Ask HN: How do you decide something is worth buying?
Let's say you want to buy something expensive, how do you determine whether it is worth it?
Personal hobby type items, I'll research for weeks or more. I also enjoy the analytical process of understanding needs/wants and learning the product area. At some point, I'll converge on something that seems the most suitable for my priorities. Or sometimes one of my top picks will get big discount. I'm usually very happy with my purchase, partly from bonding during the process. Often I'll stop using it after a number of months. I never regret my purchases. I should sell things off when I know I won't use them but I'm either I'm lazy or sentimental (not sure which). [I have a VW & Yamaha collecting dust in the garage right now. I decided I wanted each before they were available in my country.]
1. I put it on a note with the current date.
2. I set an arbitrary date that is 1 day / $100 OR 30 days (depending on which is shorter)
3. I revisit the prospective purchase in my head until the deadline and ask "Do I still want this"
4. I purchase on the deadline
Judging value: Customer reviews and corporate manufacturing practices and corporate political stance
If I crash my car I have about 2 weeks to make a decision about replacing it because I can't expect the insurance to pay for a rental car forever. My family has one car and we live on a farm, so it is not a decision of "do I want to buy a car or a particular car?" but rather a process that privileges expediency as opposed to cost.
I know families that have 3 or 4 cars and trucks and they are never in a hurry to buy a car, they take advantage of sales and it is a different experience.
A retired agronomic economist who owned the building I worked in bought a Corvette for $30,000 (at least half off) during the 2008 crash because the Chevy dealer needed the cash and he didn't.
Sometimes you have to strike when the iron is hot in a case like that and that is what I do with the camera lenses. I almost always buy used and refurbished and I know if I wait long enough I will get a good deal.