Just because he is a newer player does not mean anything else.
The answers that were given about the variability of the interest are still correct and on point.
The only way to answer this kind of question simply is to assume a very simplistic case, which of course lead to an erroneous answer (because the average person does not have the average values) .
You are a liar. There is no simple answer to this question, unless you accept to tell a lie.
If you don’t want to help, you can just go on with your life.
i would not call OP a new player since he explained to us that he is mining in wh, and was asking questions about skiff. IIRC, it takes much time to skill up for exhumers…
i regularly answered to new players in this forum. Others answered, as me, that everythihg in eve depends on the context. So if OP does not provide informations about the context we cannot correctly answer.
I would have given a similar answer if the question was about pvp ships like "is it worth flying this expensive T2 ship rather than than its T1 version ": “it depends: are you solo? in a group?what are you fighting? etc”
Since i posted, OP gave precisions, and got some more precise answers from Anderson
“Our vision for cost-balancing is that cost should play a limited part in balancing ships and that obtaining a roughly linear increase in effectiveness should require an exponential increase in cost.” - CCP Fozzie.
When it comes to mining barges and exhumers it boils down to different types for different scenarios. Basically, mining belts in low sec is an exercise in suicide for little gain so the issue of which ship is better is pretty well moot. None of them, stay the heck out.
In hi-sec, an insured paper tanked retriever will flat out make more ISK than a procurer due to the larger cargohold. If it gets ganked, no big loss unless you get podded and there go your implants. Skiffs however are great for mining moon goo and ice since these locations are gank magnets and the extra tank makes for an unattractive target. Yes, they can be popped, but the idea is to simply have more tank than the retrieve in the next belt over. I also use a tanked out the wazoo skiff to haul compressed ore to Jita. In a WH, an insured procurer would probably be a better choice than a skiff because if a skiff gets tackled as soon as the drones get chewed up most likely your out a 200m isk hull.
As for the other flavors, Covetors are only good when boosted by an Orca with a dedicated hauler. They however will be blown up sooner rather than later. Platinum insure them, and don’t waste isk on tanking them. A couple hours on an ice belt in fleet is enough to cover the loss of an insured Covetor and it’s fittings. Hulks, IMO, should be avoided like the plague. To a ganker, Hulks have the same effect as little blue pills on a registered offender in an elementary school playground. Mackinaws are absolutely a viable option in belts found in quiet 0.8 and above systems. They can be fitted with a semi decent tank, but due to the high hull cost my personal thought is keep them in 0.9 and 1.0 with no rats and use T2 mining drones. Still have to keep a close eye on local.
I have and use both. The procurer when I am worried about ganking or in a place I don’t go ofter. The Skiff if I am solo mining in places I go often and have a clear vision of what is dangerous where I am mining.
I run like a bat out of He## when I see people come into a place I skiff mine - to a safe or a gate or a station. I try to know the usual suspects and ignore them. Anyone else and I play fraidy cat,
but with a couple of mining drones, and T-2 crystals - the skiff lowers my time getting what I need.
The procurer is something I am willing to lose, and lets me mine in places I would not solo with the skiff.
Not sure if they are still enjoying that activity but I have seen couple of times code ganking well fitted skiffs just to make a statement…
but then for most of recent time I have been mining in systems outside of usuall code operational area so I may bit a tad out of date on what they are doing and what they are not doing anymore…