What is it about people that makes them think that their particular ownership of something actually adds to its value?   I mean, let’s face it, you buy something, then walk out of the shop with it either physically or metaphorically, and the item you bought is then second hand.   How can you having owned it, whether for a week or a couple of years add value? You want a few examples?   See below. __________ https://www.gumtree.com/p/benelli-motorbikes/benelli-motorcycle-500cc/1363394750 This optimistic seller obviously doesn’t believe in depreciation.   She is selling her two year old Benelli TRK500, a bike falling into the adventure touring category.   It hasn’t seen too much adventure since it has only covered 1246 miles in its two years on the road.   She is looking for £5600 for it.   So what is the problem? Brand new ones are currently on offer for £4499 plus on the road costs.   That is a whopping £11...

This article is aimed mostly at motorcyclists/ bikers, (choose your own epithet).   Bottom line; we do not use our bikes.   OK, so there are exceptions to every rule, and there are undoubtedly people out there who clock up vast mileages on bikes every year, but just look at the evidence. Gumtree (https://www.gumtree.com/) is probably the most commonly used for sale site for bikes in the UK.   There are problems with crunching data taken from it, like sellers who record their mileage as 18 rather than 18,000 miles, or the occasional want ads with completely duff data, but I think we can still get some sort of idea about what we do with our bikes from looking at what is for sale on Gumtree.   The following comments are based on bikes for sale on Gumtree on Wednesday 18 th April 2019.   The table below gives the basics. Tot bikes for sale Over 80,000 miles Over 10 years Over 10 years and under 15,000 miles Nor...