There are actually several of these on ebay right now with prices all over the place. I decided to see if any had sold recently. Only one did and it sold for $375.
The basic reason for this is that it is a piece of industrial equipment designed for institutional use. All those institutions have massive liability in the event of accidents. Buying this type of equipment from anything less than a reputable dealer is simply an unacceptable risk in the event that something happens.
I was thinking about what non-profits might have a use for this and I would bet there are very few. Perhaps theaters with overhead rigging? It's a pretty tough sell.
I'll bet Curtis' theatre is a non-profit
The cost of the product has almost nothing to do with the value of its material components or manufacturing cost. It's almost entirely in the cost of the liability.
They can make 10,000 of these. If 1 fails, they will lose the profits from the 10,000.
dean1484 said:
Is the tax benefit used to lower your taxable income or does it come off the bottom line? The format means you only will get the percent of the retail cost of the item based on your tax bracket. The latter is much better as you get the full value against your tax to be paid or increases your refund.
Don't get me wrong. Donating it is a great thing but you will only realize somewhere in the $250 - $800. The lower your tax bracket the less you will actually see back to you in the form of actual cash value when "taking it off your taxes" as a donation.
We donate thousands from my household every year, and the tax benefit is nearly zero to me. If I sold this thing, a large portion of the dollars would go to my church, and maybe some brake lines for the truck. I really doubt that anyone who would actually use this would be an organization accepting donations anyway.
In reply to tuna55 (Forum Supporter) :
I spoke to my company. No takers here. Sorry.
