Thoughts on how long it takes to pay for a new detector.

A month ago I broke down and treated myself to a new detector, a White’s DFX top of the line.  Last week I was using it out in the woods and afterwards a fellow asked me how I had done.  I told him I found 12¢, which I had.  “Is it worth it?” he asked.  I mumbled something about being out in the air and sunshine and he went on his way. 

But his question made me think.  It had been 32 years since I bought my previous – and still good – set, a Compass Coin Magnum.  Dividing the $1600 paid for the DFX, a large coil, etc., into 32 years, it comes out to $50 a year.  That’s pretty inexpensive for a hobby.  But that wasn’t the figure I wanted. 

The next day after my DFX outing a lady walking a dog asked me the same question, did I find anything.  Quite coincidently I had found the same amount – 12¢.  But this time I had done a little head figuring beforehand and my reply was, “The time it will take to pay off my detector at the rate I’m going - 133 years.  133 years spent out in the fresh air and sunshine – priceless.”  She smiled, recalling the current commercial, and I went on my way.  But that still wasn’t the answer I wanted.

I continued thinking about the fellow’s comment, “Is it worth it?”  What was the answer I was looking for?  Overnight the answer hit me --- how much would I be willing to pay to rent the same machine for the same outing?

The criteria I used were a four hour treasure hunting time period once a week, and searching at my usual spot in typical weather conditions.  In those circumstances I figure I’d be willing to pay $5 an hour to rent the detector.  That’s $20 for an afternoon, which I think is reasonable. 

The next, and perhaps most important part, is: how soon will I pay for my detector?  Based on $5 an hour rental fee, I figured:

$5 divided into $1600 equals 320 hours to pay for machine.  Then 4 hours a week divided into 320 hours equals 80 weeks or just about a year and a half before I pay for my detector.  Say two years to make up for weather, etc.

In my case I’m happy figuring I’ll pay for my machine in two years and anything after that is gravy.  (I figure I’ll get another new machine in another 32 years, probably for my 100th birthday.)

If you think my method makes any sense take a minute and decide on what you’d be willing to pay to rent a detector.  Maybe $2 and hour is all you can afford or want to pay.  Or maybe you’re in a high stress occupation or perhaps only able to squeeze in a couple hours detecting a month, and it would be worth $50 an hour to get out in the field with your machine for a while.  Each of us will have our own set of figures and other values. 

-Jim Lyons

Many hobbies cost tons with no hope of getting your money back. 4Wheeling, fishing ($40,000Bass boats), sailing, etc. With a metal detector theres always hope.  You could actually be in the black with one find.

[Goldfinger]

How long does it take a set of golf clubs or a pair of skis to pay themselves off?  Though, I guess if you're good and play $5 a hole . . .

I figure if I hit nothing but parks two Saturdays a month I could pay off another detector in under five years on just the clad.  But then it would be like work so why do it?  Luckily, I pay cash usually so my equipment is always paid for already.

I just dropped $1,400 on the engine (26cc chainsaw engine, tee hee), smoke system, balsa & other wood, servos, receiver, batteries and covering for a 72" biplane kit for radio control.  Probably going to take 18 months to build it.  That ain't never going to pay itself off and could be worth $0 in a heartbeat.

I bought a 79.95 Bounty Hunter in 1986.....hopefully I will have it paid off this year.......Of course it quit working in 1991 

But seriously.....it doesnt matter ....because the hours that I spend out in nature....detecting with my daughters....the adventures .....the joy we get from digging up history ...and the friends that I have made through detecting.....  is worth more than I will ever pay for any detector....

Since i have 2 detectors  that cost 3000 total plus my gas,batteries ect...i doubt i will ever pay for my detectors.
      But the thrill of the old stuff i find and the great people i have met  and become friends with is priceless.
       Happy hunting and good luck!!!

 Well, I have had pretty good luck then over the years with paying off detectors. My first unit, a Heathkit, was somewhere in the $69.00 range. I was lucky enough to find a 10k ring w/small diamond ( my first ) and it netted me $75.00. My next one was a Whites coinmaster 2D @ $169.95+- , that helped me find thousands of regular coins,hundreds of silver coins, and a dozen or so gold rings. That silver was sold later during the silver boom @ $24.00 on the dollar, (on just 1 trip to the coin shop I turned in $30.00 in silver at face value).

