"I swear it is mint"
or "What is this really
worth?"
One of our customers recently bought a receiver through the
Internet. It was a Marantz 2220, a small receiver of the mid 70's. It
was characterized a being in perfect condition so this fellow paid
$100 for it. When it came, sure enough it was very pretty. It was
physically very attractive and had a nice wood case. It didn't really
work though. The panel lamps were burned out and the controls were
noisy and it was very difficult to tune in the radio. He brought it to
us for evaluation and we found that it was electronically sound, but
that it had received no service work in a long time so naturally it
performed well below its potential. It in fact needed full normal
restoration work, the cost of which is about $150, if done properly.
The real value of a Marantz 2220, nicely turned out and working well
is about $200. This means that a pretty one, prior to restoration, has
a real value of $50 at the most, and since it is a hassle to carry it
out to get it restored, the real value of this piece was about $30 or
$40. In other words, he got stung, and paid quite a bit more than the
real value of the piece.
I have seen this same story repeated over and over again. I cannot
tell you how many times someone has brought in an absolute dog and has
characterized it as being mint, or some other superlative. I have lost
all patience with the idea that a machine in the 20 plus year range
can possibly be mint or any other adjective implying some measure of
perfection, unless a highly skilled technician has recently gone
through the machine to give it the requisite TLC. The fact is that any
machine with more that 6 or 7 years under its belt MUST have a certain
amount of service before it may be considered to be in premium
condition. Machines that have been properly serviced may be taken
seriously. Machines in raw condition belong in garage sales and their
value is 20% of what it would be were it in premium condition.
Since you still require convincing, let me try another
approach. Suppose that you love vintage automobiles. You have just
discovered the most beautiful '67 Buick Riviera. The body is great,
the interior is perfect, it shines like a new penny, and it has very
low actual miles. You have all of the service records and you note
that it still has the original belts, hoses, hydraulics, and
shocks. It works mind you, but these have not been changed in 36
years. If your daddy taught you any sort of prudence, I do not think
you will be too keen on driving your new Riviera to El Paso in the
summertime before you have replaced those belts, hoses, etc. If you
decide otherwise, I am sure as hell not going to go with you.
My point in all of this is to give you a sense of the methods a
professional uses to evaluate the value of a used piece of
equipment. You will agree that any article worth talking about has a
dollar value that can be professionally appraised. This value is
ultimately dictated by the price the item will fetch consistently on
the open market. The price of used cars will vary greatly according to
the condition of the vehicle. With stereos, it is more subtle, but
obviously a machine which performs to spec and does so reliably is
worth a great deal more than one which is marginal, regardless of
physical appearance. Used stereos are value-added goods. When they
sit at the garage sale, they have one value, and after they have had
full restoration, they are worth quite a bit more.
So what is it
really worth?
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