A Pet Peeve

A Pet Peeve ...

Money spent is money gone.

Okay, so I am listening to the radio the other morning and BJ is whining about not getting much money on a trade in for a used IPod when going to buy a new one. Although I can sympathize with him in principle, it simply is just too bad.When a person buys a gadget or a toy or whatever, it is money spent and money gone. If by some stroke of luck there is a chance to recoup the money in some way later that is simply a bonus.

When a new version or a new gadget comes out there is no reason on earth for anyone to ever expect to get any money back when they get the new items for a couple of simple reasons. First, the new item makes their old item out of date. Second, the item is used and therefore worth a lot less than it would be to anyone else, no matter how well it has been taken care of. It is cool that there is a secondary market for many electronic gizmos, but to expect anything more than a fraction of what one paid is just not paying attention to reality. A used, previous model item is only ever going to be worth a fraction of what a new one will be. And, since the retailer needs to make something in the turnaround the amount paid for the used item will only be a fraction of secondary retail.

If a person buys something, uses it, and enjoys it, they got their value out of their item. Yes, the new item costs more money, but you didn't invest in it in the first place.

Several years ago I had to pack and move and eventually go through a lot of junk from relatives that held onto everything because it might be worth something. If they had just sold or gotten rid of things as they used them, that process would not have been nearly as cumbersome as it was.

Additionally, I dealt with something similar with this with autos when I was in insurance claims, which is a whole ‘nother can of worms. Used stuff just is not worth what the owner ever thinks it is.

I don't have a lot of money so I am very careful about buying gadgets and gizmos. I might be inclined to buy a used, previous model. But, I am not going to pay top dollar for it. So, stop your whining, if you enjoyed the gizmo, you got your money's worth.