 Of course, I lived right on the coast where I took advantage of all those winter storms with flood tides and massive beach erosion. We would find 200+ coins per night during and after storms in the winter months. My best night, if I remember right was 250 coins in about 4 hrs. That is a lot of digging, over 1 coin per minute, but in that instance every signal was a coin and it was clean beach sand. Me and my buddy were going nuts digging. The coins had been classified by the wave actions and deposited at the apex of the slope. The area was approx. 10 feet wide. What stunned us afterwards was the fact that we were only able to work a relatively small amount of that area, given the fact that the beach we were on, ( Old Orchard Beach, Maine ), is 7 miles long. Boggles the mind.

 Man, I talk to much! Sorry, but I just love it!  I am going to try to find some of my old log sheets and post some of those hunts here.  One of my best hunts in memory was finding 7 rings ( 1 silver & 6 gold ) in a 2 hr. period at Kennebunk Beach, Maine. 

 Been lucky enough to have paid for all mine, except for my CZ5, which I am finally starting to use after a 5 yr. lull, since moving to WV

.......HH

I could prolly sell all my relics and pay for both my outfits. 

But I will never get payed for the time I spend researching, the gas money for my V-10 pickup, the batteries, and the time I spen detecting.

I always knew it was a hobby that would not literally "pay for itself" because I keep all my finds ('cept the clad). 

Having said that... the hobby to me is priceless, so I'll keep spending.   

took me 18-19 months to pay off a 1000 dollar machine
i had incentive the GF was pissed off to high heaven that i bought it so
had to earn it back on the fly   

But seriously.....it doesnt matter ....because the hours that I spend out in nature....detecting with my daughters....the adventures .....the joy we get from digging up history ...and the friends that I have made through detecting.....  is worth more than I will ever pay for any detector....

Gypsy says it well.

I started years ago with one detector and was happy if I found enough to pay for the batteries that thing ATE.  I used to bass fish, then fished tournaments, became a field tester for a manufacturer and had to miss some work to fish tournaments.  All to the tune of $$$$.  But when I took up detecting, I stopped the tournaments, sold the bass boat, some tackle, etc.  I became happy with finding a Wheatie in the dirt that I had to chop out of the frozen ground.  Soon I had a few more detectors because I was happy learning the machines as much as I was finding stuff.  When I got into water hunting is when I knew I had found my true love.  I've made some fantastic finds over the years.  When you divide the time spent detecting by the amount found, you learn it's not about the money.  It's because we find money that people think that's all there is to it and the only reason we'd spend our time looking like a nerd on the beach or park.

I try not to think about how much money is involved in MD'ing.Detecting gives my wife and I (soon my daughter to) a wonderful hobby to be a part of together and every time her or I make a discovery weather it be a dog tag or a gold ring we both find that wonderful satisfaction. While we are out MD'ing we only have two things on our minds, Enjoying the nature, and the hopes of making a great find all the while spending quality time with my family. This allows the stress of day to day life, bills, etc. to be long forgotten and in my eyes you can't put a price on that. Not to mention if I wasn't a MD'er I wouldn't be here shootin the breeze with all you lovely TH'ers

Is it worth it ??

Yeah, definately a question that needs to be answered in more than monetary terms. I picked up this hobby last sept. and it has been one of the best decisions I have made. Before I got an MD, I had no idea what a half-dime was (take THAT "iceberg"). And since, the camaderie and companionship that this hobby has brought about have been so much more valuable than anything measured in ounces. I have grow much closer to a friend I now refer to as my huntin' buddy, and I have learned more about the areas I live in and near than pretty much anybody, except the people at the hist society, maybe. I hope this summer to be able to take a few days hiatus and get out and meet some of my fellow TN'ers, because nothing is more valuable than new friendships. Yes, it was worth it.

if your looking at cost your looking at the wrong thing. The machine is cheap but the labor will kill eat  up everything you find. You  would need to find at least 80.00 to 100.00 a day to make it worth it  money wise.But if you look at it as only a hobby with no cost to worry about then the .12 an fresh air is a good day out.

I do hunt parks, but I am primarily a beach hunter, the fresh air, the exercise, the sound of the surf rolling in, the moon and stars when I'm hunting at night, the solitude and stress release, and of course the eye candy during the summer days are all "rewards" that I get from my detecting experience.....The jewelry and coins are just extras.

Mine have paid for theirselves as far as I am concerned................Now my wife would probably disagree, but then again I don't have 50+ pairs of shoes and 25+ hand bags. 

There is not too much left to say. It has all been said in the above posts.

I look at it this way. What other hobby pays for itself? Over time you will earn back the $$$ you spent plus have many memories of your MD outings. That in itself is priceless.

Happy Hunting with your new DFX.

