[TenTec] Paragon II - fair price?

[Jim Lowman]

John Dvoracek wrote:

> For average condition, current production used gear, start at 66.7% of
> the new price.  Remember, that average condition should still be pretty
> good since the gear can't be too old if it is still in production.  Add
> a bit (two to three per-cent) if the condition is perfect.  Add a bit if
> the seller is the original owner.  Add a bit if the seller still has the
> original boxes (says something positive about his concern for his gear).
> Add a bit if you really, really want the gear.  Finally, add a bit if
> the gear is very new, say less than one year old.  As proof of this
> concept, few would disagree that the established price for used $90 TT
> filters is $60 pretty much across the board.

Hi, John.  Your analysis is very interesting, and it pretty well tracks my
most
recent purchase of an Omni VI Plus from a gentleman in GA.

Just about the time I was ready to place an order with T-T, this gentleman
posted a FS: message for an Omni VI Plus, equipped exactly the way I
would have ordered one:  both CW filters in both IFs (the 400 Hz filters
were INRADs, to make it even better) and with the matching model 962
power supply/speaker.  It was not quite 18 months old.

Sorry, Scott...T-T didn't get the sale, but I saved almost $800 over the new

price for everything.  The good news is, that enables me to order the
matching model 238 antenna tuner right away, so I'll be calling this week.
:-)

Following your formula, John, allowing 3% for the equipment being in
exceptionally pristine condition, we're up to 69.7%.  The actual price,
disregarding shipping costs since I'd have paid T-T about the same, is
74.8% of the new price.  Okay, we're still low by 5.1%, but it's not much
more than a year old, and the owner kept it covered when not in use,
showing his concern for the condition of the gear.  Also, he was the
original owner, so I think we're about there, mathematically.

You're the first person to provide some rationale for advertising having
the original carton(s) as an additional selling point, and I appreciate
that.
As to that showing concern for the equipment, I don't quite make the
connection.  The only reason I have for keeping the original shipping
cartons (not the original boxes, in this case) is to have the molded
packing materials, in the rare case that I might have to return anything to
T-T for service.  Where do you guys have room to store all of those
boxes, anyway?  Usually, when buying anything new, the boxes go out
to the curb for the recycler once I've verified satisfactory operation of
the
device(s) in question.

Wow...to realize that ham gear depreciates by 1/3 in the first year...I
wouldn't have believed that.  As long as there's no physical abuse,
most of the decrease in value for any given piece of equipment usually
comes from cosmetic defects, which is to say, scratches and paint nicks
on the case and front panel.  There are few moving parts, thus few parts
to wear out.  Perhaps someone else has an idea on this.  And yes, I
know how cheap we hams are, as a group.  :-)

For what little bad press we see on these lists about bad dealing over the
Internet, I have to count myself among the lucky ones.  In a handful of
purchases from fellow hams, I have received exceptional value for the
money.  In most cases, the condition of the equipment far exceeded the
seller's estimation, with some being pretty close to collector quality.

Anyway, I can finally count myself among the lucky owners of an Omni
VI Plus, not to mention an Argonaut 515 and an Argo 556.

73 de Jim - AD6CW





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