How wealthy did someone need to be to afford a starship?

[Eternal_Freedom]

The "we can get our own ship for that" was for just 10,000, not twenty. Makes it even closer to care level. I'd say it's about the price of a decent BMW.

[Borgholio]

Minor nitpick, but Luke didn't actually sell his speeder for 2 grand. Obi-Wan said (in the novel) that he had enough to cover the rest...implying that Luke got less than the two thousand credits he wanted.

That said, it still works out to the cost of a low to mid-range sports car to buy a starship. Not too bad really, if you get it financed.

[StarSword]

The "we can get our own ship for that" was for just 10,000, not twenty. Makes it even closer to care level. I'd say it's about the price of a decent BMW.

Although note we don't know what kind of ship they could get for that. Probably a clunker with a hyperdrive so slow the Death Star would have left Alderaan before they got there.

[Borgholio]

Although note we don't know what kind of ship they could get for that. Probably a clunker with a hyperdrive so slow the Death Star would have left Alderaan before they got there.

Not necessarily. The DS hung around Alderaan while waiting for the location of the Rebel Base. They didn't leave until the Falcon arrived and they tracked it to Yavin.

[Eternal_Freedom]

The "we can get our own ship for that" was for just 10,000, not twenty. Makes it even closer to care level. I'd say it's about the price of a decent BMW.

Although note we don't know what kind of ship they could get for that. Probably a clunker with a hyperdrive so slow the Death Star would have left Alderaan before they got there.

While the clunker part is probably true, it's still "my first ever starship." Probably comparable to a ten year old Corsa as a first car, it gets you on the ladder.

I think the idea that a ship of your own will cost you about as much a mid-priced BMW or similar is probably right. I mean, £40,000 will get you a boat of your own (and a pretty fair one too) so it "feels" right.