A real improvement on ebay for hand tool users...

[David Weaver]

....looking through listings for a stanley 65 on ebay tonight, of course, there are 3 or 4 regular auctions, and about a half dozen or a dozen static listings from jim bode's pt barnum experiment. I clicked on one, tempted to send an offer for the average selling price for a decent 65, but that is about one-third of the BIN price on his listings....so, I didn't bother.

But what I did notice in the pictures of the auction was a declaration that jim bode will be phasing out all of his auctions on ebay and taking them only to his site.

I don't think I have seen better news about something going on with ebay in 5 years. I'd send around a virtual cake if I could.

Now, of all of the other copycats who list tools for 2-4 times the average completed auction price would just follow him off the site, it might get back to being uncluttered. Call me crazy, but I remember ebay 15 years ago or so when people actually sold things on there because you'd go broke listing things for uninformed bidders.

[Mel Miller]

I was pretty amazed myself when I saw he was going to pull off Ebay and sell only on his website. I find it hard to believe he will sell as many tools off his website without having the Ebay presence leading buyers to his site.

[Steve Voigt]

Right now, new Ford F150s are going for around 25k. Do you think if they advertised them as "minty crispy F150s," they could sell them for 75k?
OK, seriously, this is good news. But as I've said before, I think it's important to refuse to buy from these people, on principle. The only reason they stay in business is because people pay up. Anymore, I don't bid on something unless it's a legit competitive auction with a low reserve.Buying a tool from these people is like sending a personal check to Pablo Escobar.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Way too late as cows are already out of the barn! Though I frequently look, I seldom buy!

Have found far better venues for tool acquisitions to be those places I can physically examine said tool, such as tailgate sales before the Brown or Donnelly auctions, the Patina tool sale & auction and even some antique malls! As for online dealers, The Best Things and Patrick Leach remain solid sellers, those their prices are subjectively higher today than a few years ago.

[Sam Takeuchi]

Good. I really hated the 'clutter' from his listing. Even though I had him specifically excluded from my saved search result, I felt the price of hand tools from other sellers were skewed to match his massive listings and horrendous price, I've lost interest.

[Jim Matthews]

I don't know their business model, but I suspect that revenues have fallen since the site owner now interdicts email between prospective buyers and sellers.

I've been watching some of the inflated prices shown torpedo local sales.
I had one RI native send me a link to one of 21Shark's listings as justification for his price.

I sent back the current offerings from Blue Spruce steel to refute his logic.

It's my belief that Bode never intends to sell auction items - they're posted to drive website traffic where they close a separate deal.

Good riddance.

[Hilton Ralphs]

So I take it Jim Bode is to be avoided?

I recently bought two block planes from Patrick Leach as I have no option to touch and feel the stuff so I'd rather take his word for it.

Shipping to South Africa takes away most of the convenience of shopping on Ebay because if you're not happy with the purchase, it will eventually cost double the price to send the stuff back and then take delivery of the new goods.

I thought Mr Bode was like Mr Leach.

Oh well, this does not bode well.

[don wilwol]

The way he list and relist, his ebay bill must be astronomical. But the one thing about Jim Bodes stuff, he has some really nice and unusually listings. Of course I'd never pay his prices, but I continually wonder who does.

[Harold Burrell]

....looking through listings for a stanley 65 on ebay...

Hey...wait...I'M looking at listings for a 65 as well.

Great...now I'm going to get caught in a bidding war with Mr. Money Bags. :rolleyes: ;)

[David Weaver]

Well, I don't know if I'd go so strong as to say anyone should be avoided as a concrete rule. I have talked to several folks who have bargained stuff down from bode to a price they could tolerate, but it wasn't a price I could tolerate.

Most legitimate tool dealers use a rating system of some sort (and it's not "super mint, awesome, ..." for tools that have had pitting rust), and the ones who are highly regarded seem to have an enthusiasm for tools and a desire to turn them around pretty quickly and put them in the hands of users or collectors.

Hilton, I guess you're stuck given the shipping. Shipping from the US to overseas isn't cheap if something doesn't fit in a small flat rate box or first class mail. If I lived in SA, I don't know what I'd do, but my personal suggestion would be to look at ebay and view completed auctions (the only real way to get an idea what stuff is actually selling for) and not stray too far from there.

[David Weaver]

Hey...wait...I'M looking at listings for a 65 as well.

Great...now I'm going to get caught in a bidding war with Mr. Money Bags. :rolleyes: ;)

Nah, I'm in no rush :)

[David Weaver]

The way he list and relist, his ebay bill must be astronomical. When I started restoring I sold a few on ebay and found it was just as easy to just list them on my blog. No need to give ebay/paypal the 20%, I'd rather pass that on to the woodworkers, but then, I'm not trying to make a living with it. But the one thing about Jim Bodes stuff, he has some really nice and unusually listings. Of course I'd never pay his prices, but I continually wonder who does.

He's got enough completed auctions that someone's buying his tools.

[David Weaver]

Way too late as cows are already out of the barn! Though I frequently look, I seldom buy!

Have found far better venues for tool acquisitions to be those places I can physically examine said tool, such as tailgate sales before the Brown or Donnelly auctions, the Patina tool sale & auction and even some antique malls! As for online dealers, The Best Things and Patrick Leach remain solid sellers, those their prices are subjectively higher today than a few years ago.

Big big fan of FTJ and MJD, and a few small antique malls, too. FTJ seems to have changed since it switched hands, though. I used to love to get the newsletter tool sale email and go knock down a few things that I knew I'd never lose money on if I decided to sell them, but the last couple of newsletter tool sales have been very high.

