I have never been a fan of the "it's worth what someone is willing to pay" argument. Yes, of course in order to sell something you need to have a buyer who is willing to pay that something, but it always seems like stating the obvious. Things do have value and that value can be determined, or at least approximated to some degree. So is a 15 year old custom worth more than what it cost new? I think that depends. Somethings seem to fetch more than they did when they were new-- rolex watches come to mind. And somethings fetch shockingly less-- high end sports cars for instance. And maybe the "it's worth what someone is willing to pay for it argument" works to some degree, I think it has more to do with what the original purchaser paid for and what percentage of that still exists as related to a new example of the same. For instance, a 500 class Mercedes from 1999 that sold for over $100,000 new might not sell for $10,000. I would argue that is b/c the original purchaser wasnt paying just for the car itself, but was paying for a new high end Mercedes. As it aged and became less new, less high end, less cutting edge, the value dropped significantly-- maybe to the point that it is only worth the value of the car itself. With a rolex, the models dont change that often and when they do, it is usually more in the workings rather than cosmetically. The person who buys it new is buying more than a watch (or they would have bought a timex) and the rolex retains those extra things long after they purchase it. That keeps the value high and what people are willing to pay high.
So when a person buys a cutom Rivendell, what are they buying? and what percentage of that retains in the used example? It is not just a bike, or we'd all be on surly's. I would think that it is worth MORE than they paid for it, though less than what a new example might cost. Unless there is something unique about it that makes it more collectible, desirable, or now has more of that "extra" than it did when they bought it (akin to buying a painting from an artist before they have a big break). Cheers! cm -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
