Kooky.

Sorry, yes, very boring thread, no politics, but useful for me to know.

I've always worked on household goods losing half of their value the minute you buy them, but I see my neighbours here in the US advertising things up to a couple of years old for considerably more than 50%. (They often helpfully provide links to the items in-store.) Are they taking the p or is this the norm here?

Similar question for cars.

Thanks.

SpoogleDrummer

I'd say it's pretty normal, it really depends on what it is, how desperate you are to get rid of it and how stupid the buyer is. I've seen some used cars for sale that cost more than a new one with incentives etc. That said I certainly wouldn't be prepared to sell my truck for 50% of what I paid for it any time soon despite it being a year old.

Rete

Do you work in the furniture/appliance consignment or resale area? Just wondered where you worked on household goods owned by others.

I don't believe the sellers are taking the piss. Admittedly if the item offered for resale is only 1 or 2 years old and in excellent condition 50% seems fairly reasonable IMHO.

Kooky.

Oh god no, just terminology. I have ASSUMED values would drop that much, though to be honest I've always ended up giving my own stuff away anyway. Selling furniture is not my favourite pastime, would never be my job.

Sounds like they generally keep their value better here. Will bear that in mind when the time comes to decide whether to ship, sell or give away. Thanks.

Former Lancastrian

The way I look at it it will depend on the appliance. Granted most don't sell major appliances like stove, freezer, washer/dryer etc within 2 years of purchasing them. So if someone paid $1500 for a top of the line fridge/freezer and it was offered for $750 you can either pay the price and look around or resign yourself do I want to pay full price for a new one as they are all priced the same. Other appliances are updated more like TV's so you can get good deals on year end models and likely a seller won't be asking for 50% of what they paid for it.

scrubbedexpat091

Depends on the brand really, some hold value better than others. A kitchen aid mixer will hold value more than a Hamilton Beach mixer for example.

petitefrancaise

In a strange covid twist - I thought about buying a secondhand rowing machine (Concept 2, model D) back in March when it became obvious that normal on the water rowing wasn't going to get back to normal anytime soon. I was pretty horrified to discover that the used ones were selling for more than new ones. Concept 2 website had sold out and were backordered for months and with everyone being stuck at home and wanting one there, suddenly the used ones were at a premium. In the end I rented one for 3 months.
It's the junk sold as "antique" here that makes me laugh.......wish I'd bought more from the brocante back in France, I'd have made a killing.

civilservant

This is such a broad question. Of course something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it, and people always overprice something with the expectation of being haggled.

I think the last used car I sold (step daughters old banger) I advertised on Facebook Marketplace for $4k. I was only actually expecting to get about $2800 for it. That's exactly what I got. If I had listed it at $2800, I probably would only have got $2400.

Pulaski

I am doubtful there is much of a market for "lightly used" appliances - if you can afford to pay $750 for a $1,500 fridge you probably have a credit card and would buy new, perhaps with a rebate, or extended 0% finance as a sweetener. I have found some great deals at "scratch and dent" outlets, getting around 50% off the sticker price, for an unused ex-showroom or dented appliance, so I would never consider buying a used appliance for 50% off original sticker price.

I have sold older appliances on occasion, and found that there is plenty of demand for older appliances - say 5+ years old where the asking price is less than 25% of the price of new, similar appliance. I would never try to sell something that doesn't "work properly", but I am surprised how much someone will pay for something that I consider to be near the end of its useful life. In at least one case a buyer told me he wanted it (cooker) for a rental home.

I did sell an extension ladder, which I had bought special-order from Lowes. It was a 40ft ladder (2 x 20ft pieces), which I bought to use when painting gable ends, and it proved to be a bit of an albatross. It was difficult to store and difficult to move/ put in place (and become impossible to move after Mrs P injured her shoulder - for comparison a usual extension ladder is 24ft - 2 x 12ft pieces). I paid about $500 for it, but during the 5 years I owned it the price of the same ladder new went up to $802 (incl taxes), and the ladder had had very light usage, and had been stored in the garage when not in use, so it really was a virtually new ladder. I knew it would take a while to sell, and there was going to be a very limited market, but I priced it at $600 and prepared for a long wait, and as per Civilservant above, hoped to settle for $500. I rebuffed a number of silly offers in the $200-$300 range, and eventually got a $500 offer from a painting and handyman business owner. I snapped his hand off, basically getting back the entire purchase price.

