Cost of waiting FAQ

Is this the same as the upgrade cost calculator? No. That one compares buying against keeping for the whole ownership period. This one prices the delay between deciding and acting.

Why is resale decay counted as a cost if I never sell? Because the value is consumed by time either way. Selling converts it to cash; keeping converts it to use. The calculator makes the trade visible rather than hiding it.

What if the next model is cheaper? Enter a lower price and the price component becomes zero; the page does not credit you for a price drop, because it would flatter waiting.

Should I include extended warranty costs? Yes, as part of the annual repair figure. A warranty converts unpredictable repairs into a fixed premium, and the premium is real money.

How far out can I model? The arithmetic works for any horizon, but past about twelve months the resale estimate becomes guesswork. Treat long horizons as directional, not precise.

Does waiting ever come out free? Only when the machine holds its value and needs no repairs. That happens with collector items and almost nothing else.

Why does the per-month figure matter more than the total? Because a total is easy to dismiss as a one-off. A monthly figure is comparable to things you already pay for, which makes the trade legible.

Does waiting for a sale count as waiting? Yes, and the arithmetic is the same: resale value drops every month whether or not you are waiting for a price cut. A sale has to beat the decay plus repairs to be worth waiting for, and on a two-year-old machine it usually does not.

What if I need a working machine this week? Then the cost of waiting is not the interesting number; downtime is. The calculator prices a deliberate delay, not an emergency. If the current machine cannot do the work, the decision is already made and the tool only tells you what the delay would have cost.

Is this the same as depreciation? Related but not identical. Depreciation is the value loss over the machine's whole life. The cost of waiting is the slice of that loss that happens during the specific months you delay, plus everything else that moves in those months.

Why not just compare prices? Because the price you pay is not the only thing that changes. Between today and the next launch, your current machine loses value and may need repairs. A price comparison shows none of that, which is why waiting looks free when it is not.