 

It took me about seven seconds to write the check and hand it over, and I haven't thought about the cost since.

It could be paid for on the next signal!!!! It might be a penny OR it could be that gold and diamond ring we always dream of. Thats what keeps me going, not how much I have spent, but the thrill of that next signal!!!!!
HH
Greg

In theory, You could buy a top of the line detector

Swing it once, Get a signal, Dig a hole, And pay
for it & a new home. all within 30 seconds.

    Just dig the Right Signal.
     

You could also, in theory, Buy a Top of the line detector
at an Auction for $10.00 & Never pay for it.

  Just never swing over the right spots.
  (SUPER BAD LUCK)

Bought My Sovereign in 99 & paid for it twice in Cash
I'v made & probably 3 more times If I were to sell everything
I ever found.

It took me about seven seconds to write the check and hand it over, and I haven't thought about the cost since.

Let's see here. It took one swipe of the credit card to buy my sovereign.....if i pay minimum payment maybe 15 years

I figure it is going to take me two years!  I am very motivated and I will get it done!  Once it is paid for I will use profit to buy new detectors/equipment. I don't need the money and never thought of getting rich from it.  But I know it is supposed to be for fun, but I have this driving force and plenty of areas loaded with clad!   Then I think it will be more fun for me once it is paid for.  I am planning on $450 in clad this year, had almost $100, in just a few months last year.  And like everyone else said....one swing and you might hit a home run!

Nope.  Nonsense to me.  I would never knowingly rent a detector.  So I figure I better get my butt moving and dig up more clad......sell my silver and win the lotto, because, a DFX is out of the question for me ;)  With all the clad I have and the nice silver I have dug up, I am about half way through my BH......from nine months ago...I gotta stay outta the woods ;)

Every detector I've bought, I paid for with finds from my detectors.  I also search beaches almost exclusively and hunt for coins and jewelery.  I'm not into relics, even though some are very valuable.

My first Detector, a surfmaster PI, i took out as a demo, found a ring after about 2 hours, cashed it in and brought the cash to the dealer.  He gave me a great deal on the detector i demoed.

When I bought my DFX, it was after about 2 years of sporadic use with the surfmaster PI.  Every other weekend at the beach, maybe...

My Excalibur was paid for by my DFX after about 2 weeks.  (I got REAAALLY lucky one day).

It all comes down to how much you use the detector, how well you know it, and where you search.  If you're not in an area where there are/were lots of people, your chances for finding coins are less.  but the more you use it, the more you will find.  Remember, that if you use your detector once or twice a month, it is going to take a lot longer to "pay" for it than if you hit the beach every day.

steve

I have a DFX™ E-Series Metal Detector and at $1099.95. I cleared 19.44 last year plus some silver so I will round it to 20.00 just for easy math. so that means that it would take me 55 years.  I hope to hunt so long. ;)

for me personally.....if I want to spend time in the outdoors and sunshine..id rather be riding my ATV then walking with a detector and swinging it constantly and then diggin up holes that will more times then not, yield something that nots very valuable. I have no problem in admitting that I only bought my detector because I want to find valuables and hope those valuables give a good return on my investment of the detector.  I dont expect to pay for the detctor in one day or one week with these finds..but I do expect eventually those finds will recoup the cost of the machine.

Im all for fresh air and sunshine...but digging holes only to find pull tabs with my metal detector is not my ideal way of being in the outdoors....

for me, there is a monetary driving force to this hobby and if that driving force is not met in a reasonable amount of time and energy, I will more then likely sell my detector and spend more time songwriting/recording, 4 wheeling, weightlifintg..radio control planes..etc.....

digging thousands of holes only to be rewarded with rusty nails and uselss pulltabs just wont cut it for me..

im just replying honestly  ;)

Just my opinion, but we all hope to hit the big one. Just some of us don't really mind if we don't. We just keep detecting with that hope always in the back of our minds. All in all its still lots of fun, and beat's sitting home on the couch watching T.V. 24 hours a day.

Oh and rumme...
I see you have other areas that you talk about making your money back on your investment.
Keep me posted and give me a good price quote 

ummm. scuse my newbieness, but isn't the whole point of a hobby not to make money, after all if i used my hobbies to make money, they cease being hobbies, and begin being JOBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ummm. scuse my newbieness, but isn't the whole point of a hobby not to make money, after all if i used my hobbies to make money, they cease being hobbies, and begin being JOBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

not IMHO.....one of the major driving factors to get people into metal detecting is the possibility of them finding valuables that are worth MONEY.....

just look at the Whites brand T.V commercials or any advertisement for metal detectors...almost all of them will talk about the dectectors ability to find coins, jewlery, gold, silver,etc......

so let me ask everyone this....would yous consider doing this hobby so intensely if the detectors you purchased advertised their  products like this :

"  purchase our metal detectors for the sole purpose of getting out in the enviroment and digging holes because our detectors are only capable of finding/identifying worthless rusty nails and pulltabs, these detctors will not identify any valuable coins, jewlery or metals " ...

