Sell threshold

I talked before about a 'buy', or 'cost per wear threshold' as a criteria I use to decide whether or not I should buy something - my buy threshold is a cost per wear of $1.

So, how do I decide whether or not sell something? 

Sometimes it's very easy to let something go, especially when I'm getting the price I want for it, but what about the times when I know the price I can get for it, may not be worth letting go? Of course it's easy to reason that I should sell it because I'm not using it anyway, it will free up space for something that I love now, and something is better than nothing, but when you love bags as much as I do, it's hard. 

I went through this again on Sunday when sold my Coach Poppy Madras for $30. I originally listed it for $45 on Friday night, and decided that I wanted a quick sale instead of waiting it out. What made me decide to let it go for so low? I decided that for the period of time that it was in my possession, and how many times I used it, less the amount I will recoup from it, I was worth it.  

I purchased it in 2012 on sale for $79 (original price is $158) and during that time, I used it for a recorded 17 times since 2014 when I started to keep track. If I sell it for $30, then I 'bought' it for $49. The breakdown cost per wear of that is $2.88. For me to hit $1 cost per wear, I would have had to have used it 49 times; I know I haven't used it that much but definitely more than 17 times, so I calculated that my total cost per wear for this item is probably closer to under $2. Seeing it calculated like that helped me realize that I got good use out of the bag, and get over the emotional connection to the bag and I happily let it go. Now I'm one item less towards reaching one of my 2016 goals =)

 

Cost per wear

When I purchase something, I try to think of how often I will use it and if it seems like I will get enough use out of it, I buy it. Then I keep track of how many times I use it to see if it manages to 'pay itself off' and therefore worth its price, and worth having been purchased in the first place.

I track this through cost-per-wear and it's the price I paid, divided by how many times I use it. When do I consider something to be a good purchase? My cost-per-wear threshold is $1 per wear during its 'life span' (it might be different for everyone) - once I've used something enough to hit that target, I deem it a successful purchase!

This also tells me how long it takes me to use an item before it's worth it and through other factors (listed in my previous post about my tracking categories), tell me whether the value/quality of the item is holding up as it goes through the time it takes to meet my cost-per-wear.

The data also helps me see that I really don't need as much as I used to have because I really do only use very little of my wardrobe, constantly, and it helps me to buy less and thoroughly enjoy each item.