Best way to liquidate my home shop...

[Edward Garrett]

It has been a while since I have posted on this forum, and my apologies in advance if this post belongs in another section here at SMC or is off-putting to any of you in any way....

After trying to fight it for a couple of years, I have come to the conclusion that I need to liquidate my entire shop. I am looking for advice/experience from any of you on the best way to get that done - all at once as a "full suite" of tools, trying to put-together a one-day "yard sale" of tools, trying to hire an auction company, sell things piece-by-piece. My priorities are to maximize price and minimize time to sell (I need to sell most of this by March 30th)....

Also - is there a reference book/data for pricing used tools? It may sound rediculous, but anything like a "Kelly Blue Book" for tools?

Again - I am looking for advice/experience that any of you have in terms of how best to fully liquidate a complete shop in a short period of time....<

Thanks in advance for any insight!! Good Luck and God's Speed to you all!!

[Todd Burch]

Not sure. Some people try to sell as a single lot only, while others part out. I think you can get more parting out, but at the expense of effort involved.

The SMC classifieds here works pretty fast, but you'll need to pony up the $6 to join. Definitely worth the investment if you have a lot to sell. Take the pictures, make the post, track private messages, pack and ship, and be responsive.

FWIW, I'm in the market for some more besseys...

A local (to you) woodworking club might allow you to advertise to the group. Advantage would be lots of local pickups and no shipping.

Todd

[Brian Kent]

The local advice here is that a used tool is worth about half of a new tool, if it shows a normal amount of wear and tear but still runs correctly.

Decrease that for stuff needing repair beyond a new blade.

But increase that for really new tools or like new tools.

Best of luck to you. If I was anywhere near your place I would be counting my dollars to make an offer on the lathe. But we are 2,732 miles apart and the mileage on a truck rental would be a bit steep.

I think the classified ads here - for a $6 contributor's fee - is your best exposure. If you have time, I would recommend posting three accessory tools (light enough to put in a box and ship) at a time, with clear pictures, with your purchase price, asking price, and shipping arrangements.


And more important - I hope you find new ways to be creative and have a great time doing them.

[Anthony Whitesell]

You have the exact two wrongs things opposing each other, time and money. Trying to sell everything in one lot will be up to whom ever wants to buy it as what the lot is worth. For example, I saw a planer and sharpener listed on CL for $800. To me the sharpener is worth $150-200, but the planer is not worth the remaining $600-650. I would pay $550-600 because I'm interested in the sharpener and not much interest in the planer (not to mention it is older but not old enough). Trying to sell everything one piece at a time will take, well, time.

I might suggest trying small groupings of related items (such as this fellow with the planer and sharpener). I think you would take a smaller hit on worth while still moving more than one piece at a time.

As for advertising, I would start off with the more directly related classified sections such as SMC and local WW guild. Then move on to the newspaper, CL, and eBay.

[Michael Heffernan]

Edward,
As others have said, SMC is a good place to 'sell off' anything for woodworkers. It takes little effort and time, to snap some photos, create descriptions and determine prices. But, if the machinery, tools and accessories are priced reasonably, you can expect to sell a lot them to the members. The more aggressive you price things, the faster they will sell. It's a trade off, as it is anywhere you decide to sell them, attractive pricing will help you liquidate quickly, with less time and effort. A one day tool sale, might be a good idea too. It would be worth listing in more detail the items you have (model #s, condition and age are helpful to prospective buyers) and set a date. List them here and you probably will get some local response. I'm in Philadelphia, but might be interested in taking a drive north for a 'tool sale'.
Let us know what you decide and good luck.

[HANK METZ]

When I moved down to Florida, a local furniture refinisher bought out my entire shop, lock stock and barrel. He wanted to branch out from just doing finishing to cabinetry as well. Might pay to ask around since you're getting out and won't be viewed as competition, also may give you some leads to shops that are interested in your assets.

- Beachside Hank

[Biff Johnson]

You may also consider donating the tools to schools or other youth programs. Tax deductible and go to a great cause!

[Craig McCormick]

I sell a lot of stuff on CL. Easy for me. Lots of pictures and a good description.

AZCRAIG

[Van Huskey]

The classifieds here and CL at the same time. If you price them right they will sell. You appear to have meat and potatoes machines that you don't need a special buyer to get a fair price from. Price it right sell it INDIVIDUALLY and it will be gone in 5 weeks. Price it too high and you will own it forever. Most people looking for a 20" helical head planer probably have all the other basic machines and are just wanting to upgrade one at a time. Grizzly machines rightly or wrongly don't hold value as well as some other names and the relatively obscure Accura is worse but 50% is a reasonably starting point. Tools without motors and a quality name will do better. I did say tools without motors but that does NOT include Festool for example which will resell very near retail.

Take plenty of pictures, give accurate descriptions and you can liquidate in the time you have, just be willing to adjust the price if you have no bites. I will say it is a good thing you are selling "light" duty machines medium and heavy duty machines are in a serious price valley right now!

[Kevin W Johnson]

Sorry to hear you need to sell.

If you want to get anything near what the entire lot is worth, you'll need to sell off individually or allow buyers to make their own groupings. Everytime I see a "whole package" sale, there's always too many things I don't personally need. To me, and many others, that devalues the lot as a whole. Something I don't need is worth less to me than something I do.

I would list everything here, and on Craigslist. Everybody here is great to deal with, and priced fairly, you should have no trouble getting a lot of it sold.

[Stephen Cherry]

Good clamps are like money-- between 50 and 75 percent. Also, you want to do a little research and put a price on every item. One way I gauge the delusionality of sellers is to look at the price. No price just makes me scared. I never negotiate reasonable asking prices. Unreasonable prices are a different story, but I take them as a begining of negotiation.

Plus, you want to pay the 6 dollars right now for contributor status.

[Stephen Cherry]

Oh yea- small stuff can be sold here or on fleabay. Set up paypal, and figure out what size flat rate box each item fits in. If mailing, include insurance in your charge to ship.

[shane lyall]

Sorry to hear you're selling out but I have a friend that buys out shops and re-sell the machines in his store. He might be interested but it is a 9.5 hour trip one way for him. May not be able to pay what you need for it with him having to travel that far to pick it up. He has a big enclosed trailer and with the cost of diesel it may be to much for him to make any profit. I'll pass the info along and PM you if it's something he is interested in. Wish I could help more.

[Edward Garrett]

Thanks to everyone for your feedback (and well wishes!)....I really do appreciate the insight and info. Looks like the next few days will be spent taking lots of pictures and preparing some classified adds! I will also make a few calls to local wood-working shops/clubs.

Thank You!!

[David Wong]

Use a craigslist national search engine (google "craigslist search engine"), to try and fine prices for your machines, or similar ones. You will probably notice that prices can vary greatly regionally. Most of the search engines allow you to limit the distance of your search. As others have said, stuff that stays on craigslist is probably above market prices. Selling individual items will go faster. People do attempt to sell entire shops on craiglist, but they have to wait a long while for the "right buyer" to come along. Pictures really help in sales also. Good Luck...