Depreciation of High End Regulators ?

[miketsp]

For anyone that is into diving seriously enough to require a high end reg, depreciation is the least of their worries.

 

[alo100]

The resale value of regulator or in general diving equipment is not really high, if you look at eBay or others... just like ski equipment; so in a way, you may want to think clearly how much you're going to commite to the sport before you buy a lot of expensive items.

 

[Mambo Dave]

Why pay that much when you could get a RG2500 for $425?

I was thinking the same thing - why pay that much, when a top performing regulator WITHOUT the advertising mark-ups could be had in the RG2500, but I got my RG2500, first stage AND octo for $350. Breathes rightiously down to 110' for me, and beyond 220' for the tech guys around these parts.

That, and I was thinking some people must be really caught up in the whole scuba marketing gimmick-advertising-scheme if they're worried about resale value, lol.

 

[Rick Inman]

THESE seem to have kept their value.

 

[7milehi]

For anyone that is into diving seriously enough to require a high end reg, depreciation is the least of their worries.

I'm not that worried about depreciation as far as my wallet is concerned. But often the rate of depreciation will tell you something about a product , how well it is manufactored or if it has high maintenance cost ect. . I will never forget a friend of mine bought a used 88 or 89 Mercedes at a super deal (he thought) about ten years ago. Mercedes a high end automobile no argument there. He paid almost 8K less than he thought it was worth but he didn't do his homework first , it was all shiney and clean and the price was really good he thought . After 2 months of ownership he realized this car was a shop queen. Then a mechanic told him it was a lemon year for that model Mercedes , the year prior or the year after were great cars but that year model was a maintenance hog.

If he had done his research he would have known why that year model was much less than the year before and the year after model. If I see that brand or model X regulator loses 75% of its value in 2 years and brand or model Y only loses 25% that tells me there is a reason.

 

[Adobo]

I'm not that worried about depreciation as far as my wallet is concerned. But often the rate of depreciation will tell you something about a product , how well it is manufactored or if it has high maintenance cost ect. . I will never forget a friend of mine bought a used 88 or 89 Mercedes at a super deal (he thought) about ten years ago. Mercedes a high end automobile no argument there. He paid almost 8K less than he thought it was worth but he didn't do his homework first , it was all shiney and clean and the price was really good he thought . After 2 months of ownership he realized this car was a shop queen. Then a mechanic told him it was a lemon year for that model Mercedes , the year prior or the year after were great cars but that year model was a maintenance hog.

If he had done his research he would have known why that year model was much less than the year before and the year after model. If I see that brand or model X regulator loses 75% of its value in 2 years and brand or model Y only loses 25% that tells me there is a reason.

You might be over-thinking this a little bit.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Mattboy makes an excellent point that presently Scubapro and Aqualung are the only two companies I know of that have a long history of providing parts and service for literally decades after they discontinue a regulator model. Dacor used to come close in that regard until Mares bought them out, apparently for their patents as they immediately killed the parts and service support for all but in production Dacor regs. For that reason alone, I'd never buy a Dacor or Mares reg as it's useful will end an annual service or two after the model is discontinued when the shop runs out of parts for it. And of course it's used value will be whatever brass brings on the scrap market at that point.

Scubapro has also had a long stnading practice of making improvements in new models retrofittable into old models when ever possible. For example you can take a late 60's vintage unbalanced "Adjustable" second stage and for very little money update it to use the same balanced S-wing poppet used in the current G250HP and S600 and it will then offer performance equal to either of those models. A 40 year service life with no loss of performance equates to serious staying power. And not surprisingly, they still bring a fair price on the sued market.

In general though if you buy a new top end reg, you can plan on getting about 40% of the MSRP back if you sell it used in very good to excellent condition. That price tends to be set by discount/online outlets such as Leisure-Pro who basically cap the used price for current production regs with cut rate prices for new grey market regs.

If you look at it the other way though, if you buy a used SP or Aqualung reg in a given performance class, you can get the same performance for about 40% of the cash.

Personally, I don't see the sense in buying a new Mk 25 S600 when I could get a used MK 20 G500 or Mk 20 S600 in great condition for less than half the price of a new one. One of the few arguments for a new top end reg is the benefit of added extras like warranty support and free parts programs - that do not come with lower priced grey market regs available through the internet. So if I were in the market for a new reg and a used reg of the same class were available in ecellent condition and freshly serviced, I'd give it serious consideration.

I also think the US made G500 (the one with the black purge cover rather than the grey purge cover used on the Italian built G500's) is a superior second stage that out performs the current S600, so in some cases for less money, you can actually get a better regulator if you know what you are buying.

Regs are after all durable goods and are a lot like cars in the respect that they are worth substnatially less as soon as you walk out the shop door with them.

 

[7milehi]

You might be over-thinking this a little bit.

Maybe I am But have not seen this issue brought up in the equation before.

Which reg brand would have the best resale value , Atomic , SP , Apex , or Dacor ?
And why ? I think DA Aquamaster makes a very valid point on resale value !

 

[CompuDude]

Maybe I am But have not seen this issue brought up in the equation before.

Which reg brand would have the best resale value , Atomic , SP , Apex , or Dacor ?
And why ? I think DA Aquamaster makes a very valid point on resale value !

I would think ScubaPro would have the best resale value, of the choices given, for all the reasons DA Aquamaster made. Atomic has a good chance to follow suit, but they have not been around long enough to have a proven track record like ScubaPro has. Who knows about Apex, hard to say what will happen now that they have been bought. Might be a great thing, might not.

 

[rjack321]

Maybe I am But have not seen this issue brought up in the equation before.

Which reg brand would have the best resale value , Atomic , SP , Apex , or Dacor ?
And why ? I think DA Aquamaster makes a very valid point on resale value !

8-ball says "anybody's guess"