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...

[Gary Max]

I just sold a $2500.00 saw on Ebay for $300.00. That was just a little more than it would of scraped out for. There are so many tools on the market right now and demand is way down, plus with todays gas prices you can't drive very far to pick something up. Sorry but it's not a good time to be selling much of anything.

[Jeff Duncan]

Here's my though FWIW, I would try the idea of a yard sale style sell off. If you have any local woodworking stores/clubs local that will allow you to post there I would do so. Also post in the paper and online. Have all your tools priced ahead of time and keep in mind if you try to get top dollar, your likely going to sit on it for a while. To move stuff fast you have to make it worthwhile to the buyer.

The advantage of doing it this way, (I think), is that it's a one time shot. Guys who procrastinate with CL ads may be more inclined to open their wallets when several other guys are looking at the same item! I know I personally will look at CL ads and unless it's a serious bottom feeder price, will just put it off and see if it comes down in price over time. It's totally different though if your already there and find an item you want!

Auctions of either the live or online type will eat up a significant portion of your revenue! Live auctions for small shops like yours are a toss up and can be a big loss! It depends on how well the auction company advertises and who shows up. I've got some of my best deals from live small shop auctions. Online seem to be the better way to go for getting more money, but still eat up a chunk of change and leave you a lot of work following up and getting everything out.

In the end you can't have it both ways. You need to decide what's most important, maximum value or moving things out quickly. And if you try to sell the shop as a whole....I agree your going to have to do it real cheap. How many guys are out there with money burning a hole in their pocket just waiting to buy a whole shop worth of tools?

good luck,
JeffD

[Carl Beckett]

Hi Ed,

Sorry you are in this position. Here is my experience (as both a buyer and a seller):

Dont use an auction service. I have managed this as part of an estate - a lot of people showing up to get things given away. A couple large items can pull a good crowd - and you may even do well on these - but all the little pieces go for almost free (this was just my experience - and I have went to a few auctions for just this reason).

Finding a SINGLE buyer for everything is luck. It happens, but given you are on a deadline I wouldnt hold out for that.

For larger items - I would list each individual items on separate craigslist ad. Pricing is critical (use one of the CL search tools to determine a 'fair' price). If you price it 'fair', and have generally useful equipment in good condition then it will sell quickly. Do your homework on the pricing and pretty much everything goes from there. (also post here in SMC)

Then for smaller items - I would have a 'yard sale' type of offering, and announce this on CL (and this forum) as well. You might need a couple rounds of this to move everything, and at the last minute you may just have to take whatever offer just to get rid of the last pieces. Note that what constitutes a 'smaller item' is only determined by how much time you have to make individual ads. I think you can do better individually (and in your ad you can list a showing time as the date/time of the yard sale - so its easy to manage all the tire kickers and no shows). For me - a dozen $50 parallel clamps would be a large item. As would a good router, specialty hand plane, etc. (maybe anything over $50 should be an ad - or group things into a single ad).

Lots of pictures. Lots of detail on the listing. You will get interest.

Good luck

[Neil Brooks]

The other posters, of course, have all the bases covered.

Just wanted to wish you the best of luck. I'm having difficulty coming up with GOOD (meaning: happy) reasons why people would decide to liquidate their shops.

Hope you get a fair price, and everything goes to appreciative people....

[Paul Johnstone]

Sigh, I guess you had a list of stuff for sale, but it got deleted.

Take a few hours to make a detailed list of everything you have and a price for each one.
List them on Craigslist and woodworking forums.

I agree that it's a horrible time to sell tools now. I have a few that I have posted for about 50% of new and have had trouble selling.

On CL, you will have plenty of tire kickers and wishers but be prepared to have some people not show up, etc.

I would not sell as one lot. I don't know what you have, you would get a lot less for a lot. For example, someone might want your planer, but they already have a tablesaw and don't want to deal with reselling or hauling it. They will wait for another listing where they can buy only the planer.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Things with photos sell better than things without. A good description helps, especially if you can say things that demonstrate that the item is properly tuned and run well.

Clean tools that look like they have been cared for will sell better.
If you have edged tools, a sharpened and ready to use tool usually sells for more.

[Steve Kohn]

Things with photos sell better than things without. A good description helps, especially if you can say things that demonstrate that the item is properly tuned and run well.

Clean tools that look like they have been cared for will sell better.
If you have edged tools, a sharpened and ready to use tool usually sells for more.

As I've upgraded tools I've always been able to sell off the individual pieces to either friends or on CL. Several points that really work on CL, most of which have already been mentioned. I take the time to clean each machine. Then take good pictures of the tool against a plain background. Price them fairly. And list all the accessories that come with them. Offer to help load the tools on the buyers truck. And list a phone number to call, and answer the call promptly. And check your email often after listing the tool as some people will reply that way.

Doing all of these things I've never had a tool go more than 3 days on CL when I've done this.

[Jerome Hanby]

Make sure your asking price leaves you some wiggle room to negotiate down and still get what you actually want for the tool. It's a little silly, but some folks, me included, don't feel right unless we work the price down at least a little.

[Brian Kent]

Pay your $6 today. Post some tools you can ship. See what happens.