Need Help "Ball-Parking" a used Canopy.

[Gato 0]

I need gear wisdom from ye olde gear gurus.

Canopy: Silhouette 230, DOM 2000, 600 jumps (in Hawaii?), relined 10 jumps ago.

How much would you shell out for such a chute, provided a rigger says it's airworthy?

T.I.N.S.

[AggieDave 6]

As stated by others before:

Take the new price from a bigger dealer, - $100 - $1 a jump -$200 if it needs a lineset = ball park.

Eitherway it depends on what someone would be willing to pay for it. If its a good deal for you, then its a good deal. If you don't think its a good deal, then its not. Just that simple.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[bwilling 0]

Quote

How much would you shell out for such a chute, provided a rigger says it's airworthy?

I can give you a couple of comps... I bought a 1999 Silhouette 230 with way less jumps (probably in the neighborhood of half that number) with a nearly new dacron line set for $800 about a year and a half ago.

At the same time I purchased that one, there was a newer one listed, with about a hundred jumps on it I think. I emailed the guy regarding it and made him an offer, but he ended up selling for his full asking price of $1000.

As Dave said though, it's worth whatever someone will pay him for it! That's never been one of PD's best selling canopies, but I can't for the life of me figure out why not, because it's a great parachute overall!

"If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

[Dumpster 0]

One may also consider it's geographic location - Salt water and southern climates, desert, etc. vs. northern areas, where the jumping season is shorter and the weather more tolerable by the fabric.

Easy Does It

[sagan 0]

To expand on the formula:

Current Dealer Price for New Canopy: Find 3 dealers and get quotes. Take an average then take another 10% off from that as most people that buy from dealers will buy a package and get something off the original quote.

Years of Service: $100/year from DOM or years of service. Double this if canopy has been jumped in a "harsh" environment -- i.e. desert (even if they land on the grass each time), near salt water, etc

Per Jump: $1/jump

Lines: You may want to take type of line into consideration as some wear much faster than others. If the lines are near to being toast and slinks come with the canopy take another $25 off to pay for new slinks. DON'T SKIMP ON THE SLINKS!!! Do a search on these forums and you'll understand.

Don't forget to consider: Cost of shipping (including insurance/tracking). Cost of rigger inspection. Cost of hooking it up which would include new slinks or quick links if needed. Also any repairs required found by rigger inspection are typically dollar for dollar off from what I've been told is customary.

Now put it together.

This formula has worked well for me and when you go through it with a seller or buyer it generally makes a lot of sense to them and you can then meaningfully discuss each of the points vs just swinging a price around and feeling like it is going no where. I don't have a ton of experience but having gone through this 3x in a year and change with both dealers and private individuals, I wanted to toss my opinion out there. Feel free to debate!

-Patrick