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How much does everything depreciate?
The instinct when selling something used is to knock off a round number — "half off, that seems fair." It almost never is. Different things lose value in completely different shapes, and knowing the shape for your item is the difference between leaving money on the table and scaring off every buyer.
Depreciation isn't a straight line. Most goods follow the same three-part story: a sharp drop the moment the item becomes "used," a gentler decline year over year, and a floor where the item stops losing value and holds whatever residual worth it has left. What changes from category to category is how steep each part is.
The quick map
Here's how the major categories behave. The "first-year drop" is roughly what an item loses in its first year of use; the "yearly decline" is what it sheds each year after that; the "floor" is the share of original retail it tends to hold onto long-term.
| Category | First-year drop | Yearly decline | Floor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electronics | ~30% | ~25% | 10% |
| Vehicles | ~20% | ~15% | 15% |
| Furniture | ~45% | ~10% | 15% |
| Clothing | ~60% | ~15% | 5% |
| Tools | ~20% | ~8% | 30% |
| Luxury / designer | ~25% | ~5% | 40% |
Electronics: steep and unforgiving
Consumer electronics depreciate faster than almost anything else, and not because they wear out — because they get superseded. Each new model resets what buyers will pay for the old one, so the calendar hurts you more than the scratches do. Sell before the next generation launches, not after. Our used electronics calculator factors in the steep curve and lets you adjust for battery health and condition.
Vehicles: the drive-off-the-lot drop
Cars lose around 20% in year one and about 15% of their remaining value each year after, flattening out around years five to seven. That first-year cliff is exactly why buying a two- or three-year-old car is such good value. Mileage matters nearly as much as age — something our vehicle calculator flags directly. We break the car curve down in detail here.
Furniture: a big hit, then a long plateau
Furniture takes a hard first-year hit — around 45% — because buyers know it can't be returned and has been used. But after that it declines slowly, and solid-wood or designer pieces can hold value for years. Construction is everything: flat-pack particleboard bottoms out fast, while hardwood and recognized brands beat the curve. The furniture calculator has a demand slider for exactly this.
Clothing: the steepest first-year drop
Everyday clothing loses more value on first wear than any other category — often 60% or more — and holds almost nothing long-term. The exceptions are dramatic: designer bags, limited sneakers, and archival pieces can hold value or appreciate, behaving more like luxury goods than clothing. For ordinary items, price to move.
Tools: the quiet value-holders
Quality hand and power tools are among the best value-retainers you can own. They don't go obsolete, good brands are built to last, and there's steady demand from tradespeople and hobbyists. A well-known brand in working order rarely drops below about 30% of retail, and premium names hold more.
Luxury and designer: a different game
Genuine luxury goods — established watch and handbag brands, certain jewelry — barely follow depreciation logic at all. Strong brands, scarcity, and collector demand mean a well-kept piece can hold 40% or more indefinitely, and the rarest pieces appreciate. If you're selling here, treat any calculator as a floor and check recent sold listings for your specific model.
The thing almost everyone forgets
Whatever the category, there's one adjustment that works in your favor: the sales tax you already paid. A private buyer pays no tax, so comparing your price to the item's after-tax retail cost — not the sticker — justifies a smaller discount than buyers expect. We wrote a whole guide on using this in negotiations.
The short version: match your discount to the curve your item is actually on, not a round number that feels fair.
Ready to put a number on yours? Run it through the calculator — pick your category and it applies the right curve automatically.