If the above statement applied to all metal detectors, how many on this site would still be so admant about purchasing a detector and spending countless hours each week swinging it and digging holes and buying batteries and wasting gas to drive to detecting sites ?

lets be honest here.....

I would.
How much money does your ATV'ing pay you?

..If your answer is: I do it because I enjoy it.... than you figured it out.

I would.
How much money does your ATV'ing pay you?

..If your answer is: I do it because I enjoy it.... than you figured it out.

but arent you comparing apples to oranges ?

when a person decides to purchase a ATV...those ATVS are not marketed to people for their ability to possibly find gold,silver,jewlry,coins..etc....they are marketed to people who want to ride a vehicle in the outdoors and use for camping, hunting,etc....

metal detectors on the other hand, are marketed to people with the marketing directed towards the possibility of a person finding valuables...

IMHO...the amount of metal dectetors sold and people involved in the hobby would drop enourmously if these metal detectors advertised that all you could ever find with them would be junk, rusty nails or pulltabs..

I find it difficult to beleive that if people wanted exercies and fresh air so badly..they would be willingto sepnd hundreds or thousands of dollars on a detector that was incapable of finding anything valuable and demanded that its user/s dig holes , many inches deep, over and over and over again only to know 100% of the time they would only find useless and invaluable junk...

it boils down to common sense really..and honesty...

if peopel are claiming they only do it for the exercise and could care less about finding anyhting thats valuable, then why spend so much money on a metal detctor in the 1st place ?   Just purchase a $5 garden trowel and dig holes in parks, school yards,etc...you would then get that exercise you wanted and not even have to spend money on a detector...

common sense.....

and for anyone on here that keeps claiming they could care less about finding valuable items..please do me a favor..whenever you find anything worth money { gold,silver,jewerly, coins,etc}  send all that valuable stuff to me...Ill even pay for the postage.

Ill take a bet that I dont recieve any takers on my offer above 

common sense....

rumme
If you are in this strickly for the material things your detector will find,then,maybe just maybe,eventually you will find items you can convert to money against what your detector cost.But so many others are in it for far more riches in what it brings to us and if you are not able to understand that,I believe you will the older you get and able to see a bigger picture of life.Enjoy your hunts.

If its all about the money, you might as well sell your detector now, because you will get sick of it soon enough. As I stated me and the wife are looking to get another one, so make me a deal

RENTING a detector places too much pressure on us to make that money back.  The only detector I'd ever RENT is a water machine for a few days at the beach or an few old swimming holes on a weekend.  You can't earn a living at this hobby, and no one should expect to be reembursed for anything.  That said, it did cause me to smile big when I realized that the value of what I had found was more than the cost of my Fisher 1266-X about 10 years ago.  I've "paid" for it 5 times over by now, but I've only sold one item I found in 15 years of detectin'.  I even keep the clad to pay for detector repairs in the future. 

Regards,

Buckleboy

If its all about the money, you might as well sell your detector now, because you will get sick of it soon enough. As I stated me and the wife are looking to get another one, so make me a deal

im not sure if its " all about the money"  ..but for many people who claim they could care less about finding valuable items and just enjoy digging holes for exercise, to only find trash 100% of the time, I will stand by my opinion that this hobby would be alot less popular if no one ever found anything valuable or if they knew with 100% certainity ahead of time that all that digging, and driving { wasting gas} and buying batteries would never result in a find of some type of monetary value. ..

Metal detectors are marketed and sold largely thru the use of the marketing tactics that people may be able to find objects of monetary value. I seriously doubt the majority of people get into metal detecting with the main purpose of only wanting to get exercise without them caring at all about the possibilites of finding something valuable.  If exercise was all they wanted, they wouldnt need to spend $$$ on a metal detector . They could get exercise for free by walking, running, jumping rope, playing frisbee..etc..etc..etc....

