Complete Systems vs Parts: Why They Must Be Priced Separately
Complete Systems vs Parts: Why They Must Be Priced Separately
A complete GE OEC 9900 C-arm sells in the tens of thousands. A single replacement handle for that same C-arm sells for under $100. Average them and you get a number that describes neither.
This is the single biggest reason third-party used-equipment price estimates fail. They don't classify before they average.
How Clinical Asset Index classifies
Every observed listing is sorted into one of these mutually exclusive buckets:
- Complete System — fully assembled, ready-to-deploy.
- Major Module — a probe, a detector, a vaporizer.
- Part / Accessory — a cable, battery, board, accessory.
- For Parts / Repair — non-functional, salvage, as-is.
We never mix them in a peer median. A complete-system median is computed only from complete-system listings.
What forces a classification
Hard-negative keywords — "handle", "cable", "battery", "for parts", "powers on but" — force a listing to part_accessory or for_parts_or_repair regardless of what the title says. Cross-category mismatches (an HPLC column claimed as a ventilator) go to admin review and never appear publicly.
Look at a real device
Open any tracked device page. Below the market valuation block you'll see the per-bucket breakdown: median, p25, p75, range, and comp count, per type.