One year old new saw, what is it worth?

[Roger Bullock]

A friend of mine that has had a woodworking relative which passed away recently wants me to come help price his woodworking equipment and hardwood for sale. My friend is no woodworker and not sure of any values. He said that the relative had bought new a Grizzly cabinet saw ( around $1500) which has less than an hour of use. The saw has been in an unheated garage for about a year now. They think they should get close to purchase price. I have told him that even though it is unused it is still a year old and they will not get anywhere near what they paid for it. Assuming the saw is in like new condition (no rust, dents, problems, etc.) what do you think would be a fair discount for a machine like this?

[Craig McCormick]

5/8 to 3/4 of purchase price.

AZCRAIG

[scott spencer]

A used saw in new condition still carries no warranty, return privileges, tech support, etc., though it beats the heck out of a saw that's been run hard and abused. However, a saw that's been idle for some period of time (aka neglected), regardless of previous run time, will still need some attention unless it was intentionally prepped for storage. Also, condition, age, value, etc., tend to be stated optimisticly by owners in general, and especially so if the owners/sellers aren't savvy about tools. Some depreciation is inevitable.

In general used equipment brings roughly 50% of the cost of a comparable new one, but there's plenty of variance for quality, condition, upgrades, etc. If it's truly a year old with an hour's run time on it, and is in excellent condition, they might get upwards of 75% of original. It'd definitely be worth finding out exactly what model the saw is before estimating it's value...full model number including the specific suffix would tell us a lot about it's age, features, and original cost. If it's an older model with no riving knife, it'll be worth less than a newer model with one.

[keith micinski]

I would say 75 to 85 percent for a 1023 or a 690. If It is one of the other saws that are a little less desirable it might not be worth less but will have less of a market to sell to so even though it may be worth more you may have to take less. I have to tell the old guy I work with all of the time that somethings value is not determined by what it sells for. An items value is what it is. What it sells for says more about what the market it is then what its REAL value is. Also I may be wrong But I always assumed Grizzly's Warranty was transferable along with tech support. It's only a 1 year warranty anyway but if the saw is only 10 months old thats still 2 months worth.

[William Nimmo]

The value totally depends on how you try and sell it. At a garage sale you will get next to nothing. Craigslist you could get 50 percent or better. Ebay top dollar but then there is shipping. I go to auctions where machines sell for 20 percent of new and some sell for 120 percent of new. It is all up to what kind of buyer you can reach.

[Jim Matthews]

You're setting yourself up for resentment, if the family expects you to find them a buyer at top dollar.

I would print out list prices of the items (if they haven't done the search already) and suggest the listing services mentioned above.
Grief leads people to different responses, and they could very well tee off on the well-intentioned, just because you're standing there.

I would point them back toward the original seller and ask if they can help.

[Peter Quinn]

Generally used machinery sells for 40%-60% of the replacement cost depending on condition, accessories bundled will price similarly. Different brands hold value differently. And on a given day a machine is worth exactly what a buyer will give you , which may be more or less than the range above. But a significant part of the value of a new tool is in the warranty, which is an insurance policy effectively, and generally non transferable. So the sellers can establish any asking price they would like to sort of "test" the market, the savvy buyers will watch their price come down and will not make offers until the sellers reach a realistic price.

[Jerome Hanby]

The "newness" of the machine doesn't mean much to me. My best machines are decades old. My base line is never pay more than 50% of the new price, you just never know how the machine was used or abused and how thoroughly the original owner checked out the machine after he bought it. Manufacturer problems you find on a used machine are pretty much yours to correct. If I "knew" the machine, I might offer more.

In this case you are doing them a favor. They obviously have no interest in the machine and probably just want it out of the way. If they sell it to you then they don't have to talks to an endless stream of folks from CL and if they think they are going to get close to new price, then they don't have to go through several disappointing cycles of reposting at a lower price when no one bites at that price.

I just bought a Delta 18" Drill Press still in the original sealed packing and paid just barely more than 50% of the new price (almost exactly half if you figure in shipping or sales tax). I think I got a good deal and it worked out that the press was perfect, but I wouldn't have paid a dime more for it. I was taking the chance that it had been dropped or had factory issues...

I'd show them how to search for items on CL and tell them to look around the lists for nearby areas so they can cook up their own prices. I don't think you will be able to give them any actual help that doesn't end up causing them to have hard feelings towards you. Best advice you could give them is to post it on CL and tell everyone that contacts them and says that they want the item that first one with cash in hand gets the item.

[david brum]

On that particular saw, I would establish if it's got a riving knife. If it hasn't got one, the saw is essentially obsolete, even though it's not very old. You have to assume that most potential buyers of a cabinet saw are aware of the difference and won't pay anything close to retail for a discontinued, less safe model.

On the other hand, if it's a newer model with riving knife and various upgrades, you probably can get closer to retail. The buyer would be getting the current model at a discount, plus won't have to pay shipping or taxes.