Furthermore, anyone that continues to say they only do this for exercise and dont care about the valuables they could possibly find, then one has to ask, why would these people be buying top of the line metal detcetors that can cost over $500 or more ?  These higher end models are really only purchased because they are advertised to have the ability to possibly find MORE VALUABLE OBJECTS with  greater ease/accuraccy.  For everyone on here that says they have the highr end models but only do metal detecting for exercise, then why buy such higher end expensive model detectors ?  One could buy a $49 Bounty Hunter that still would detect metal and this would result in getting the same amount of exercise as purchasing a $900 name brand detector.

No offense to anyone on this forum, but im just not buying into alot of what is being said by certain posters. 

I will continue to wait for the offers to pour in from those people who claim they dont care about finding valuables, gold,silver,etc with their detectors. All of those people who claim this is the case, PLEASE SEND ME THOSE VALUABLES YOU FIND AND THIS WILL BE THE REAL PROOF that you dont care about those items. I admit I want them..so send them to me...no shame here. I wonder how much gold/silver / jewlery and coinage I will recieve from those on this forum that claim they dont care about those items ? 

ILL TAKE A GUESS....

Z E R O     

common sense 

I myself will be happy with my ace 250 that im ordering.  I hope to maybe pay for it someday a year or so maybe longer who knows but i like the fact that i can use it and eventually pay for it and do this hobbie for free.  I dont consider my gas, time as a pay off.  I mean when i drive to go fishing i spend money on gas, beer, food what not and dont even think twice about it.  I have a real job so i can honestly say this is mostly for the excitement of maybe finding something of value, but at the sametime if i can lose a few pounds, get out in the sun and get others to do this with me in my area then its well worth it.

I just turned 32, and i ran demolition derbies for 10 years.  I can tell you that each year i put a ton of money in a demolition derby car, 2,000 for a old 76 chevy impala or a roundback wagon, then i leaf it and redo my motors and such and weld the crap out of them.  I destroy that car to were i have to take it to the scrap yard, i only make about 40-100 bucks to make the feature and a small trophy its very very expensive hobbie but i love it to death.  I dont think about all the nickle and diming the hobbie does me.  It all adds up.  I love the sport but the reason im retiring is the cost, and people want so much for a junk car nowadays cause they know that we derby drivers will pay it.  Its just not worth spending all that money anymore.  I still love to go watch them. 

My main two hobbies i want to be from now one are fishing, and metal detecting.  Out in the freshair and and sharing my friendship with my friends.  Exercise is great and to know you might make a couple bucks doing so or find something worth thousands is just a kicker.

Thoughts on how long it takes to pay for a new detector.


I swiped the card... took about 20 seconds.

Thoughts on how long it takes to pay for a new detector.


I swiped the card... took about 20 seconds.

LOL.....now thats a g1

rumme -  I'm a total newbie to this hobby, but I was intrigued by your adamant references to the 'advertisements' and 'marketing tactics' that sell MD's.
Do I hope to find something really valuable with my little Ace 250? Heck yeah! Until (if ever) that happens, I have already been enjoying the time I've spent outdoors, in nature, getting exercise, with friends etc.. etc... and expect to continue with this hobby for years to come. It's alot better for me than sitting on my butt (oops! can I say 'butt' here?) in the casino, and it gives the same kind of thrill of anticipation as pulling that slot machine handle, for alot less money! What if I never find anything really valuable? Big deal. I've never won a jackpot on the slots, either, but it's still fun to try.
Is it just about the fresh air etc..? Not for me. It's about what I might find. Maybe not valuable monetarily, but interesting as far as who owned it? How long has it been down there? What was their life like?
  I would send you my finds if you promised that the push-pin, rusty nail, piece of copper wire, and paper clip would mean as much to you as they do to me! (what I found on my first hunt) (I couldn't take home the old rusty water pipe, 'cuz I think it was still attached to the building... lol)
I just went on my second hunt and found my first penny! Not a wheat. Not a large cent. Just a plain ol' penny. But, boy was it Fun! Now I just have about 299.99 to go to 'pay for' my machine. But the way I see it, it's almost paid for itself already because the time I'm spending researching, hunting, reading, learning, and sharing this hobby - is all time that I'm not spending in the casino, losing money!!
 And I just read on the forum about a gal (I forgot who) found a 3/4 carat diamond ring on her vacation in Florida. How cool is that!! It could happen to any of us, at any time. Another person found an old compact with a large cent in it. Excellent! I don't even know how 'valuable' a large cent would be, but think of holding in your hand something that someone had in 1892! (Or whatever the date was?)
From your posts about the advertising for MD's, I had the impression (and I know I might be mistaken) but you sound discouraged that you haven't hit that Big Find yet. Of course they advertise that we might all get rich MD'ing, but being disappointed that it hasn't happened yet is like being disappointed that buying the brand new BMW didn't help you 'get the girl'. (Or maybe it did?!! ;))
To answer the original question(what was the question?)...
I've had my machine about three weeks now, and I haven't been in the casino once since I got it, so I figure another three weeks and I will have saved enough money that I didn't blow on the slots to pay for my little Ace!

