Our son Will’s friend, John, parked his bike on the lawn in front of the barn. After a jaw drop and a double take, the wayback machine took me to 1962 and memories of my first bike.
It was an identical black Schwinn with the same saddleback black and white seat with the trademark “S” on it. Had it traveled forward in time?
Will and John, both 21, ride Schwinn bikes older than they are. They like the nostalgia and the quality of the bikes. The Schwinn brand, once famous for quality, low maintenance and longevity, unfortunately lost the market battle with less expensive and lower quality imported throw-away bikes many years ago.
It’s no secret that the consumer culture embraces NEW as a status statement. I’m as fond of shiny paint or the smell of a new car as much as anyone else. But I’ve found everything I ever bought new became “used” after just a day at work. And when you think about it, everybody in business has no new equipment, just used equipment.
I got to thinking about how horse business owners are duped into thinking new is always better than used. Don’t get me wrong, it’s almost always a given to buy certain items like computers, software, cell phones new. Technology advances so quickly, you need the benefit of the latest.
But, the horse business and many other businesses aren’t technology driven and older used equipment works as well as new equipment for half the price.
If money is no object to you, or huge monthly payments don’t upset you, keep buying new. The manufacturers need you and you needn’t read any further.
If you’re interested in saving your cash for other things, consider the used market for:
- Horse trailers
- Tractors
- Pick up trucks
- Manure spreaders
- Wagons
- Post hole diggers, grader blades, discs, harrows, bush hogs, mowing equipment, hay elevators
In many cases, older equipment, just like the Schwinn bicycle, is more rugged and dependable than the newer equipment.
But, good used equipment is too hard to find you may argue. And I would agree ten years ago. But now, with e-bay, Craig’s List and dozens of used equipment bulletin boards and sites, there is no excuse for you not to do an electronic search.
Granted, it may take a while to find the right one, but in the interest of saving thousands of dollars, you can afford to put some research time into it.
And if your “new” used equipment needs to be shiny or the right color, new paint (stay away from the used stuff) is less than $25.00 per gallon.