Author Topic: What little-used items do you possess that have dropped in value?  (Read 3454 times)

Linea_Norway

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In the past I have invested into new things that have fallen in value after many years, but that I haven't used enough. Scary to think about the loss of good money which could have been used in a better way.

Digital piano:
I bought it new for 17.000 NOK (2000 USD) in 1999. Now worth about 6000 NOK. No, I haven't played enough on it to justify 11.000 NOK drop in value. At that time in 1999 I thought I couldn't live without it, but apparently I can. I haven't been able to sell it for a high price. Will try again later for 6000 NOK as comparable piano's cost.

Racing bike:
Bought it in 2005 or thereabout for approx 12.000 NOK (1400 USD) excluding wheels. Is currently laid out for sale for 7500 NOK including good quality wheels. Yes, I have cycled on it for 2-3 years, but that doesn't justify losing so much money on it.

Tent:
We used to go on car camping holidays and wanted a cheap, not light-weight tent for that. One year later we found out that we prefer combined hiking holidays and it takes way to much place in the car to bring both the heavy and the lightweight hiking tent. So now we only use the hiking tent.
The car tent was bought on sale, but is almost not used.

Crayfish-cage:
Bought many years ago and was cheap. But has never been used, because it is too much fuss. We don't live close enough the sea to check it every day. Not worth a thing today.

Big petrol-driven pruning device:
Bought new when we sold our old house last year and needed to make the garden look representable. Has not been used in the new house. Probably dropped 50% in value.
« Last Edit: March 22, 2017, 06:38:23 AM by Linda_Norway »

Cranky

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Re: What little-used items do you possess that have dropped in value?
« Reply #1 on: March 22, 2017, 05:15:31 AM »
Things are generally worth less once you've bought them and used them, but I don't resell stuff, so it doesn't generally bother me.

We do have a piano that is taking up floor space. My mother-in-law bought it for my daughters, and my oldest daughter wants it, but doesn't have room for it now. If they ever get a house, I will spend a fortune shipping it to them (and will do so fairly cheerfully). But my mil paid too much for it in the first place, because there are a zillion cheap/free pianos around for beginners.

I know that it is incredibly hard to unload electric organs, because I've had to clean out several elderly relatives house and in Florida, the thrift store wouldn't even take them.

BlueMR2

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Re: What little-used items do you possess that have dropped in value?
« Reply #2 on: March 22, 2017, 10:04:30 AM »
Bought a fancy ADS-B radio receiver for $750 just a few years ago.  Nowadays you can buy them for like $10 if you go the partially assembled kit route...

Performance car parts that were sitting on my shelf and cost me hundreds of dollars and I can't even give them away now.

Chris22

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Re: What little-used items do you possess that have dropped in value?
« Reply #3 on: March 22, 2017, 10:09:04 AM »
Bought one of those package deals for a Cannon DSLR at Sam's club (camera, extra lens, memory card, case, etc) for $500.  Used it very little, found I prefer using my iPhone for pictures.  The camera is okay to play around with, but I don't have the patience to sort through hundreds of pictures of the same thing to figure out which is the best, etc, so I end up doing nothing with the pictures.  I could probably get $100 out of it, but I'll just let it sit on the shelf in case I decide to use it more some day.

Also bought some in-wall surround sound speakers intending to do a home theater set up in my basement.  Once I opened all the walls up I saw that it wasn't going to work out as planned, and I decided to simplify with a sound bar instead.  Advertised the $150 pair of speakers on Craigslist, NextDoor, Facebook, etc, for $50, and no takers.  Got tired of looking at the big box on my work bench, put it on the curb, and it still took 8 hours before someone grabbed them for free. 

inline five

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Re: What little-used items do you possess that have dropped in value?
« Reply #4 on: March 22, 2017, 10:19:21 AM »
When I have a need for a little used item I typically will buy it used off eBay or CL and resell once used if not needed again, or if I can find a blowout deal buy new and sell after using.

Linea_Norway

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Re: What little-used items do you possess that have dropped in value?
« Reply #5 on: March 22, 2017, 10:43:13 AM »
When I have a need for a little used item I typically will buy it used off eBay or CL and resell once used if not needed again, or if I can find a blowout deal buy new and sell after using.

That is of course what we do as Mustachians. This list was based on what we did before we became Mustachians.
« Last Edit: March 23, 2017, 01:50:41 AM by Linda_Norway »

VoteCthulu

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Re: What little-used items do you possess that have dropped in value?
« Reply #6 on: March 22, 2017, 02:45:38 PM »
Some of my furniture, the deck on my house, all of my wall decorations and books...

This is really just a list of things I don't use often, since I don't own any collectables, etc. that appreciate in value.

Oh, one more: The cash in my wallet. It's probably been there for a year now.

Inaya

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Re: What little-used items do you possess that have dropped in value?
« Reply #7 on: March 22, 2017, 02:50:18 PM »
Pokemon cards.

That shiny 1st ed. Charizard just didn't hold its value for some reason. /sarcasm

Goldielocks

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Re: What little-used items do you possess that have dropped in value?
« Reply #8 on: March 22, 2017, 11:41:44 PM »
Sony Trinitron 36" TV.   I am having trouble giving it away for free.   We received it 3 years ago (used, for free) from friends, because we did not have a second TV (and with Teenagers, thought we would?)  Anyway, other than hooking it up, was never turned on.   

