[kqr]

A related idea is depreciation.

You haven't lost $700 by buying a pair of skis. You have exchanged $700 in cash for at least $500 in a pair of skis that is now previously owned.

So you might lose, say, $200 immediately for the privilege of buying something brand new. And then another $100 if we include up-front the effort to sell them to someone else.

But the rest of the money is still there, in the shape of skis.

As you use the skis they will depreciate in their second hand value -- this is when the money is actually lost, bit by bit. You can estimate how much the second-hand value of the skis are with 10 uses, 100 uses, 1000 uses, and so on. This is the real cost per use.

[webjunkie]

I like that thinking. It also became clear to me when moving. You can actually sell good furniture that you don't want anymore, and get quite some money back. And if you are considerate in which furniture you buy, you can assume you'll also get money for it, should you not need it anymore. Thus for example, a purchase of a $2000 designer table might not be that huge, if you use it 5 years and get $1500 for it afterwards, you only paid $100 per year to have the table you wanted.

[ozim]

I would rather buy $200 table from Ikea use it also for 5 years no problem and when I don't want it give it away for free. It is still $40 a year.

I also don't know anything about designer tables or design furniture so I probably would get ripped off on buying first and then second time when selling.

In the end I don't have any patience for selling things so I would even low ball the price just to get rid of stuff. Heck even giving stuff away for free is sometimes annoying.

If I would plan not to move anymore or be sure to live somewhere for 20+ years I could consider designer furniture even if I would pay too much for it :).

[wasmitnetzen]

That's ignoring capital cost, i.e. the cost of not having access to the $2000 for 5 years. It's practically zero if you are able to afford a $2000 designer table, but should be included if you're being 100% honest.

[rr888]

Meh, second hand ski market is very patchy, the selection isn't great and different boot sizes might require binding remounting. Skis only last 100 or so days so cost/day is tiny compared to other ski expenses. You could save a few hundred dollars by buying second hand but then you have a big risk of injury from bindings not working properly. The time and effort looking second hand is a big factor too.