the advantages of used surfboards

When I walk into a surf shop (which for the sake of clarification is store that retails surfboards, fins, wetsuits but not necessarily clothes and the like branded as surfwear) I walk through all the items that most people consider and that make surf shops economy viable to the actual items that people who ride waves are interested in - to the board rack and particularly the used board rack. For the used board rack is most valuable square footage in a surf shop to those who ride waves. Here you find the most financially advantageous products on offer. Here you find items that will you help get outside and exercise and get a little vitamin d for the lowest price. Here you find a little magic nugget for half the price of the shiny new model. Here are a few reasons you should seek to limit yourself to parousing the used boards at your shop.
1. Economics.
A surfboard is a highly depreciating asset. Like an automobile its value drops exponentially when you put it in your truck ( or for the uber enlightened, the minivan). One of the poorest decisions a beginning wave rider can make is the brand new board. Just as foolish as the teenager being given a new high performance automobile is a new wave rider buying a highly refined piece of equipment that he/she doesn't even have the capacities to use. (Who hasn't done it?) But if you get that board from the used rack it was just was financial decision, no matter what capacities exist. In addition if you buy rightly you will lose little or no money on trading it in. E.g. bought a used (barely noticiable) high end thruster ( see pic). Surfed in the appropriate conditions for a year testing the design and the construction and determined that it a little to long for my preferences and recently made an even swop for a used (again barely notifiable) 5'8 uber (yes i know ive used it twice) useful 5 fin dominator that was priced for 50 bucks more than the board I traded for it. The values escalate as one's ability to repair surfboards increase. E.g. neighbor shapes his own boards and is one of the few good ding repair guys in town. He bought a used Bing Lotus that was in excellent shape except for a crack in the glass. He was able to discern if it was cosmetic or structural and had the ability to fix it. Saved 400 bucks right there. Used boards are the ticket.
2. Emotions.
Emotions ride high on escapist enterprises like wave riding. When you pay top dollar for a new board you feel it should be a divine enabler. You feel like you should also hold back and thus you don't take off late which effects your whole wave catching mindset and results in catching less waves all together which is exactly the opposite result of you buying this toy in the first place. You treat it like its made out of glass and that is a good way not to get better. Your emotions are too involved because you bought this new board when you should have bought a used one. One wouldn't care too much when the used one got ringed and dented if was all in pursuit of the goal. That's what it was made for and besides I got it used. Emotionally used boards surf better. They are also easier for your spouse to emotionally adjust to as well. This leads us the next point.
3. Other invested parties (your spouse).
Used surfboards are better for other invested parties. Think of the differing responses in these situations...
A. "Hi, honey, why are you late? Everything alright at work?" "Yes, babe, I stopped by the surf shop and they had (a) 700 dollar tri-fin and I bought it for this upcoming hurricane season or (b) 250 dollar used trifin that will suit me fin this winter."?
B. You hear the voices of your children playing zealously come to utter silence after a thud that sounds strangely nostalgic. Would you prefer to walk into the shed/garage/room to an arrow sticking out of (a) your brand new board or (b) that sweet fixer-upper fish?
Both spouse and offspring benefit from used boards.
4. Environment. This for the green keepers but doesn't move me too much, but used board purchases keep down the demand of the anything but green materials that surfboards are made from.
5. Enlightenment (Scottish Common Sense Realism type). Not the enlightenment that begins with mushrooms and ends in bad decisions and/or bad art but the light that shines when you just make some sense in your purchase for something so trivial as a surfboard.

Two aspects make this wise use of resources difficult: (1) truly useful boards seldom end up on the used rack, especially round these more isolated east coast shops, (2) the fetish you have for that one shape that you are always trying to ride, that Achilles heel in your decision making abilities. But used boards make sense.

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