Affording a spaceship?

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by dcarson

An obsolete ship can often go for a lot less the it would cost to build.

Well, the issue isn't really what that ship would cost to build, but what a ship of comparable capacity would cost to build -- the value of a merchant ship is basically the amount of money you can make off of that ship (prorated for time) -- so anything that increases the operating costs of the ship or reduces its expected lifespan also reduces its value. If the extra upkeep on an old ship exceeds the interest payments on a new ship, it's basically valueless -- except that realistically different people have different interest rates. If a new ship has operating costs of $100,000/month, and an old ship has operating costs of $200,000/month, a company with a good credit rating that would pay $80,000/month in interest on a new ship prefers a new ship, but a disreputable organization that would have to pay $120,000/month in interest prefers the older ship, as long as they can get it for less than $20,000/month in interest. Also, since insurance/self-insurance costs are based on current value, the old ship is useful to send on risky trips, which is exactly the sort of thing PCs specialize in.