On Thursday, October 25, 2018 at 9:34:34 AM UTC-4, Roy B. wrote:
I suspect that another part of the problem is that the return on investment for refinishing is not dollar for dollar. In my experience, a quality refinish (and I have seen some good ones from both domestic and foreign shops) only adds about 60% or so of the cost to the sale value of the glider. So using Hank's figures of $27K for a refinish of a beat out 15m glider - if you start with a $20K glider you spend $27K to get a glider worth about $35K when done. Unless it's a glider that you really love, it doesn't make sense to pay to have it done. A lower cost option would really help the fleet.
ROY (who refinished a 20m glider at home - and is, of course, now divorced)

I think your numbers are pretty much spot on. I don't completely agree with the conclusion. If one buys an older glider at about the right price and has it refinished, it will cost more than it will draw on the market, but the owner has a nice glider to use for a long time to come without worrying about it becoming a complete rat. There is real value in that. The only way we have gotten our money out of refinishes was by doing them on project gliders that start as owner modified from the insurance company.
If it were possible to just buy old gliders, pay somebody to refinish them, and sell them for more than you have in them, everybody would be doing that.