What's it worth if you sold it today?


Many people discuss what their system cost vs. list price, etc., but recent times have caused people to sell off equipment for more essential needs. I don't carry my audio equipment on my "books" as an asset that I could liquidate, but I thought about it yesterday (what I'd raise by full sell-off) vs. what I have in it. This is what I came up with:

Retail $31900

Paid $24900

Sell $16900

The Sell price will drop off fast as my system includes an expensive pre/pro, which tend to lose value quickly. Anyway, what would you get? -Kirk

kthomas
Kirk-Sell it all and go to Vegas and have a blast, get the most expensive call girl in the state and party! Well....ummm maybe that should just be a dream, keep it if your happy and worry about the what ifs when(if ever) you need too. btw I wasn't kidding if I had 16.9k of your money I would go to vegas and party :) don't worry I'd take pictures for you!!

~Tim
It's kind of a balancing act. It's all about getting the stuff that sounds great in your system and has very good resale value. With digital I found that this theory goes out the window because of the super high pace of digital tech. So when you buy digital, you're pretty much burning 50% of what it's worth right away... In 4 months from now there'll be something twice as powerful etc...
So it depends where on the curve you want to be. Like some other members here, I've found that being on the late part of the curve for digital helps to keep money for other stuff like NOS tubes, cables and amps, which don't lose that much value. I'm actually thinking about getting a DAC for my EAD... Maybe I should wait until that Chord DAC settles in a bit :) We'll see. Good luck with the sale.
Got her number? Retail doesn't mean much with a bunch of my gear as it is only sold direct and value doesn't drop as much as that sold through retailers....
Clarification - I'm not selling my gear, just got to wondering what it WOULD be worth if I suddenly decided I could get by with a Bose Wave radio. Like many on Audiogon, I enjoy getting really good value for my money, and have focused on buying stuff at a good price. I think Buckingham points out the most pertinent part - digital is where most of the depreciation occurs. It's quite possible to buy a pair of speakers for 50% off retail, use them for 2 years, and sell them for basically what you paid for them. Not so with pre/pros or CD players. Anyway, no tale of woe here, just a mental exercise. -Kirk
Kirk; I've wondered that myself, but have not attempted to calculate it as components/wires etc. vary in age, demand, and perceived value. As a "rule of thumb" though, I'd just take 50% off retail to arrive at present selling price, and I think I'd be in the ballpark for my system, and your numbers look about that way too. Of course some parts are not recoverable such as dedicated AC system(s).

I don't totally agree about the rapid value drop in digital components, ie the Levinson M37 transport has been around 5-6 years (or more) and still is hard to find at 50% off it's original retail of $4K. In fact it's hard to find used at all. I think some "good brand name" digital gear holds it's value for quite awile if it has high perceived value. Also, as the 16/44 format is "mature" there is not as much that can be done to improve it IMO, so again perceived value of good brands can remain high. Cheers. Craig