Best of Luck to everyone, and thanks for sharing all your experiences on this forum -
Kilika

Killa--WELL SAID!  Good to hear from the newbies on this topic. 

Detectin' is the only thing that keeps me sane at times, and that is priceless.

So I guess we could sum things up by saying that as long as you're financially comfortable with how much you paid for your machine and don't expect to get all of it back or "get rich quick, everything else is really quite irrelevant.

-Buckleboy

I have always been a hunter. I was raised hunting wild game on our farm. I haven't farmed in years and can't afforded to belong to a hunting club any more so I traded one kind of hunting for another. I love to hunt, if find a trophy that's great I'm still going to hunt. I never harvest a trophy deer I still hunt when invited, I never caught a trophy bass I still bass fish when I have the chance. I payed about as much for my MT as I did for my guns or fishing equipment. Sure I hope to fined that treasure we are all looking for but if I don't I'm still looking and enjoying every every hunt and I can put a price tag on none of it.

I have always been a hunter. I was raised hunting wild game on our farm. I haven't farmed in years and can't afforded to belong to a hunting club any more so I traded one kind of hunting for another. I love to hunt, if find a trophy that's great I'm still going to hunt. I never harvest a trophy deer I still hunt when invited, I never caught a trophy bass I still bass fish when I have the chance. I payed about as much for my MT as I did for my guns or fishing equipment. Sure I hope to fined that treasure we are all looking for but if I don't I'm still looking and enjoying every every hunt and I can put a price tag on none of it.

Well said.  And Welcome to the Forum.


-Buckleboy

Personally, I'd be happy metal detecting even if it never paid for itself. Fortunately thats not the case. I bought my DFX last year and while I only cashed in $87.00 in clad for the year, I'm cashing in 2.2ozs of gold to buy another detector. And thats far from what I found last year. I should get about $1,100 for the 2.2ozs of gold, and I paid $825 for my DFX.

I never planned on pay back, just enjoying myself, and I am    Its the adventure...

you must have some time on your Hands !  if all you do is have time.

[Goldfinger]

not IMHO.....one of the major driving factors to get people into metal detecting is the possibility of them finding valuables that are worth MONEY.....

lets be honest here.....

Not hardly.  If I dropped the $1,800 or so I've put in detecting in the last five years into the bank I'd be much farther ahead. 

No lie, I do it for fun.  Because I don't know what the next thing I dig may be.

Honest, I'd trade a $30 clad day at the park for one large cent in dismal shape as long as the date was legible, and I'd have zero motivation to part with that cent. 

There's a LOT of things I could do with my time that would bring in more money than detecting.  I do it for fun - honest.

I also release most of the fish I catch. 

Ask yourself this,

How much is happiness worth?

We tend to do things throughout our lives that make us happy without ever expecting reimbursement.

If ice cream makes you happy and you spend money for it do you expect it to pay for it's self?
If beer makes you happy and you spend money for it do you expect it to pay for it's self?

I know I personally bought my detector (s) for the happiness it brings me to persue the hope of finding those items lost by others (treasure hunting) regardless of the value. Not to mention the good times and bonding I have with my friends, family and children. I have this hobby in my blood, it was never taught to me and I can see it in 2 of my 3 kids. Maybe the 3rd one will enjoy it later in life but for now I don't push it and he doesn't want anything to do with it. 

I didn't buy my detector then sit down and draw up a 5 year business plan expecting reimbursement.

Don't get me wrong. I want to find the big one just as bad as the next guy but if it never happens, well, that's OK too.

HH

sparkymaster 

I paid for my first detector the second time out.  I found a big gold chain!  Being a newby I thought, "Dang, I'll get rich doing this"!  Several hundred dollars and a couple a new detectors didn't take long to prove me wrong!  Last week I went out on the only warm day in a month and when I got home my wife asked if I had found any coins.  I told her, "Of course , I found 23 cents and only burned five dollars worth of gas"!  That's about how it has been going for me lately.  My finds have dwindled to nearly nothing this year and I couldn't figure out why.   I was cleaning up my equipment and found a loose coil wire.  Darn thing was falsing and not picking up targets as it should and I didn't even realize it!  So now I am waiting for my new coil to arrive so I can find 50 cents and only burn two dollars worth of gas!  M nty

As for myself ..i don't care too much about finding enough to pay for a detector,its just the pure enjoyment/excitement of the hunt,and that's the payoff for me(if it does it does) maybe most here will agree with me,i believe if you were to find enough clad,jewelry and so on to have paid for your previous detector and fully enjoy this hobby they will mostly want to use it to fund their next detector as an upgrade and keep the older one as a back up...there for making it a cycle of a not so payoff of sorts.

