No, I need to make money when I sell equipment (business, profit, etc), so I must acquire it for much less than the retail price.

I’m typically asked this question, along the lines of:

My car is worth 10 grand, it’s not been professionally inspected or valued, has no service history, and I live in another state, but would you pay 15 grand for it?

Every piece of equipment I acquire needs to meet the high standards we set for the pre-owned equipment we sell. Every piece must be scrutinised, prepped for sale and carries some risk, no matter how carefully it is chosen. Service, repair, QA, prep and listing equipment usually takes several hours per piece. Margins for profit and warranty must be factored in.

One needs to acquire items for significantly less than they sell for, with ever bigger margins where significant time, energy and risk are involved. I can’t even pay $500 for something that I can only sell for $1000, unless it literally needs no work at all, and I’ve never experienced that. I’m absolutely not paying ANYTHING for equipment I haven’t carefully inspected.