NEW VS. USED SCUBA EQUIPMENT
Which should you buy?
How much is a 10 year old piece of scuba equipment worth today on eBay?
Take the retail price and divide that by two... That's the typical mark-up... Then, take 10% off every year up to 10 years. If it's older than that, continuing to drop the price isn't worth it because no one will let it go for that.
People have this obsession with value and when they own it, they think it's as valuable as the day they bought it... That sentimental cost ("The Endowment Effect" -- see below) actually costs them and they're trying to make it up. It's kind of like the buyer of a stock at $1 who sees it rises to $100 and then drop to $0.01 but will hold on to it because it will rebound!
In the scenario above, if the owner would have sold it at the five year mark, they could have gotten $147.52 instead of $87.16. If you haven't used it in 5 years, you probably aren't getting back into diving... Sell it! $500÷2−25−22.50−20.25−18.23−16.40−14.76−13.29−11.96−10.76−9.69=$87.16
That's 30% versus 17% -- That's a big difference... Are there people out there that will pay the 5 year value of $147.52 for a 10 year old item? Sure. That's still a good price for it compare to what it costs new.
However, there is so much used gear out there that another one will eventually find its way back to the market.
If you're going to try to sell that gear to a dive shop, you probably won't get half the 10 year value and they will end up selling it for more than what it cost wholesale when it was new.
Does that mean you shouldn't buy new scuba gear? No, but I do believe your biggest investment should be in education. That is the best value for your hard earned dollars.
One last thing... Is used gear not as good, not as safe and not as reliable as new? ABSOLUTELY NOT...!!!
Watch this video on the "Endowment Effect"
https://youtu.be/H2_by0rp5q0
