Does modding a light affect its long term value?

tobrien

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So I've been wondering about this a good bit lately: does modifying a flashlight have an impact on its value?

Like, if I have a flashlight that actually has value to begin with and, say, install a McClicky, bore the body, mod the head, etc. will that affect the value it has as time goes on?

What are your thoughts, CPF? Would you spend more for a flashlight that may technically be a collector's item if it was modified (in such a way that enhanced it) than you would if it was in completely factory form?

The thing that prompted me to ask this is because I have some good looking Surefire C2 hosts that I would like to mod, but at the same time, I'd like to keep as much value associated with them as possible. What are your opinions everyone?
 

RI Chevy

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That's a tough question. I think some would, and some would not. The Surefire collector's want genuine, stock, OEM un- modded lights. I personally would not mod a light that already has significant value. I would only mod my cheaper junk. Like say a Solarforce or some of the other brand names along those lines. Not much cost up front, and probably not much cost or value after, just a good user light. That is my 2 cents, and I'm sticking to it. ; :)
 

Etsu

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This may be a naive question, but do flashlights actually hold their value, or go up in value significantly enough to make it a worthwhile investment?

I can perhaps understand specific items being of value; e.g., those owned by famous people or used in famous situations. I assumed that the vast majority of lights would drop in value over time, eventually becoming almost worthless, or eventually becoming so old they're antiques and might be worth something only because they're really old stuff. But, I'm not a collector of anything.
 

dc38

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That's a tough question. I think some would, and some would not. The Surefire collector's want genuine, stock, OEM un- modded lights. I personally would not mod a light that already has significant value. I would only mod my cheaper junk. Like say a Solarforce or some of the other brand names along those lines. Not much cost up front, and probably not much cost or value after, just a good user light. That is my 2 cents, and I'm sticking to it. ; :)

^this! If you mod for functionality, apparent value might go down even if capital was invested for the mod. If you keep a light stock for collection/monetary value, it has little practical value.
 

calipsoii

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Up to you. Lots of people keep safe queens in the hopes of flipping them for a profit later, but there's no guarantee they'll be worth anything. A quick search of eBay should tell you how many C2 hosts are up for sale at any given time - your light is worth whatever those ones are worth and if there are 100 of them for sale, that's probably not much.

I prefer to use whatever I buy even if it means I can't sell it as 'mint' in the future. I consider scuffs and dings signs that the tool got used and abused and lived a full happy life.

I expect quite a few collectors would have an aneurysm if they knew which light was scraping against which knife in my pocket right now. :p
 

reppans

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Consider warranty as well - that and customer service are important purchase points to me. A modded light with a void warranty kinda offsets for me.
 

Esko

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^this! If you mod for functionality, apparent value might go down even if capital was invested for the mod. If you keep a light stock for collection/monetary value, it has little practical value.

I believe this is how it goes. If the buyer is interested in functional value, well thought modding will increase the value. If the buyer is interested in collecting value, modding will probably decrease it. If the mod was carried out by a well known and recognized modder like Vinh, things might be different though.
 

novice

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It depends on the light, and it's scarcity. I do think things over before I will consider voiding SF's warranty. Even though the C2 has been discontinued, it's never going to be truly "rare". If I was offered a NIP one at a borderline-steep price, and a bored example at a much more economical price, I would take the bored one every time. That's just me. I bought a gen3 and gen5 SF L1 light each at a good price after they were discontinued. The performance of both left much to be desired, especially the gen 5's beam quality. I sent them both to Milkyspit to be modded, and never looked back. Both are brighter on high, are HCRI, and have much, much better beam quality, which makes me more likely to use them. It may not always make "economic sense" to mod some lights, but if you want to use the light, and you know you will enjoy the experience more with a mod, then you may want to do it anyway. The U2 is a great light, right off the shelf, but I can't help but wonder how it would be to have the beam brighter and warmer, and able to attach a FiveMega 1x8650 extender without burning it out, in order to double the runtime on 2x18650.
 

jorn

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This may be a naive question, but do flashlights actually hold their value, or go up in value significantly enough to make it a worthwhile investment?

