Newbie question - equipment with good resale value

BlueBook has been mentioned as a reliable source of information on resales. Retail dealers do not use BlueBook in calculating trade in values. As 'Rrog' mentioned, it is a shallow source of information. I have found the 'book' over states the values, significantly. For the major brands the general rule on fair used value, assuming a fully functioning unit that is less then ten years old, is 80% of the original MSRP (sales tax excluded) less 40%. This translates to $480 on a MSRP of $1,000. Once the unit is over ten years old, every year older would add an additional 5% discount, per year. Many dealers follow these rules in calculating trade in values. If the unit you are buying is not local and can be picked up/checked out, the cost of shipping the unit to you should be deducted from the calculated value. But in the end, value is always what someone would sell, and what a buyer would pay. It is called 'market capitalism.'

Buconero117,
I, on the other hand, find that the BlueBook is way off in the other direction sometimes, especially for pieces which are older than 10yrs old. The formula you quote seems to be the one used by the Agon BlueBook when they have nothing else. That puts a pair of great vintage speakers from 30yrs ago at 15cts on the original dollar, when that original dollar is worth many times what today's dollar is worth. That's a bit what I am getting at when I say yesteryear's almost classics can be a bargain. So far, I have been able to get a couple of things at 15cts on the dollar, but they are the very rare cases. And I love buying from people who would sell me the best stuff from 1980 at 20cts on the 1980 dollar.

The Wyred 4 Sound Class D amps seem to retain a lot of their original value at resale so far.

In general, I see products that offer high value (performance/dollar) as those that seem to hold value best. Wyred is a prime example.

People seem to take the biggest pounding with more esoteric or one off products that may offer very high performance but also cost a fortune and have more of a niche high end following.

Off course, when new models come out with various technology improvements for comparable cost, then value of older designs will go down somewhat as a result.

Its, hard, but one good strategy to apply is to always wait if you can to buy or upgrade because you will generally tend to be able get more value at a particular price point the longer you wait.