[ARC5] Managing Yiour Colection

[Don Merz]

Well, I tend to be a simple-minded SOB, so I'm going to abandon all science 
and do some simpleton's storage unit math.

Suppose your units costs $100 a month. At CREDIT CARD interest rates, $100 a 
month equates to maybe $15,000 in purchases (interest only). Is what's in your 
storage unit worth $15,000? $10K? $5K? 


These numbers get disasterous as storage unit prices go up. I know one guy with 
a storage unit bill close to $400 a month. You would have to be storing GOLD 
BARS or Catalins or Picassos to make that worthwhile. 


Think of it this way. $1,200 buys A LOT in today's radio market. So in a year, 
you could buy $1,200 worth of stuff, keep it one year, sell it the next year for 
half price--$600--AND YOU'D STILL BE UP $600 versus a storage unit!

Even worse, hard goods values are FALLING. What you're storing is dropping in 
value right where it sits! Take your eye off of that for a couple years and now 
your're paying $1,200 a year to store stuff that is worth NOTHING. 


As Nick says....buy high, sell low...

73, DOn Merz, N3RHT

 


----- Original Message ----
From: "arc5 at ix.netcom.com" <arc5 at ix.netcom.com>
To: Discussion of AN/ARC-5 military radio equipment. <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sat, July 24, 2010 11:56:32 AM
Subject: Re: [ARC5] Managing Yiour Colection


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Merz" <n3rht at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [ARC5] Managing Yiour Colection,


>... doing something stupid--like paying rent on a storage unit,

Not always dumb; it depends.
I have one unit because my home has no storage space,
like a garage.  If I calculate the monthy costs of payments
on a loan to build a garage, vs the monthy payments on 
storage, I'm way ahead.  In the mean time, I'm slowly
building a "shop" without having to take out a loan
and that will eventually get me out of the storage.

And Amen on the shipping costs point:
I've actually gotten embarrassed to tell folks what
it's going to cost to ship, and have taken to telling 
international bidders to be certain to check shipping 
costs before bidding.    There are a great many 
BA things you can no longer even mail to Australia.
You'd have to ship them as cargo, and that costs
the world.  I'd love to complete my AR8/AT5 with
the dynamotor supply, but I'd have to take out 
a second mortgage to pay the shipping.

(OFF TOPIC WARNING!  Hit "Delete" now!
  Read at your own risk, and if you reply,
    don't complain.  So there ;)

As for: "Will the economy get better in our lifetimes?"
(Get ready to "roll your eyes")
No. A few more ups and downs, but the long trend is decay.
The wealth of the country is being drained away quickly
by various means, and the punishing new taxes
on the way next year will speed that.  
Churchill said that attempting to tax our way to prosperity 
is like a man trying to lift the bucket he's standing in 
by pulling on the handle.  We have no Churchills 
to save us, and the lemmings wouldn't elect him if we did.

Economics is not magic.  It's mathematics.
All the money is flowing into the hands of an elite few.
If your grandchildren are lucky, they will live like
the natives do in Guatemala.  If they're not, 
they'll live like those in Ethiopia, 
and all will be dependent on the imperial elite.  
This cycle of  rot has always been the fate of empire,
once its people became ignorant, fat and indolent,
and that's as it should be.  The weak and the stupid will die,
the strong will eventually rise and exterminate the elites,
and the great Wheel, its axel always lubricated with blood,
will begin another, merciless turn.
Perhaps the Almighty will show us grace
and call a halt to our folly this time, 
but don't count on it.

73 D.S.
p.s 
The Chinese are the "wild card" in this equation.
Don't count them out- the Chinese are smart
and very patient.  My money says the future
belongs to them.

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