I can perhaps understand specific items being of value; e.g., those owned by famous people or used in famous situations. I assumed that the vast majority of lights would drop in value over time, eventually becoming almost worthless, or eventually becoming so old they're antiques and might be worth something only because they're really old stuff. But, I'm not a collector of anything.
They can be a investment. if you buy the right stock :) Once upon a time I bought a liteflux lf2xt for around 70-80$ if i remember correctly. Now used ones goes for 2-300$. The "modded" ones with titanium bodys and trits are even more expensive. have seen them up towards 1000$, if "modded" the right way :) Im not selling mine. ever. Well maby if a stock beat up one reaches 1000$ value :)
 

cland72

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I think the type of work you have done can either increase or decrease the resale value of the light. For example, boring a 6P-BK for 18650 would probably increase it's price in the MP. However, take a 6P-GM, strip off the anodising & stuff 20 tritium vials in the body and it's lost resale compared to what it would've fetched in stock form.

I think boring, installing a mcclicky switch, and adding a bezel ring are about the best bang for the buck you can get when modding a P60 Surefire. Any more than that and you're probably going to lose money when you go to resale.
 

TEEJ

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Has anyone tried to sell a light lately? I don't think it really matters. ;)

People sell lights every day (Look in CPF marketplace)

:D

Looking at the marketplace for example, its easy to see that the much vaunted surefires, etc, do not work as investments, as they pretty much sell for less than what people bought them for.

There may be some rare exceptions - but, I don't see profit being made on stock or modded lights.



From what I can see, beauty is in the eye of the beholder...and the new lights, for the most part, outperform the old lights...making the old lights less valuable.

So the modded lights and the stock lights, proportionally, seem to sell for less than their cost...and the more recent the light's sale is to its current available version, the more it sells for. A popular light that is out of stock/too hard to find...selling used, will tend to get the best price as its in demand. HDS, etc, can be in that category.

Lights are more like cars, in that they mostly depreciate...and if you are "Investing" in them, you will not do as well as if you chose some other standard financial instruments, such as a mutual fund, etc.






I would recommend buying what you like, and modding it the way you want it, and don't worry about resale value. The modded stuff GENERALLY sells for MORE than the stock versions of the same lights, as the mods tend to make them worth more. As mentioned, mods that improve performance tend to be in most demand...as performance drives the market.

As for warranty, I have never actually had a modded light NEED warranty work, as the mods I get tend to IMPROVE the reliability (potting, etc) and make the light LESS likely to fail, etc.

If I get something from Vinh or other good modder, they would make it right anyway...so, really, I don't feel vulnerable about the reliability of modded stuff.


So, modding DOES affect a light's long term value, by generally INCREASING its long term value....but I would never call the process an investment.

:D
 

PoliceScannerMan

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I know they sell everyday, was just pointing out the light market is tough these days. Real tough. :D

Modded or not, the days of profiting at least seem to be over. There are very few exceptions.
 

RI Chevy

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The market is flooded with lots of lights. It is a buyers market, not a sellers market. With very few exceptions. ;)
 

ChrispyCritter

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I would think it would depend somewhat on how well the mod was done and if people liked the way the light works/looks...
 

hank

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well, I have an unmodified Arc LS First Run (#1685), with etc. battery cases, but I'm not counting on that for my retirement nest egg ...
 

nbp

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I know they sell everyday, was just pointing out the light market is tough these days. Real tough. :D

Modded or not, the days of profiting at least seem to be over. There are very few exceptions.

This is so true. Even rare Customs are hard to move. I withdrew a light from the Custom BST recently when I realized that to sell it I was probably going to have to lose $200 off what I paid for it. I wasn't ready to do that yet. Maybe it's just that for whatever reason values were hyper inflated a couple years ago and this is the "normal" price point, but either way, I don't really see them as a great "investment" strategy. You might get back what you paid for it, but you are unlikely to make money on them anymore, as PSM noted above.
 

Z-Tab

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I think boring Surefires makes them a bit more desirable, since there's virtually no chance that the body will be the point of failure. This obviously changes if you're dealing with a collector, but that's only really significant if the light is already desirable for its rarity or some unique quality. There are so many 6Ps out there that basically any mod you do will increase its value.

The market is tough, which I think is partly just a function of Xmas and a bit of retail hangover. It should pick up when people start getting their tax returns. I make a real effort to only ever buy lights when I find great deals on them, since I do cycle through a lot of lights and I prefer to avoid losing more than 10% on resale.

The market for very expensive lights is a bit different because a lot of high-end older customs have been outdone in every category by current lights, so many lights are too dated to be particularly desirable to anybody. The LF2XT is an interesting counter-example, since it seems that no manufacturers are willing to make a AAA clicky, regardless of the fact that it has clearly been the most underserved segment of the market for years.
 
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