Why do people sell their gear for more than a dealer

[johnnyboydan 0]

As I look through the used gear section it amazes me how many people are trying to sell used gear for what it cost new or sometimes more. Come on if you want to sell it check arround and find out how much dealers sell it for new, get a clue. Does it bother anyone else?

johnnyboy

[phoenixlpr 0]

So? IMHO Anyone can try to sell anything for any price. You dont have to buy anything :)

[mr2mk1g 10]

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Why do people sell their gear for more than a dealer

Because they can.

It's a sellers market on a lot of gear, especially in some parts of the world.

An item is worth what people will pay for it, not what it costs. If people will pay a high price for it, it's worth a high price, simple as that.

Then again, they may simply be charging too much... they'll learn at some point when no one's interested, then the price will fall back to realistic levels.

[johnnyboydan 0]

My point was that you are selling to fellow skydivers,some new to the sport. For m selling to brother or future brother should be a good deal not how much money can I rip you for.

johnnyboy

[mr2mk1g 10]

Hey, not everyone's as nice as you and I.

There's a guy in my club who's busy buying up used gear in the states and having friends bring it over to the UK for him so he can sell it on here for about twice the purchase price.

Because your economy's gone down the pan and our gear prices are extortionate at the best of times he's able to sell on easily even at a massive mark up.

I have mixed feelings about what he's doing. On one hand he's making money off fellow skydivers by simply playing the markets. On the other hand he's essentially providing a service - going through the arse ache of finding good gear, putting it together, getting it into the country, taking the risk of buying unseen and then simply taking a cut for that work.

Now that the people who brought his gear in for him know what he's up to they won't help him out anymore (they thought the gear was for personal use). I'm personally not comfortable selling to people stuff they can get half the price elsewhere - he is. We all have different morals.

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

I think the answer is probably because they paid a lot more than that through an other-than-inexpensive dealer. Some people simply don't shop around and end up paying WAY too much for gear. How do you think ParaGear got to be such a big company?

[darkwing 5]

It isn't a rip off, it is business. If I was selling you some stock, would you expect me to sell it for a discount on what I paid for it, or sell it for what it was worth? The worth of anything (in terms of selling it) is what someone is willing to pay.

I have bought and sold gear. It is each person's responsibility to shop around, and be an informed consumer.

I have seen people sit on their gear until it was worthless merely because they couldn't get what it was "worth" out of it. Mandating $3000 for a $1500 rig is not smart for a seller.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[mark 107]

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How do you think ParaGear got to be such a big company?

[Thread drift] Better price, better selection, better service, more convenience than Continental, McElfish, and other competitors back in the day.

Mark

[Tonto 1]

Well... instant gratification is one reason. You can meet a dude, see the gear, pay for it, and be jumping it the same weekend. Even buying items off the shelf takes weeks before it's all assembled if it's out of state.

As for "Brothers hooking brothers up," well, for me brothers are a lifetime thing, and I got tired of my "brothers" quitting about 15 years ago.

Seen what some second hand postage stamps sell for? Think they're worth it?

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[riggerrob 643]

Part of it is people having unrealistic expectations of what their gear is really worth. They try to recoup their losses by demanding what they paid for it new.
Hee!
Hee!
New parachutes depreceate at the same rate as cars.
This is the same logic as all the old boats tied up in marinas and old airplanes sitting idle at small airports. The wife probably gave them hell over how much they paid new and expect them to resell it to the next sucker for the same price. After a few years of gathering moss, they sell their old toy a huge loss.
By the same token, the original owner may have paid retail, while desperate dealers are offering large discounts these days.

[VectorBoy 0]

I know that boats resell for a fraction of their original price but I always thought that planes and harleys appreciate, at least they have in the last 15 some odd years.

[teason 0]

Out here in Canada, we've kinda gotten a raw deal if we bought before the summer of '03.
Two years ago I bought a used rig, not a great deal but a fair one, for the same price that I could today pay for brand new. That's because our Dollar has increased about 30% compared to the US dollar. What looks expensive in US dollars is way bellow what we payed in canadaian.

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

[kelpdiver 2]

moral being - spend now!

dollar probably won't change in this administration, but eventually someone will go the other way.