Is This Logical Thinking Regarding Tool Sales?

[Mike Cruz]

This may be a little against the grain here, but let me pose a scenario for you. I bought some insulation for my shop a while back. 4x8 sheets of 3" thick foam with shiny aluminum backing on both sides. Great stuff. Loved it! But, I bought some extra. 9 sheets extra to be exact. Well, while cleaning out my shop today, I decided to finally get rid of it. Of course, I had to put a value or price on it. Here was my thinking...

I got the sheets for $19 each. I had to drive two hours in each direction to get it. Including load up time, it was 5 hours out of my day. Not to mention $40-50 of gas. Oh, and the guy I bought it from as a business, not some dude that had some extra, so yes, there was tax. Let's not even figure in wear and tear on my vehicle. At 35 or so sheets, my cost was about, or the "value" was about $21 each sheets.

So, in my mind, to sell this to someone else, if the buyer were to go get the sheets him/herself, the tax and delivery DOES enter into the equation because I don't charge tax, but it tax was part of what I paid. So, if I were selling them on CL, I probably would have charged $21 per sheet to recoup my money. BUT, I sold them to a friend (my sawyer) for less than $15 each because he was doing me a favor by taking them TODAY. And I didn't have to hold on to them any longer, make up an ad, deal with a million questions, have no shows, and have a stranger off CL come by my house and haggle me down.

In short, the value, in my mind, comes from what it cost me vs what it would cost someone else to get it.

When bidding on a piece at an auction, you HAVE to factor in the tax and fees (if any) in your bidding price. Otherwise, that $850 bid turns into $1000. And maybe you could have gotten it for $1300 NEW...delivered. So, why wouldn't delivery and tax be part of the equation IF someone chose to put that into the "value". Think about it. If someone advertised their used TS for $500 and you say, heck, I could get a new one for $700 from Company X next week on their "sale", could you really get it for $700? No. (Unless they are offering free shipping...but ingore that for a moment.) With tax and delivery, you are probably up to more like $850 to $900. In my mind, you HAVE to factor that in. In which case, $500 with no tax and around the block is significantly less than $900 new, delivered.

[Chip Lindley]

For no other reason than just something to do, I browse classifieds for tools....

And I thought I was spending too much time on CL!! But, I am persuing my quest of actual woodworking bargains. Being retired, I usually spend a half hour, twice a day, browsing CL, if nothing interrupts! Not only the 9 areas of Missouri, but also parts of Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma!! (just in case....)

No way do I read every ad, but scan the Tools listings for key words that jump out at me like "Powermatic" or "Rockwell" or "Porter Cable" or "Big Wood Joiner"! Many asking prices are far too rich for my blood, as the OP mentions. Some are clearly demented, like an old Sears 6" jointer around Columbia MO for $995!! lol But, some ligitimate offerings are breathtakingly cheap! I just missed an old Delta/Crescent 8" Jointer with cast iron base for $50 in Independence MO!!! Who cares if it only had a 1/2hp motor on it.

The general public has some very wide ideas on pricing tools. Some ads are patently fishing expeditons, and others are almost free give-aways. As mentioned, some tightwads are trying to squeeze a new price out of a tool bought 30 years ago. If a seller charges sales tax, I must assume he is in business selling on CL--not just cleaning out his cellar. There is no editor or proof-reader on CL, so what we see is what we get! Oh No! Not another Seers Crafmen Radio-Alarm Saw!!

Bottom line is...what the tool is worth to me...and how badly do I want to drive to get it. All else is irelevant!

[Bruce Wrenn]

I love it (NOT!) when seller can't even describe hat he is selling. Last week on CL was a 6" Grizzly jointer for $225, new and in excellent condition. Ad included four pictures, one of which was a stock Grizzly ad photo, another of a mid to late ninties machine (when they were dark green) with mobile base, and two of an early ninties machine (based upon the color) with rust covered beds and fence. Care to guess which was the actual machine he was selling?. After contacting seller about pictures of three different machines, the two photos of the rusty jointer are gone, but ad still says new and in excellent condition. I wonder if seller would consider my 1990 Honda Civic to be new and in excellent condition? It only has 300,000 miles on it, is 20 years old, and left side has been hit. But it does get 38 - 42 miles per gallon.

[Rich Neighbarger]

I did not indicate a private individual or a business.

???????

No you didn't and exactly my point for the question.
If he answers the question as to whom taxes are reported, he is making the sale as a business, which explaines the tax (used tool or not). If he does not report taxes, he is a private seller trying to inflate the value of a product by adding the cost of taxes he paid.

Either way, if it looks like a deal to you, take it. Personally, I'd rather pay a little more for shipping to a private company than tax to the government...but that's just me.