The other reason that prices are way cheaper second hand is that the buyer is taking the risk of buying a lemon - versus some sort of guarantee (usually) when you buy new. The seller has more information about the object in question than the buyer (i.e. wifi card on laptop is flaky, for example), so buying secondhand implies more risk, which drops the exchange price.
I think that this affects the price of new vs used moreso than the experience of purchasing it.
Again, though, most of the economic value of that is in the experience itself. The retailer reassures you with a warranty and you do avoid the small risk of painful emotions (humiliation/disappointment) should something go wrong with an informal transaction.
The short-term failure rate of second hand goods is nowhere near the 50% that would be needed to justify the price difference in terms of pure rational economic terms, especially given that most informal sellers are happy to guarantee that a product is working at the moment of sale.
AussieWog93|4 years ago
The short-term failure rate of second hand goods is nowhere near the 50% that would be needed to justify the price difference in terms of pure rational economic terms, especially given that most informal sellers are happy to guarantee that a product is working at the moment of sale.