A Marshalltown's stiff spine also lets you scrape backfill instead of scooping, which keeps your wrist from dragging across the floor.

How long do you figure it takes to break even on that though? If you're going through cups fast enough that cleaning them is slowing you down, that math might work, but for most of us a cup can get cleaned a whole lot of times before it's anywhere near done. That old timer probably had a shop where time was money on every job and buying cups by the box was nothing. I've watched guys toss cups that still had plenty of life left and it adds up quick over a year. A good soak and a brush keeps them going way longer than people give them credit for. Cleaning is cheap, cups are not, so I'll keep scrubbing mine.

What was his actual reasoning on the price though, like did he have data or was it just a gut call? Curious if the 9 cap you closed at still worked on your numbers or if you had to stretch. And how long have you been using this guy, has he been wrong before or is this a first?