Where can I find discounts on industrial printing equipment?

I’m trying to scale up my setup, but the price tags on industrial printing gear are honestly making my eyes water. I’ve been hunting for a solid deal on a high speed UV flatbed or even just a decent wide format solvent printer, but I really wanna avoid getting fleeced by local distributors who mark everything up just for existing.

I spent way too many hours falling down a rabbit hole of international listings last night. I ended up browsing Alibaba, and lemme tell you, I was actually surprised. I expected a mess, but seeing the raw factory videos and those massive spec sheets made the gear look legit. It didn’t feel like some polished, fake corporate ad; it felt like I was actually looking at the heavy duty stuff right where it’s built, which was a relief.

But honestly? I'm still low key terrified of the logistics. A buddy of mine tried to go the "budget" route with a liquidator once and ended up with a literal crate of useless scrap because he didn't double check the freight terms. Now I'm just sitting here overthinking.

Is it actually worth pulling the trigger on those global platforms to save the cash, or am I just gonna get hit with some "import nightmare" fee that ruins my life?