The Law of Diminishing Returns

Law of Diminishing Returns

I am sure you have experienced this law.  It goes like this.  You are excited about purchasing an item.  You use that item as much as you can each day or week.  After a while, other things get in the way or you just lose interest.  The law has worked against you.  You will find the best boat deal when the sellers returns have been diminished.  Then, my friend, it is a buyers market.

Let me tell you a story of a fish tank that my wife and I owned.  We won a 55 gallon fish tank from a Petsmart raffle.  We put hours into setting it up, filling it with water and adding fish.  We really enjoyed watching the fish swim around and eat.  But, fish that eat also poop.  After several weeks, it was my job to clean the fish tank.  Over the years that we had the tank, every time I had to clean the thing my level of enjoyment dropped a notch.  We had hundreds of dollars tied up in the tank, but when it hit that moment, (when the pain in the ass factor exceeded the enjoyment) I would pay you to just take it.

The same can be experienced in the sailboat market.  The story goes that one buys the sailboat with the idea of sailing off into the sunset, only to have the maintenance and storage costs of the boat catch up with them. They don't want to sell the boat, but they have to (the wife said so).  They will happily sell the boat to the person who will love and cherish the boat and fulfill their dreams of taking her over the horizons.  Then at that moment, it is a buyers market and you are using this law of returns in you favor.  I have said before, that there is no consistent pricing in the used sailboat marketplace.  I am dreaming of a larger boat and am looking for one that is right with this law.