Depreciation Appreciation Thread
I just wanted to say that I love it when I buy something new, and it's immediately worth less than what I paid for it. It's awesome.
Sign in to comment in this discussion.
Comments
Why would you buy things new?
EDIT: also, I don't know about you, but I usually buy things to have them. So, you know, I pay a certain amount so I can have them, then I have them. And in theory, it was worth that amount since I paid it.
I agree that if stuff keep going down in value, than the clever thing to do is wait if you'd rather pay less and have them later. I tend to do that.
[thread crossover]
So the original creator gets a cut of the sale?
[/thread crossover]
At the cost of filling landfills? No thanks. As long as there is unused stuff, there is no need to make more. And the original person did get money. What do they care if the car is being used by the person who bought it or by someone else? What do they care who's sitting in their chair?
If everyone bought used, then new stuff would just be the "unused stuff"
-_-' You have no idea of supply and demand, do you? You think people would keep producing just as much stuff if less people bought it? Jeez, all the horse riding equipment that must be constantly thrown away because of the people who don't ride horses! Shame on all of you!
That or I was making a joke, but thanks for trying to tell me I'm an idiot.
And the creator will sometimes care about an item's disposition, especially if a resale happens with no further profit to him/her -- right, Yare?
Sorry, I've had people actually make that argument to me, and sarcasm is hard to tell on the Internet.
Oh, yeah, it's not like I buy everything used anyways. There are lots of factors.
I think the idea with IPs is that you're not selling an object, but an idea, and when someone resells the idea, they still "have" it, because they've experienced it, while for purely functional objects, they lose all use of it when they sell it.
EDIT: but sincerely, when I resell my car I still have the experience of having used it for years. So I'm still not sure why it would be that different. It's not like all use of it simply vanishes when I sell it, and with many items (okay, not cars, but tables, desks, chairs), they'll last for generations anyways so you can't say they're worth less than they originally did either.[/EDIT]
Still, considering you can re-read a book, replay a game and re-watch a movie, I sincerely don't think it makes a difference if you're the one re-doing it or if someone else is. It's not like they can survive many resales before becoming unusable, and if people like it, it gets you more customers for the new version of your next products, too.
When it comes to PC parts, however, I know I'm constantly taking a gamble with the price, so it doesn't bother me nearly as much. If I always held out for the perfect deal, I'd still be using a 386.
EDIT: This is only tangentially related, but this thread made me think of it, and now I'm in ranting mood again.
I hate it when a store just refuses to drop the price on a used game for whatever nefarious reason, even if all the other stores carry it at a fraction of the price. Are you seriously telling me that Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is such a huge hit that even a used bundle goes for 70 bucks? I got it unopened at GameStop for $10! I was just going to buy it to replace my X-Plorer controller and give the duplicate disc to a friend! Now I have to either trek all the way back to GameStop, or order it online, two things I wanted to avoid. (With all of the defective guitar controllers out there, I'd like a convenient and fast method of returning.)
Best part? The store is having an Everything Must Go sale, and that means this price was actually SUBSTANTIALLY MARKED DOWN FROM A HIGHER ONE. That's right, as of last month, you could buy Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, a game that sold approximately eight copies, for over 100 U.S. dollars. The only thing that's even SLIGHTLY good about that deal is that the X-Plorer, while ugly as hell, is one of the most resilient and reliable guitar controllers out there. Only problem is, in the sane world, it's also one of the cheapest. Of course, after watching the cashier gorilla-handle my Brutal Legend disc (at least THAT was cheap) before slamming it into the case, I'm glad I didn't buy the controller, which he likely would have set on fire and bowed to like Jimi Hendrix on crack before throwing it in my general direction with a hand grenade taped to it. *wheeze wheeze*
So yeah. ... Hi.
That would be nice.
Theoretically they don't, but every person who buys used is one less customer for the creator(s) to benefit from.
I shop in charity shops and used record stores all the time, so I'm not attempting some sort of moral superiority, was just a thought.
I'm not sure that's true. When I buy used, if I don't find it used, I don't get it at all. And when I sell my used stuff, it's to buy more new stuff. So the way I see it, when I buy used the person who sold it to you is likely to buy something new instead, and since I wouldn't buy new anyways... Buying used allow more new stuff to get sold. Probably. Not less at least. Could be the same and then I take something that would have been thrown away, but I'm not going to complain about that.