Holy thread necro Batman!
The secondary market seems to consist primarily of personnel leaving House service, horse-trading between regiments, gifts from a lord to his friends or vassals, and groups temporarily adrift after the breakup of their previous unit. [Edit: Also 'Mechs or other assets and services offered in payment, restitution or bribe (which may account for much of what other people would call "sales to mercenaries"). /Edit]
Corporate Mech forces also exist. So it seems that as long as you are influential enough you can do whatever... in keeping with BT neo-feudalism.
Then there's the "tertiary market" ie truly illegal Mechs and spares. Which I expect to be tiny.
In real life, technological progress and peacetime demobilization can result in boneyards full of perfectly usable machines. But in BattleTech, in these particular eras, technology and peace don't line up that way. So when I said "boneyard" I meant a place for cannibalization and scavenging usable parts - not a long-term reserve suitable for reactivation.
Well, why not? We know about the "magic warehouses" phenomenon... and again, as Mechs become more valuable, Successor States would hold a certain number in secret reserve, against the day when they can be one-eyed kings in the land of the blind. Or simply as a strategic "doomsday" reserve.
Royal navy practices aren't directly comparable because an individual crewman can't sail 1/80th of a ship, he can't take 1/80th of a ship with him to his next assignment, he can't repair or maintain or sell his 1/80th of a ship. A 'Mech, in contrast, can be owned and operated by a single person.
Operated, yes. But to support technically a Mechwarrior should still need a crew.
I don't wholly agree with the RN comparison myself, but there are certain similarities - both Age of Sail warships and Mechs would be considered capital military assets by the Govt and they would be somewhat loathe to let a private individual own many of them. (There were also similar numbers - from 400 rated ships in the 1790s to I think about 700 in the 1810s.) Yet at the same time, the Govts did allow some private ownership, by merchants, corporations, and privateers.
Politically, too, the State govt would prevent a Mechwarrior - especially a low-born one - from acquiring too many Mechs. Have a non-noble "ace" suddenly own 5 Mech chasses - ie 5% or more of a Successor State's federal Mech forces? That's too much firepower in the hands of one individual for the Powers That Be to accept.
The "keep what you kill" policy seems to at least be a universal *baseline* among the feudal regiments in liege to the scavenger-society Houses. I agree that cash (or more likely, cash and a mix of parts and other goods) may be a common "buyout" and - as you suggested when you brought up mercenary salvage rights - other parties might have precedence. But how does "the desirability of being a MechWarrior" make a buyout more likely? 'Mechs are scarce, yes, but that fact only tells you that the "have nots" outnumber the "haves." It tells you nothing about how the "haves" distribute ownership amongst themselves.
I was talking about "have nots" who want to be Mechwarriors in service to State militaries. Logically the position should come with cash and other benefits in kind, beyond mere prestige, to make people want to be Mechwarriors. Whereas to simply acquire ownership of another Mech (carcass) may not be perceived to be as valuable, because 1 man can't pilot 2 Mechs. Cash, at the end of the day, is the most fungible of benefits.