      HH
    Shawn

Charlie P. said it...I'd also take a cruddy large cent worth nothing over a 30 dollar day at the park.  I wouldn't give a dollar for some of the stuff I've found, but I wouldn't sell it either.  The thrill of the hunt is what I paid for when I bought my machine.  I haven't counted my clad...I keep it injars andhave never cashed it in.  I have some good finds that are worth more than my machine, but I don't plan to sell them.  I figure my machine has paid for itself many times over just in satisfaction and fun.  I think of how much I would have spent doing something else I enjoy if it weren't for detecting.  The rental idea is a good way to determine the value I think. 

When I'm detecting, I forget about work.  I forget the house repairs that need to be done.  I forget about the bills.  I forget about the guy that nearly wrecked me on the road earlier in the day, and the nasty lady at the counter at the tag office, and the water in the gas tank on my lawnmower, and all the nagging bits and pieces of life that suck.  To me, that's priceless.

A lot of good answers and many could be quoted, for me its cheaper than therapy.

When I'm detecting, I forget about work.  I forget the house repairs that need to be done.  I forget about the bills.  I forget about the guy that nearly wrecked me on the road earlier in the day, and the nasty lady at the counter at the tag office, and the water in the gas tank on my lawnmower, and all the nagging bits and pieces of life that suck.  To me, that's priceless.

Well said!

I'm really new at MDing, but I'm not getting into it to make $$$ (although that would be a nice bonus!  ;) ).  I am attracted to the thrill of the search, to the idea of finding something interesting (of monetary value or not) that other people have walked right past and never seen.  I'm not sure I will be able to bring myself to sell any treasures I find.    Of course regular coins can just be marked up to bonus income.    I just can't wait to see what I dig up!

Raven

Rumme is honest and he appreciates honesty.  The goal in MDing is "to find something".

If there were not the slimmest chance that I could catch a fish, I wouldn't go fishing.
Fishing like MDing "happens to include"  fresh air, closeness to nature, time with others.
The process of fishing is the fun part even if I don't catch anything.  As others have said it is cheap therapy.  No way would I do it though if there was ZERO chance that I'd catch  a fish. 

If my fishing spot sucks, I would try another.  If  park #1 sucks, my detector and I would try fishing at park #2 (even though fresh air, sunshine, comraderie continues to be good in park #1).

[Goldfinger]

Fishing is a good analogy.  Detecting is dirt fishing.  You never know what you'll catch.

But you can tip the scales (  ) in your favor by choosing the right places to fish.  I don't spend a lot of time searching for Civil War relics - as there was no such activity hereabouts . . . but folks was still going about their business & dropping coins!  Most fields around here now were fields in 1860, too.  Finding the old homesites, picnic groves and social areas is the key.

If you're looking for pure return the beaches are probably a good bet.  Hereabouts the "beaches" are along the rivers where fish fishermen sit and toss beer cans, caps and pulltabs.  Not much gold is dropped.  But the Beers map shows a ferry not to far away across the river with a structure on each side (Keepers house?  Tavern?)    Man and nature has changed that section of the river since 1869 but I WILL eventually find an old coin if I keep hunting.

If I can keep the clad coming enough to buy 4 new AA's every 40 hours I'm good.  I doubt my detector will ever pay for itself, even with the clad, and I have never sold any old coin or the jewelry I have found so that's a dead-end finacially.   ;)

But I've got a better chance that it will than spanding the equivalent time in front of a TV.   

My goal is to find enough clad to buy a sniper coil for my ace. So far I think I have like $10!! But it's an obtainable goal.

Fish

If its all about the money, you might as well sell your detector now, because you will get sick of it soon enough. As I stated me and the wife are looking to get another one, so make me a deal

im not sure if its " all about the money"  ..but for many people who claim they could care less about finding valuable items and just enjoy digging holes for exercise, to only find trash 100% of the time, I will stand by my opinion that this hobby would be alot less popular if no one ever found anything valuable or if they knew with 100% certainity ahead of time that all that digging, and driving { wasting gas} and buying batteries would never result in a find of some type of monetary value. ..