I believe it was a GD expensive TV in its day.   Especially as these friends are quite spendy types.

alsoknownasDean

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Re: What little-used items do you possess that have dropped in value?
« Reply #9 on: March 23, 2017, 02:05:07 AM »
I spent almost $2000 on stereo equipment back in the day (tuner, amp, CD player, speakers, USB DAC). Currently only the speakers are in use (hooked up to a cheap T-amp from eBay), and the rest is in boxes under my bed.

The market value of it all? I might get a few hundred for the lot, but it might also take me months before I sell it. I'm planning to reuse some of it when I move.

rantk81

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Re: What little-used items do you possess that have dropped in value?
« Reply #10 on: March 23, 2017, 06:29:29 AM »
Playstation 3.

Several years ago (2011? 2012?) I was in the market to buy a blu-ray player, and I just decided to get the PS3, since I thought it would double as a nice media streaming device.

Turns out I barely ever used the thing because it was always so annoying how long it would take to power up, all the DRM headaches when trying to play movies or stream video, clumsy apps on it for streaming video, constant updates... and the final "FU" was, even though I rarely used the thing, the last time I tried to rent a RedBox blu-ray movie to watch, I discovered that the optical drive on it somehow failed.

Uugh, facepunch. Worst purchase I made in recent memory.


Gunny

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Re: What little-used items do you possess that have dropped in value?
« Reply #11 on: March 23, 2017, 06:33:49 AM »
Things are generally worth less once you've bought them and used them, but I don't resell stuff, so it doesn't generally bother me.

We do have a piano that is taking up floor space. My mother-in-law bought it for my daughters, and my oldest daughter wants it, but doesn't have room for it now. If they ever get a house, I will spend a fortune shipping it to them (and will do so fairly cheerfully). But my mil paid too much for it in the first place, because there are a zillion cheap/free pianos around for beginners.

I know that it is incredibly hard to unload electric organs, because I've had to clean out several elderly relatives house and in Florida, the thrift store wouldn't even take them.

This is why I buy used when ever possible.  Almost all of my tools and gardening equipment were acquired from Craigslist.  Take your time, shop around the CL catagory you are interested in and you can get some real bargains. 

Fishindude

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Re: What little-used items do you possess that have dropped in value?
« Reply #12 on: March 23, 2017, 06:51:47 AM »
Boats come to mind :(

BAMxi

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Re: What little-used items do you possess that have dropped in value?
« Reply #13 on: March 23, 2017, 08:48:13 AM »
Just sold my 2007 BMW 328xi. My commute to work for the past year and a couple months consists of a 4 minute walk, so it was just sitting and depreciating in my driveway. Bought it in 2010 with 26,000 miles for $22,200. Sold it for $8,000 with 103,000 miles in Feb. Was $3,00 more than the book value, but was in great condition and had all maintenance records. I went from loving that car to hating seeing it sit out in my driveway devaluing itself. Still hurts a little to think of how much i had put into it after mods and maintenance. But i was a dumb kid with too much expendable income and no future plans when i bought it at 23 years old. Things are much different now.

CptCool

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Re: What little-used items do you possess that have dropped in value?
« Reply #14 on: March 23, 2017, 12:54:53 PM »
Pokemon cards.

That shiny 1st ed. Charizard just didn't hold its value for some reason. /sarcasm

fuck. I had that card & a whole bunch of others that are now apparantly worth a lot of money. I threw away all my pokemon cards when I was in middle or high school 10-15 years ago....

MoonLiteNite

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Re: What little-used items do you possess that have dropped in value?
« Reply #15 on: March 24, 2017, 11:58:20 PM »
Ummm not much....
i have a galaxy note 4 that i got as "rent payment" from a slacker roommate.  Never use the dang thing and every time i post it on craigslist i never get any bites. I think i will just donate it to charity.

I suppose my day cell phone, i make less than 50mins per a month worth of calls on it. And less than 100 texts. mainly use it for internet access while on the road.
Oh and a new-used Garmin etrex 20 that i just bought, plan on using it for a 1month hiking trip later this year, will rarely be used other than this trip.

Dora the Homebody

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Re: What little-used items do you possess that have dropped in value?
« Reply #16 on: March 25, 2017, 07:35:08 AM »
All my aquarium stuff, for sure.  And what a pain in the neck to sell -- I've wasted so much time waiting on people who said they were coming to buy it, I'm just about ready to leave it at the end of the driveway with a "free" sign on it :(

I also have a ton of horse-related stuff that I almost never use anymore; blankets, sheets, boots, wraps, pads, liniments, rinses... as my expensive horse has depreciated in value, I don't feel the need anymore to wrap him up like he's a delicate hot-house flower :)

lifejoy

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Re: What little-used items do you possess that have dropped in value?
« Reply #17 on: March 25, 2017, 07:46:38 AM »
Pokemon cards.

That shiny 1st ed. Charizard just didn't hold its value for some reason. /sarcasm

You're fancy! I still remember the charmeleon I spent $7 on in the 90's...

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!