Just asking.

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Bapakleo

New User
Leo
After a few months of watching classifieds apparently overpriced and unsold, I have an idle curiosity question. Has anyone ever bought something from our classifieds and paid more than 50% of the new price, regardless of how good the condition is?
 

ScottM

Scott
Staff member
Corporate Member
When most folks shop for used tools 50% of new is considered a good price from a buyer's stand point. Of course most sellers want to realize a bit more then 50%. From a seller's view point if I asked 50% of new I would have wiggle room. I have purchased used tools for more. I have purchased used tools for less. A lot depends on how bad you want something and how used the used tool is.
 

KenOfCary

Ken
Staff member
Corporate Member
I will mostly only pay 50% or less for a used tool and tend to charge exactly that on CL, I tend to offer for a tad lower here just to give our members a little break. Once I decide to sell something I'm usually trying to sell quickly and not hold out for the best price. I usually sell items the day they're listed with a few minor exceptions.

It does amaze me sometimes how proud some of our members are of their used items here in the classifieds.

When buying I won't pay over 50% of retail either but I have made a couple of exceptions. A like-new Powermatic Bench Mortiser and the DeWalt Type I Scroll Saw that I bought recently. But I didn't pay very much more than 50%.

I would also likely make exceptions for SawStop and especially Festool products as they hold their value better. A well cared for Grizzly might make me add a couple percent.

- Ken.
 

Mike Davis

Mike
Corporate Member
I tend to be a poor buyer and a worse seller. I pay too much and can't sell anything at any price.
 

Bapakleo

New User
Leo
I tend to be a poor buyer and a worse seller. I pay too much and can't sell anything at any price.

Mike, on the lighter side, I think you were recently talking about using a multi-router (?). If that was you I'm prepared to change your luck by offering you an insultingly low price, provided you're willing to deliver.
 

Hmerkle

Board of Directors, Development Director
Hank
Staff member
Corporate Member
As Mike points out - I find that I pay too much. for me it is becasue I think I cannot do without something and when I want to sell no one seems to want to buy at even 50% of what I purchased! Example: I bought a Craftsman variable speed full sized lathe for $300 (What I thought was a very good price since similar versions were selling for $400-$500. One year later I got a GREAT deal on a jet mini and put the big one "out of the way" I thought one day, let's see what this thing is worth - on Ebay and Craigslist - highest offer was $200! I ended up selling the head (buyers VS head died) for $150 so I am still $150 in the hole)
 

Bapakleo

New User
Leo
Hank, it seems to me that you broke even. I guess I'm too old to "really need" a used tool if it costs more than 50% of new price. For the extra money I can forget the seller's problems (if any), have a warranty, and USUALLY have a retailer that wants me to come back (customer service). I figure I lose a minimum of 50% as soon as I walk out the door, and if that's not acceptable I don't buy it. You bought the lathe for $300 and sold a part of it for $150. If you only sell the remainder for scrap, at least to me, you came out ahead.

I started this thread because I keep seeing classifieds for prices that seem mighty high to me, and I don't see them selling. I just wondered if anyone has actually bought a used tool off our classifieds for more than 50%. So far no one has said that they have.

Thanks for your insight.
 

Hmerkle

Board of Directors, Development Director
Hank
Staff member
Corporate Member
I wonder - if I bought something for more than 50% and I saw the thread if I would admit it! :eusa_doh:
 

Bapakleo

New User
Leo
I wonder - if I bought something for more than 50% and I saw the thread if I would admit it! :eusa_doh:

Good point. I'm too old and too experienced to be shamed by much of anything in the line of goofs and assorted mistakes (or anything else). I've already made most of them at least once. Sometimes I forget others' outlook may differ.
 

tarheelz

Dave
Corporate Member
Thankfully, the percentage of classifieds at NCWW that are priced reasonably is higher than what I find in the "Tools" section of CL.

Gosh, if I could get just one thing from Classifieds and CL listers (they aren't really sellers)? A response to an offer made to purchase. My kingdom for an "It's sold." or "Your offer is too low." or "I decided not to sell my beautiful, limited edition, left-handed sky hook." Seems every purchase is either closed in a couple hours or you never hear a peep from the seller.
 

Jeremy Scuteri

Moderator
Jeremy
I generally shoot for 50% of retail as well. I have had good luck on craigslist and a couple good finds on the NCWW classifieds as well.
 

thsb

New User
Tim
I am curious about the 50% of retail. do you mean 50% of current retail or 50% of retail at time of original purchase? For instance, a planer that cost 600.00 10 years ago may cost 1000.00 now. would you expect to pay 300.00 or 500.00?
 

Drew

Drew Goodson
User
I watch the classifieds on this site as well as craigslist regularly. I don't think there is anything I would be interested in at more than 50% of retail. You can seemingly tell the difference between items priced to move and items price to recoup costs. Interestingly, the things I've seen move the quickest were advertised on Craigslist and NC Woodworker at the same time, with the price on this site being slightly lower.
 

Jeremy Scuteri

Moderator
Jeremy
I am curious about the 50% of retail. do you mean 50% of current retail or 50% of retail at time of original purchase? For instance, a planer that cost 600.00 10 years ago may cost 1000.00 now. would you expect to pay 300.00 or 500.00?