Metal detectors are marketed and sold largely thru the use of the marketing tactics that people may be able to find objects of monetary value. I seriously doubt the majority of people get into metal detecting with the main purpose of only wanting to get exercise without them caring at all about the possibilites of finding something valuable.  If exercise was all they wanted, they wouldnt need to spend $$$ on a metal detector . They could get exercise for free by walking, running, jumping rope, playing frisbee..etc..etc..etc....

Furthermore, anyone that continues to say they only do this for exercise and dont care about the valuables they could possibly find, then one has to ask, why would these people be buying top of the line metal detcetors that can cost over $500 or more ?  These higher end models are really only purchased because they are advertised to have the ability to possibly find MORE VALUABLE OBJECTS with  greater ease/accuraccy.  For everyone on here that says they have the highr end models but only do metal detecting for exercise, then why buy such higher end expensive model detectors ?  One could buy a $49 Bounty Hunter that still would detect metal and this would result in getting the same amount of exercise as purchasing a $900 name brand detector.

No offense to anyone on this forum, but im just not buying into alot of what is being said by certain posters. 

I will continue to wait for the offers to pour in from those people who claim they dont care about finding valuables, gold,silver,etc with their detectors. All of those people who claim this is the case, PLEASE SEND ME THOSE VALUABLES YOU FIND AND THIS WILL BE THE REAL PROOF that you dont care about those items. I admit I want them..so send them to me...no shame here. I wonder how much gold/silver / jewlery and coinage I will recieve from those on this forum that claim they dont care about those items ? 

ILL TAKE A GUESS....

Z E R O     

common sense 

Rumme

You have to remember who you are talking to on this thread. You are talking to the SURVIVORS.  Everyone who enters this hobby hopes to find valuable or historic items but what happens next? The vast majority of folks who  buy detectors quickly leave the hobby after finding 12 cents for a couple of outings. They do not have the patience or the perseverance for this hobby. Who you are talking to are those have survived and they simply have given you their reasons other than monetary why they are still here.

Let's face it you HAVE to have other reasons than monetary gain to survive this hobby and most of the responders have given you theirs. There are only a handfull of people who coin hunt/relic hunt for a living and these are in Europe. Brian of  the UK comes to mind.

In a way I cringe when I see posts like this " How long does it take to pay for a new detector" or"Why buy an expensive top of the line model when a Radio Shack model will do?"To me it is like asking " How many fish do you have to catch to pay for your  new bass fishing boat?" or "why not use a cheap fishing rod"?

The people who ask the above questions  I feel still haven't reached the addiction or "die hard" phase of our hobby. There are park detectorists who simply ignore and refuse to dig recent clad coinage. Finding a worn seated dime which will not pay for your gas is more a thrill than finding $100 bucks of clad for a lot of people.  What about those people who return gold rings to their owners? They could have made good money by keeping the ring? We had one visitor here who routinely detects old ghost towns and gives the landowners ALL the relics he finds. He made news when he found a $5 gold piece which he gave in a display case to the landowner. For these people monetary gain is not the only priority.

 The cost of toys in my hobby are irrelevant to me as I become addicted decades ago. Serious detectorists may have  6 top of the line detectors in their closets which they use regularly.  Look at the number of detectors owned by a lot of TN members here. I agree with the individuals in the above paragraph. That is probably why I am still detecting after 43 years.

George

Hey all,

There is a lot of great comments here about this hobby.  To be quite honest, I had every intention of finding millions of dollars in gold in my first trip out, that was my intention when I bought my first detector, but my whole perspective changed that very first day.  The very first thing I dug was an Aladdin Arcade token, I have literally held dozens of those in my hand at one point in my life, but those didn't compare to digging one out of the ground!  What's it worth, absolutely nothing, but to me, that was my first find and I still have it today!  There are those who get into this hobby with the motivation and intension of getting rich, I'm ok with that but it seemed that what motivated me at first wasn't what kept driving me to hunt.  It was finding something that at one point in someone else's life they lost.  I think of the stories it could tell if it could talk; where it had been and what it had seen.  that token was just a arcade token but perhaps it was the last token that some young kid had which he decided to keep to remind him of that time when he was on vacation at the shore, who knows.  That is what motivates me, to find that which is lost.  I'm certain that every person who hunts with a detector would be very happy in finding that lost cache but I think for most that is not what brings them out on cold days and snowy days to a tot lot where the possibility of finding a diamond ring is probably slim to none.  Its the thrill of the hunt and the stories that go along with it.  Its also the time that you can so]pend with friends and family.

Thats where I hold the hobby

HH

PTP