When to sell a part that is just taking up space?

So as you may know, I sold my 95 M to BoxheadTim, who then sold it as well, and bought a New from Mazda hard top thinking I would buy another miata for rallycross/3rd vehicle reasons reasonably soon.  Thinking long and hard about it for the past few months has made me come to the conclusion that having 2 miata's at once is too much for me mostly because the ND has ruined me for NA/NB's. I want to give something small and British a try.  So I am in the market for a classic mini, most likely a Japanese market one from Duncan Imports or Japanese Classics.  

The Issue is that leaves me with a NA/NB top for a miata that I will likely not buy.  I mean I have ideas about getting another NA/NB eventually but I dont really see that in the next few years. 

So do I hold onto the top since they really aren't getting cheaper or put it up for sale to fund the mini? 

In reply to MrChaos :

Didn’t somebody order a brand spanking new HT from Mazdaspeed for like $1700 recently?  Or was that you?  Either way, it seems like future availability is not a huge issue.

A hardtop is a big, fragile thing to keep around on the off chance you might buy a car to fit under it some time in the future. I’d sell it and fund the Mini purchase. 

For a small part....well I have body panels for 3 project cars ago. For a HT, I'd dump it ASAP.

If you don't have the car for said part sell it. This almost akin to keeping your shoes from the 3rd grade because you'd like to be a 3rd grader again.

Agree with all of the above. If the part was small and easy to store and hard to come by. I'd totally say keep it. But a hardtop is not any of those things. 

I agree with all this, but I'm still trying to get rid of E36 parts and I haven't been within 100 yards of one of those in like 6 years so I'm probably a bad example.

Well, I have a few guidelines for things like this. Most would say "sell now"

-If you didn't already own this, would you buy it again today?  
-Is this something that is hard to replace (no, it isn't) 

-Is this something that you're going to use in the next 6 months? 12 months? 18 months?

-Is this an investment that will be worth 7% annually?

-Is it costing me anything to store it (yes it is - significant space)

Maybe the last one is true, but I kind of doubt it. Also be aware of the sunk cost fallacy; what you paid for it is completely irrelevant. 

I'd say keep everything forever, but don't ask me, I'm a hoarder. *gestures towards large piles of useless junk all over the house*

I say sell it. Hard tops have been worth around 800-1200 as long as I’ve been into miatas, probably 17 years. I don’t foresee that changing much anything soon, but may change down the road. And so it might be worth a bit more down the road, but then inflation and any interest you would have earned off that cash and in the end maybe you would profit 200$. So would you store it for 20 years for a buddy if he gave you 200$?  I wouldn’t. 

I am trying to get rid of everything in the garage, unless it’s sentimental family stuff, or current project. I need to find some kid just getting into Miatas, tell him for 100$ he can have all the Miata parts in the attic, but he has to take everything. Whether he re sells, dumpsters it, or used it. He has to take it all!  But I’m not sure if I’m that cruel. 

In reply to MrChaos :

If it were really small and could be tossed in a coffee can on a shelf, I might consider holding onto it.

But, something as large and you're talking about ( a Miata Hardtop ), I would just sell off.  That takes up a lot of space in the garage.

I think the real question we're all dancing around here is... Does it bring you joy?

The fact that you're asking the question should tell you your answer. 

Sell it, put money toward your dream car. If you died tomorrow your relatives would sell it for less than you will.

Sell it. The miata market is quite strong now. Someone will pay a premium for it and help negate your losses, some. 

Ive been out cleaning my shed today(until a sneeze pulled my back, yay for berked up backs!). I have a similar issue of “me or someone i know or meet can use this at some point!”. But really i end up storing a bunch of “good stuff” that fills my work area until i get to resent it. It gets in the way if me doing what i want. It makes it so a 10 minute job isnt feasible due to having to move so much crap to do something easy. 

Also, you may get another miata and it may come with a factory hardtop which would make this one a kick in the nuts. 

Do as I say and not as I do. Sell it. 

In a similar miata vein, when to throw out parts you haven't been able to sell? 

Obviously not the case for a hard top cause people actually want those, but say mixed shocks, interior bits to expensive to ship, and brake pads?

I've put it up in the parts for sale forum, I might put it up on FB marketplace on like Wednesday.

In reply to RevRico :

That’s why I’m tempted to do a “list everything, must take it all, 100$“ kind of special. 

RevRico said:

In a similar miata vein, when to throw out parts you haven't been able to sell? 

Obviously not the case for a hard top cause people actually want those, but say mixed shocks, interior bits to expensive to ship, and brake pads?

My take on this has always been that if it's not worth something to someone within 3 months, it must not be worth storing.    Offer it for free and if there's no takers, into the trash can.   If it's not worth the effort to list for free, into the trash.