Upgrading the Machine Part Way Through a Term

The upgrade clause, in plain words

An upgrade clause is a term that lets you replace the equipment during the agreement, usually after a minimum period has passed.

Where the clause exists, the process is already defined, so nobody negotiates it under pressure.

Where it does not, an upgrade is still normally possible. It is just handled as a new arrangement that absorbs the old one.

When an upgrade is the right call

• The team has grown and the device is now a queue rather than a printer.
• The work has changed, most often when colour or A3 becomes routine rather than occasional.
• The office has taken on something the current device cannot do at all, such as booklet finishing or higher volume scanning.
• A second site has opened and one agreement across both is simpler than two.

Comparing it properly, not just the headline

The remaining payments on the current agreement do not disappear. They are normally carried into the new one, which raises the new monthly figure above what the same device would cost on its own.

Compare the upgraded monthly figure against what you are paying now, not against the headline price of the new device in isolation.

Ask for the settlement figure as well, so you can see what is being carried across.

A longer replacement term brings the monthly figure down, which is why an upgrade often lands close to the current payment despite a better machine.

Confirm these four before you agree

1. What happens to the old device, and who collects it.
2. Whether the condition of the returned device affects the figure. Fair wear and tear, meaning the marks expected from normal office use, is what that turns on.
3. When the new term starts and ends, because an upgrade resets the clock.
4. Whether the service commitment carries across unchanged.
5. This page describes how these agreements are generally written in Australia. It is general information, not legal advice, and your own agreement governs your position.