There's got to be a reason that TranX don't usually sell right away. Unless they're really priced low.
But Lexas usually sell right away. For more than i bought my reels for brand new.
Resale value can be an odd metric for reel performance, but for the sake of debate, I made a quick frequency distribution of the first 50 threads in the BD Classifieds under the search terms "Lexa" and "Tranx", respectively. Based the tags that currently appear on the first 50 threads of each search term, here's what the data show:
As a disclaimer, I did not open each thread individually to scan the text for additional details to support the status of the thread tags. In essence, a thread tagged "For Sale" may actually in fact be sold, but for the sake of efficiency, I did not go into that level of detail. That will cost you extra. However, assuming that there is no real difference in the nature of Lexa owners compared to Tranx owners as it pertains to thread tagging behavior, we can assume that the thread tags are more or less accurate.
That aside, we can see your claim that "Lexas usually sell right away" is not supported by this data sample. In fact, it appears that the opposite may be the case: the Tranx sells more quickly than the Lexa. Assuming that all the "Sold" threads began as "For Sale" threads, 75% of Tranx sellers were able to sell their reels whereas only 45% of Lexa owners were able to sell their reels. The amount of "WTB" thread tags further supports the counterpoint that the Tranx sells more quickly because there is excess demand for the Tranx (29 searching, 20 in circulation) and conversely excess supply for the Lexa (17 searching, 31 in circulation).
I did not do a price analysis to verify your claim that "[the] TranX don't usually sell right away. Unless they're really priced low", but if we were to believe the economic tenets of supply and demand, it would follow that the Tranx should yield a higher resale price as a result of excess demand compared to the Lexa.
The difference in demand and supply may be a result of Daiwa's confusing nomenclature for the Lexa that is sold under multiple models at prices ranging from $189.99 up to $299.99. There have been at least 3 different models for the 300/400 sizes (Original, Winn, HD) some of which have been updated with newer iterations while others have not. I believe this attributes to some secondary market confusion for potential buyers, the result of which again would be lower confidence and therefore lower resale prices.
Simply put, the data just doesn't support the assertion that Lexas hold their value better than Tranxs in the secondary market. I would say buy what you like, and don't worry too much about the resale value. You'll still probably get most of your money back either route you take. If you can afford to, buy the better reel (IMO the Tranx). If not, buy the one you can afford. After all, if we were so worried about resale value we'd all be driving Toyotas and Hondas rather than European cars, but where's the fun in that?