car from a dealer. The same could apply to hearing aids: buy a known working model from a vendor or change your luck buying directly from John Doe.
Plenty of stock
Just how many unused hearing aids are lying around doing nothing? And how many of those hearing aids have been worn only once or not at all? If someone has paid a lot of money for them then they may not prepared to give them away to charity, so why not sell them to someone who is going make use of them? As well as all the unused new models, how many people have upgraded and left their old aids lying around doing nothing?
Fitting
No two people are going to have exactly the same ear shape to changes would of course be needed to allow the buyer to use their second hand purchase. A new shell would be needed for in-the-ear models; new tubing and a new mould would probably be required for over-the-ear models. Manufacturers will create new shells/moulds for a price - they already do.
Reconditioning
A digital aid would need to be re-programmed for the new wearer. Audiologists / vendors already supply programming services so there is no problem here. With an audiogram, the programming process should be simple for an experienced audiologist.
I don’t see any real big barrier to a second-hand hearing aid market and I’m sure there is a huge number of customers out there waiting to buy cheaper hearing aids.
I’m amazed that there doesn’t appear to be a second hand market in hearing aids! Especially open fit Behind The Ear types because only the Corda tube needs changing… This is a minor component and reprogramming the latest digital devices should not present a significant problem. It seems the industry simply doesn’t ‘Want’ a second hand market because they make less money that way!
I’d love to see someone take this on some how and promote a service for second hand hearing aids. At a new price of several thousand pounds! This surely must be viable!
Susanna
~~~~~~~~
Buying a second hand car is vastly different from purchasing a second hand hearing aid. Yes, it would be cheaper and certain components could be altered to suit the new wearer, but infection control needs to be considered. Sweat and dead skin cells are just a few of the things that can get into and onto a hearing aid and it is not sensible or hygenic to simply swap or wear somebody elses.
This could only be practical if the second hand aids were fully reconditioned.
Annie
Hey Annie,
Thanks for commenting. I totally agree with you - hygiene would be important when selling a used aid. In the ear models would need a new mould anyway and over the ears could either have the ear plug/mould sterilised or replaced.
Susanna,
You are probably right that the industry doesn’t want a second hand market forming - I’d be really interested to find out where vendors stand on this as I reckon they could still make a decent profit on second hand aids if they manage to purchase them cheaply enough.