I've sold lots of stuff on craigslist. The best way to get top dollar is to use a very good photo and follow it with a well written description in proper English using spell check. A link to the appropriate page in the Grizzly catalog will help as well. I think that sloppy, unprofessional ads scare off lots of potential buyers. Nobody wants to drive two hours to find a beat up, rusty saw or worse.

[Victor Stearns]

I agree with the 50% of the original cost
I used to work for a company and that is how we priced used items
Good Luck

[Jerome Hanby]

I've sold lots of stuff on craigslist. The best way to get top dollar is to use a very good photo and follow it with a well written description in proper English using spell check. A link to the appropriate page in the Grizzly catalog will help as well. I think that sloppy, unprofessional ads scare off lots of potential buyers. Nobody wants to drive two hours to find a beat up, rusty saw or worse.

Great advise!. On the flip side, if you are hunting bargins, I've found a few gems that I got for very cheap because the lister had no pictures and no clue how to describe the item... My $350 unisaw was posted as old delta saw....

[keith micinski]

Using 50 percent as an absolute rule and Maybe factoring in condition seems absurd. By most of your guys logic the guy with a 10 year old 1023 should be asking the same price as the saw that has 1 hour of use on it. I Love a good deal as much as the next guy but claiming you won't pay more then 50 percent no matter what is pretty unrealistic. Plus I wish someone would tell that rule to the people selling Festool stuff.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I would not pay close to new price without warranty and certainly not if it is no longer the current model. I also would not take their word that the saw was virtually unused unless I knew them well. As with most things, how it looks makes a big difference, so, make sure it looks unused (ie, clean it up).

When I purchase used from a seller unknown to me, I usually require a better deal than if I do not know the person because I have no idea as to how an unknown person treated their equipment.

[David Kumm]

Used values are always tricky and so dependent on the buyer. I almost always buy used but don't consider the "one hour" use to necessarily be an advantage. I'll prefer a hobby guy who has used but not abused the machine. Asian machines in particular are either great out of the box or need work before too long as the quality is inconsistent and one hour of use won't tell the buyer much about how well it will work. There are a million stories about Grizzly customer service- usually good- but necessary due to the number of problems with new machines. Without a warranty and not enough use to feel confident I would have trouble going much over the 50% rule. Used PM 66 and even 72, and Delta 12-14 go too cheap for a buyer to put much into a used Grizzly. Dave

[Jerome Stanek]

Price it higher that way you have a little wiggle room and the buyer thinks he got you to go down

[Roger Bullock]

Thanks for all the good comments. I fear having resentment from the bereaved family so I have decided to not offer to purchase any of this equipment or to send any of my friends to look at any of it also. They don't know the value but have done enough research to be dangerous. An example would be on the rough cut green walnut lumber they have. Well it is walnut and they have seen pricing of over $6 a board foot so theirs should be worth close to that. This statement comes from the guy that also said when asked how many board feet of walnut he replied "The stack is 42 inches wide by 37 inches high by a little over 8 1/2 feet long so that is quite a bit, right?" .....I wish I had never gotten this phone call to help.

[Jim Matthews]

"The stack is 42 inches wide by 37 inches high by a little over 8 1/2 feet long so that is quite a bit, right?" .....I wish I had never gotten this phone call to help.

37"x42"x8.5 feet = 1100 bf
That's a great deal of walnut, by any standard.

Is it worth $6600 dollars?
Probably not.

[Roger Bullock]

Thanks for all the good comments. I fear having resentment from the bereaved family so I have decided to not offer to purchase any of this equipment or to send any of my friends to look at any of it also. They don't know the value but have done enough research to be dangerous. An example would be on the rough cut green walnut lumber they have. Well it is walnut and they have seen pricing of over $6 a board foot so theirs should be worth close to that. This statement comes from the guy that also said when asked how many board feet of walnut he replied "The stack is 42 inches wide by 37 inches high by a little over 8 1/2 feet long so that is quite a bit, right?" .....I wish I had never gotten this phone call to help.

[James Hamilton]

I hate going to an estate sale and they have everything priced like they're a retail store. If you want to sell something, you have to sell for a lot less than new. Otherwise people will just go buy the new saw and tell you to keep it!

[John Shuk]

You're setting yourself up for resentment, if the family expects you to find them a buyer at top dollar.

I would print out list prices of the items (if they haven't done the search already) and suggest the listing services mentioned above.
Grief leads people to different responses, and they could very well tee off on the well-intentioned, just because you're standing there.

I would point them back toward the original seller and ask if they can help.

My thoughts exactly.

[Roger Bullock]

37"x42"x8.5 feet = 1100 bf
That's a great deal of walnut, by any standard.

Is it worth $6600 dollars?
Probably not.

He said it has sticks between layers and gaps between each board. He said he has no idea how to figure BF and as to what grade, he replied that walnut was walnut. Wish me luck explaining that he does not have a glod mine.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Your decision to not be very involved is likely a smart move. In a few months after nothing has sold, you can talk to them again.... Well, either that, or just tell them that in your experience you feel that it is not worth nearly as much as they think.