Selling tools, need advice on pricing

   / Selling tools, need advice on pricing #11  
JD, your post makes me sad. I've got a lot of the similar power and hand tools that have been well cared for. So far my only option seems to be to rent a U-Haul and see if I can take it all with me...as I pass on.:laughing:
 
   / Selling tools, need advice on pricing #12  
The table saw should bring $150. Maybe $200 if you're lucky. You'll basically have to give the radial arm saw away. Mechanic's tools and chests might do a little better. Unfortunately, the lifetime warranty on craftsman stuff just doesn't mean much to a buyer anymore. If you break something, they replace it with Chinese versions. Good luck!
 
   / Selling tools, need advice on pricing #13  
I was recently offered a Craftsman band saw, table saw and a joiner free if I would haul them off. They were all old, but heavy quality tools. I ended up with the bandsaw and am storing it for my son in law. I would guess that the tool boxes are probably the most valuable items you have. I sold a Craftsman table saw at a garage sale probably 15 years ago, for $175. It was only about 5 years old.
 
   / Selling tools, need advice on pricing
  • Thread Starter
#14  
I would post pics IF it would not take me 2 hours to get the saws out to do that...the table saw is buried in the corner of the garage and the radial saw is buried in the corner of my northside barn. The radial saw is mounted atop a cabinet with drawers and is a big bulky and heavy item. It's 19 degrees outside right now and I don't plan to move them until it warms up.
 
   / Selling tools, need advice on pricing #15  
Please post links to anything you end up putting up for sale. My circle of friends always has a wish-list of tools.
 
   / Selling tools, need advice on pricing #16  
Craigslist is the best place to get pricing comparisons. Search in adjacent cities if need be
 
   / Selling tools, need advice on pricing #17  
Since you're not in a hurry, spend a little time each week scanning the ads on Craig's List in your area. Then drop by the Harbor Freight store (if you have one) or visit them on line to see what "new" tools of comparable size (forget about quality for now) cost. Demand for tools changes with the season and with what else happens to be on CL at the time. Unless you have one of the "cult classic" tools like an old Delta Uni saw, they'll sell for what the market will pay.

The biggest problem with used tools is that the buyer has no idea what condition they're in or how they've been treated by the previous owner. Almost everything I've purchased off Craig's List that had a power cord had at least one electrical issue, and most of them needed at least a new power cord. Some needed brushes and minor repairs, and once or twice it wouldn't have cost much more for a new one than what I paid for the used one plus the parts for the repair. If you have the literature that came with your tools, make sure to show it to the prospective buyer and have photos of it in your ad. See if you can find a place to purchase parts, and include that info as well.

All of this figures into the price a buyer is willing to pay for a used tool. I find myself much more willing to pay closer to the asking price if the seller has spent the time to clean them up, can show me that they'll run, and demonstrate them doing their intended job. It also helps if the rest of his shop is clean, he drives a well maintained car, and his house doesn't look like a junk yard. I figure if he treats everything else in his life well, chances are he took good care of the tool he's trying to sell to you, too.

Radial arm saws have pretty much been replaced by compound sliding chop saws that take a lot less room. You may end up donating yours, or only getting pennies on the dollar.

Unless it's a well known brand like Speed Air or Ingersol Rand or other Pro level tool, the compressor probably won't bring much more than the HF equivalent. But being 115V at least it'll sell. Nobody wants a 3 phase motor, and many won't fool with 220V, either.

The pricing often doesn't seem fair, especially if you purchased everything new. But keep in mind the money you've saved by not paying someone else to do the work because you had the right tool to do it yourself. And next time you need to buy a tool, see if you can find a used one in good condition. If it's a one time only need, you might be able to sell it for what you paid for it after you're done.
 
   / Selling tools, need advice on pricing #18  
Old tools are funny. Older power tools I do not see prices being that great in my area unless it was a top of the line product. Most People want a newer saw with more features. The other problem is that a person may have paid $400 ten years ago and wants $350 for it I just do not see that happening due to the lack of replacement parts. My chop saw falls into this, I cannot buy replacement parts for it anymore and those parts that are listed are expensive.
Hand tools...I never tell my wife what I spend on them. Some of my axes run $200+ throw in knives, gouges, adze whew!
When you go to take pictures, clean them up take the pictures in natural light to get the best view of them.
List as much info make model etc on them as possible someone searching for one may contact you. If not scrap them.
 
   / Selling tools, need advice on pricing
  • Thread Starter
#19  
RedNeckGeek makes several excellent points...most of all that the money I spent on tools saved me from paying someone else to do something I could accomplish myself. I made a living for 31 years as a carpenter/maintenance mechanic and worked self-employed for 7 years after retiring. I renovated two rental houses and resold them for a tidy profit and enlarged and renovated my existing home.

One photo shows it in the late 80's when I moved in, the second after the work was done. Guess I got my money's worth out of all the tools I purchased. The "before" picture is very weird, a digipic of a print pic. The place was not THAT lopsided.
 

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   / Selling tools, need advice on pricing #20  
Bottom line is: they're worth what a person is willing to pay for them. If you think they're worth more, then you get to keep them until you find a person who agrees with you (or that you agree with them). Value is not set in stone. Despite what Kelly Blue Book, or an appraiser, or what something else similar sold for, an object has 2 constantly changing values: 1) What it's worth to the buyer; 2) What it's worth to the seller. When the 2 agree you have a transaction. - 2 cents (off soap box now)
 

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