Definitely 50% of current retail. The original price paid is irrelevant for the used market.
 

sawduster2

New User
Don
Over the past year I've listed several pieces of used equipment on the NCWW site with not so much as a single response, even if the ad stated "or best offer". My experience may be unrepresentative as I do live on the fringe of the membership base (Virginia) and perhaps my asking price was too high or the items too unique or obsolete (or all three!). On several listings I even offered to deliver the item to the Raleigh area at no cost as I frequently visit family in the RDU area.

I recently removed 2 ads after several weeks of posting on NCWW for a Makita planer/jointer and Performax sander and reposted on Sawmill Creek as an experiment. The first day the "ads" were posted on SC I got 2 reply's posted to my ad from former or current users of the Makita planer who made comments on the merits of the Makita 2030 and one even mentioned that it was very fairly priced. Bottom line result for the planer was the same, no sale after 30 days with 2 or 3 "bumps". The ad for the sander on Sawmill Creek generated a buyer for the infeed/outfeed table extensions and the sander eventually sold on Craigs List a few days later. The "fair price" obviously will differ between a buyer & seller but I will indicate on future ads to state whether the price is firm or negotiable. (I'm not a dealer, just a hobbyist who is trying to make some room in my shop). As a seller, I would personally rather get a telephone or PM inquiry about the possibility of better price than to have missed a sales opportunity altogether, especially when the potential buyer may be facing several of hours of driving to view & or purchase a piece of woodworking equipment. This posting is in no way a complaint, just some feedback comparing my experience with identical items marketed "locally" on WCWW vs. more nationwide on Sawmill Creek.

Leo in Hertford who stated this post - ironically one of my WCWW ads was for a Parks 12" planer that I was trying to sell for my late father-in-law's estate in Perquimans County which for years was in operation in the Perquimans County High School in Hertford! Not a single inquiry about the planer was received. I think it has been given to a former PCHS student that my father-in-law taught Industrial Arts.
 

Mike Davis

Mike
Corporate Member
Several years ago you could post a tool for sale and it would be sold in hours or minutes.

Part of the problem is that a lot of people are out of work or on reduced hours, fixed income or in retirement and other bills (especially food and fuel) have sky rocketed.

Folks that produce wood work for a living may prefer new even if it does cost twice as much as the same tool used. Warranty and other issues...

Sometime people want to buy but the timing is not right, after 30 days you pull the ad then they decide they have the money but your ad is gone so they go somewhere else.

I sure there are lots of other reasons people don't buy when you are ready to sell.

All I can say is try again.
 

KenOfCary

Ken
Staff member
Corporate Member
Maybe I've just had good luck or have lowered expectations (shades of SNL) but I've never had a problem buying (other than missing a great deal) or selling anything except in one single incidence.

Warning - somewhat off topic - I bought a radio controlled vehicle for $25 at radio shack to feed a cable under my porch which has a 1 foot clearance and then tried to sell it on CL for $5. It didn't sell so I gave it to the wife to take to work and give away to anyone who had a kid that might want it. Maybe some stuff has no resale value, not even 50%.

I guess my point is depending on your expectations you might be disappointed. Or even with the best expectations you might be disappointed.

There are professional sellers on ebay. I don't pretend to be one. When I want to sell I ask a low but fair price and when I buy I try to get the best price I can, unless I really want something because I *need* it right now, then I go for full price or a bonus.

As I said in an earlier post I have paid over 50% but only on two special occasions when I thought it prudent.

YMMV

- Ken.
 

jazzflute

Kevin
Corporate Member
I'll readily and proudly admit to buying "used" items for more than 50% of retail. I've never bought a new Festool tool, and I have at least ten systainers that come immediately to mind. You don't buy used festool for less than 75%-80% of retail, because their retail price is strictly controlled (no bargains ever, except on reconditioned, and then only about 10% off), and they are usually well cared-for by OCD woodworkers. I buy Veritas/Lee Valley stuff used frequently, as well as Woodpeckers tools. Good luck finding those at 50%.

Conversely, I've bought a sliding table saw, 37" widebelt sander, vacuum veneer press system (with two 4x8 30mil Poly bags), 5hp tilting-spindle sliding-table shaper, shaper tooling, workbench, sanding table, Snap-On toolbox, Porter Cable 7518 routers (3), Equipto 8 drawer steel hardware cabinets (4 of those, with 400lbs per drawer capacity), 10' high Vestil steel cantilever racks (2), a 12x10 enclosed spray booth with explosion proof lighting and fire suppression system, and about a hundred other things that I'm too lazy to type out, at an average discount across all of them of ~85%. In other words, I paid 15% of retail for all of those items when their prices are aggregated together.

In real money, that's a five-figure sum that starts with a crooked number. So I have no problem paying more than 50% of retail for some items. That's the beauty of a market system; demand and scarcity set the price. See how quickly anything from Lie Nielsen, Blue Spruce or Gramercy Tool Works disappears on Sawmill Creek; if it's more than an hour, something is wrong, even if the price is 90% of retail. That's high demand.

Conversely, a 3phase spray booth that is dirty, that needs a new motor, that needs to be disassembled and transported in a large truck, and is almost as big as a small garage, is not nearly as attractive in the marketplace. That's why I was able to buy it at around $.05 on the dollar. A smart shopper can't just lock in to percentages, although it is good to have a rule of thumb. At least so far, luckily, I still have two of those, so I am flexible in deciding which hand makes the buy!

;-)

K
 

golfdad

Co-director of Outreach
Dirk
Corporate Member
Even if its a few dollars more on here I tend to trust our sellers more than other sites...
 
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