Kooky.

Yes I learned the hard way about the quality of Hamilton Beach. I sent Mr K shopping for a kettle and toaster before I got here. As a result we have to toast everything on full strength, twice, and that's only possible if it fits in the toaster in the first place (I'm talking normal slices of bread here.). In Mr K's defence, I did say not to spend much, we won't be here that long - and back in normal times we ate out for almost every meal.

petitefrancaise, back in Oz I have seen Ikea tables advertised on Facebook Marketplace for more than they cost in-store. Madness. (Actually what prompted this thread was seeing some Ikea furniture advertised at a ridiculous price on the basis that they had assembled it.) I also once saw a wooden clothes airer - the kind we used to make tents with, with sheets, as kids - advertised as an antique blanket hanging thing.

Thanks again, all.

lizzyq

FYI Aldi have 4 slot toasters in next week's flyer
https://www.aldi.us/en/weekly-specia...ice-toaster-1/

Kooky.

I don't think we do Aldi in WA, definitely not near me. Shame, it looks good. We're trying to tread lightly on the earth while we're here (we have two storage cages in Sydney full of stuff) but I might give in and get a decent one as I can't see an end to Mr K working from home. We did get reckless and treat ourselves to a coffee machine in the early days of lockdown.

lizzyq

The hands down best investment in kitchen stuff we made very early on was our Cuisinart bread machine. With 2 teenaged boys at home then, now 20 & 22, keeping them filled with decent bread (not full of heaven knows what) would have been an expensive prospect without it. We have slowly added more gadgets over time but that one I would not be without. Of course now I am on the sourdough kick it gets used a little less, but when I want "fast" bread it is there waiting to be used

Pulaski

Please do you have any tips on making sourdough bread edible? I have bought commercial "sourdough" bread, and in restaurants, and it isn't much different from "normal" bread, but Mrs P has been experimenting with sourdough and hers comes out both heavy and damp, more like the consistency of a malt loaf than bread. Initially I put it down to lack of experience, but she seems to think, after four months, this is about as good as it gets, and so after a couple of months of increaingly negative comments about her, er, efforts, and hoping for something lighter and drier, I have pretty much gone on strike - just leaving the last of the most recent sourdough loaf languishing in the fridge.

lizzyq

Sorry to hear that Mrs P's sourdough isn't quite to your liking

This is the recipe I use and it seems to come out with a good texture. It is a little more moist than regular bread, but not so much that I would note it.

https://rhiabakes.com/2019/10/15/our...urdough-bread/

I do bake mine in a Mason Cash tagine that emigrated with us but I would think it would work fine in a dutch oven or even without. I usually start the process in the late afternoon and transfer the exercised dough into an oiled bowl covered with cling film as we go to bed. In the morning I take the dough out of the bowl and invert it into the tagine so that the oiled surface is uppermost and then put the lid on and let it sit for at least a couple of hours before preheating the oven to 210C on the "convect roast" setting. Just before baking I slash the top with a sharp knife and dust with a little rice flour (if I remember), put the lid back on and bake for 35 minutes covered and then 10 to 15 minutes uncovered. Remove from pot and then cool on a rack.

Flour: I use about 2/3 white bread flour and 1/3 wholemeal.
Starter: I feed my starter the day before I bake or that morning. To 50g of starter I add 50ml (50g) of filtered water and 60g of white bread flour, stir it until there are no dry lumps and then let it sit out, covered, on the counter until it is all bubbly, then I use 100g of the fed starter and put 50g back in the fridge.
Water: I use filtered water because our town water is noticeably chlorinated. I usually use 300 to 310ml not the full 320ml as per the recipe.

I hope Mrs P is willing to give this one a try - the dough is certainly less wet than some of the other recipes I have tried and I keep coming back to it.