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How we price robots

How we price robots so that lenders can lend against them. The method behind the used-robot price report and the values we use when arranging a fleet loan.

Updated
2 November 2026
Used for
The price report and fleet loan sizing

01What the curve shows

For each robot type, what a used robot sells for at each age, shown as a dollar value and as a share of its price when new. The chart shows the risk engine's curve for a palletizing cell. That curve is what our examples use to size a loan.1

100%80%60%44%31%22%15%Year 0Year 1Year 2Year 3Year 4Year 5Year 6100%80%60%44%31%22%15%Year 0123456
The risk engine's curve for a palletizing cell, as a share of the new installed price.1

02Where prices come from

Listings. Asking prices for used robots on online marketplaces. One marketplace alone lists 28,258 used industrial robots.2 Asking prices run above sale prices, so we treat them as an upper bound.

Auction results. Prices paid at auction when fleets, factories or companies are sold off. They set the floor.

The robot's details. Model, build year and condition, so each robot is priced against its own family and age.

The price tool runs on 1,744 used-robot listings and 26 auction results,3 with the model and its accuracy shown on the page.

03How robots are grouped

Robots are grouped by type (for example industrial arms, collaborative arms, mobile robots, pallet movers, delivery and cleaning robots), and within a type by manufacturer and model wherever enough listings exist. Each fleet is priced robot by robot.

04How values become a loan

The loan is sized below what the robots would resell for, so the collateral covers the debt as the robots age. In our example fleet, the advance is 70% of fleet value.4 The actual advance depends on the robot type, its resale history and the lender.

Listings and auctions price the arm alone. The value of a complete installed cell comes from the risk engine's curve, an assumption we state openly.1

05What the examples on this site are

The resale values on the marketing pages follow the risk engine's curve for a palletizing cell.1 The price tool runs on real listings and auction results.

06The study

Our study covered 18 robot types and runs to 17 pages. In it, expected loss was 0.3% once robot company failure was removed, and 5.2% with all causes included.5 Lenders can ask us for the study summary through the lender form.

Notes

  1. Resale values by year follow the risk engine's curve for a palletizing cell: 80% of the new installed price after one year, 60% after two, 44% after three. The same curve sets the expected loss figures and the price tool's values for robots up to 2 years old. Used-robot listings price the robot alone, so they sit lower. See the methodology.
  2. Count of used industrial robots listed for sale on one online marketplace.
  3. 1,744 public used-robot listings from 7 marketplaces and 26 auction results from 2018 to 2026, collected for Ferra's price tool. Listings show asking prices; auction results show prices paid.
  4. Example fleet: 50 industrial arms, each a complete palletizing cell (arm, gripper and controller, installed) at $125,000, a fleet value of $6,250,000. A 70% advance gives a $4,375,000 loan, with a fee of about 1.5% at close ($65,625). Charts show the loan repaid in equal monthly amounts of principal over 36 months, the term the price tool uses for this cell. In the live fleet preview, the value line follows the risk engine's curve for the robot type you choose. Actual terms depend on the lender and the robots. Nothing on this site is an offer or commitment to lend.
  5. From Ferra's study of 18 robot types (17 pages). Expected loss of 0.3% excludes losses caused by robot company failure; 5.2% includes all causes.