You're right about the cows out of the barn thing, though. I used to be able to count the number of copycats and exclude them from my saved searches ("luckytools" and others of that type, etc), but there are so many now that the search string applet doesn't allow enough text.

[David Weaver]

I was pretty amazed myself when I saw he was going to pull off Ebay and sell only on his website. I find it hard to believe he will sell as many tools off his website without having the Ebay presence leading buyers to his site.

Mel, I have the same thoughts about ability to get traffic. Maybe he has repeat buyers, or maybe he's looking to scale down in volume. Whatever it is, I do have some fear that he'll come back to ebay if it doesn't work the way he hopes.

[don wilwol]

He's got enough completed auctions that someone's buying his tools. Someone with more money than me I imagine. I found a completely restored #65 at a flea market for $35. It was even actually sharp. It's a little to shiny for my taste (he used a lacquer finish) but I love that plane.

[Chris Griggs]

I don't think I have seen better news about something going on with ebay in 5 years. I'd send around a virtual cake if I could.



You can say that again!

For vintage tools, I either sit up late on Friday and Saturday nights and look for things where the seller made the terrible decision to have the auction end at that time. I got a type 11 no. 7 w/ a hock blade that way for less than $60 shipped a few months ago - though I wouldn't hold my breath for that to happen again!

Or I just contact Joshua Clark aka: hyperkitten. He sells nice stuff and his prices are very very fair. I'm a big fan of Mr. Clark.

[David Weaver]

There are two winning strategies on ebay that I know of:
1) find things that end on some goofy time, like wednesday at 3 am. you'll only have to bid against the other bots people set up.
2) set up a search on ebay for BIN only, have it eliminate sellers you don't want to see and email you with the results every morning. For the most part, most of the things I've gotten lately have been via this method...you're basically getting stuff that people want to sell quickly and intentionally put up for a reasonable or lower price. Obviously it has to be BIN items on the "newly listed" search, as there's nothing you can do to keep people from bidding up straight auctions.

I guess there's a third, which would be to set up esnipe so that it's bidding on every single decent condition tool of a type in a straight up auction until you win one at a decent price.

Just to see if I'm being too harsh, I did go out to bode's website, and his prices are mostly more moderate there. But they are still off of completed sale price by almost a factor of two. I don't know if he's got too much in infills, or if the bottom has fallen out on them, because I did actually see two rosewood dovetail spiers panels for what I'd think is reasonable. I paid more for a kit (though I'd be willing to bet money my plane would torch them in use for the simple fact that it's new and everything is still dead tight on it).

I haven't bought anything from Josh, I move too slow, but I have bought *tons* from walt. Josh definitely prices his stuff to sell, and sell fast (walt is probably the original fair price flipper, same could be said for him in terms of prices). Used to get a lot of stuff from clint jones, too, but maybe he got tired of it.

[Hilton Ralphs]

Ok so I've just worked out what BIN is :-)

Thought it was clearance stuff, headed for the trash bin.

Hehe.

Dumb Saffer.

[Steve Meliza]

My understanding of people like Jim Bode is that they filter out all of the junk and offer for sale only quality tools in working condition or noteworthy tools interesting to the collector. I always assumed his higher prices were due to having nicer or more interesting stuff than others. In my part of the country you have two options for used tools, risk it on eBay and possibly waste your money on a paperweight or pay more for a tool from a known dealer like Jim Bode that you know will be good or else you can return with no questions asked. Maybe you're just not in his target market.

I've purchased from eBay and ended up with tools that were useless and I've purchased tools from Walt, Sandy Moss, and Jon Zimmers that are all great users. Each seller seems to have tools that I feel are bargains and some that seem high to me so obviously I only buy when I feel the price is reasonable. It may seem a lot to some that I paid $95 for a Disston D-8 saw, but it was a bargain compared to what sells on eBay considering I knew I would get a saw that was clean, straight, and sharpened by Mike Wenzloff. By my math I couldn't easily buy a decent D-8 on eBay and pay for sharpening and all of the shipping for under $95, especially not when you factor in the risk. If I were skilled at finding the good saws on eBay and sharpening them then obviously I'd balk at a $95 saw. If I lived where these tools are in abundance then I'd probably share your view.

[David Weaver]

Jim Bode's listings do include a lot of very clean tools, but they are priced very high even for how clean they are, and there are some really strange ones. I went to his website this morning, as i mentioned above, and there is a common unbranded washita stone on the front page in a not-so-impressive box for $280. That's something I'd expect to see for $40 at the very most, even from a tool dealer at a flea market.

I don't know what his guarantees are like. Walt will just take things back if they turn out not right. I recall clint jones mentioning long ago that he got something from bode that had problems that weren't disclosed or shown in pictures, and the response to him was "they're old tools, you should expect it" (paraphrased), and that left clint with the tool. I'd mail it back and contest the charge. That was a while ago now, though, and things may have changed. I also have no idea how clint phrased his complaint - we'd never know the whole story, but you don't hear things like that about walt or sandy moss.

The good thing for folks who do like to buy from bode is his site will be there, and I suppose all of this creates traffic for his site to some extent, even if he wouldn't be flattered by most of our thoughts (most people selling stuff would already say "those guys aren't my market" and not be too offended, anyway). Anyway, the good thing is his site will still be there with all of the stuff for wanting customers, and at the same time, the good thing for the rest of us is we won't have it clogging up ebay, either.

(FWIW, I do have to buy about 90% of my tools online, too. Even if I get the chance to go to places like adamstown, pa from time to time, there just isn't much on the ground anymore since it's so easy to list things online and reach a much bigger market. Most of the stuff left in the shops is either there because it's overpriced, or it's junky stuff (like handyman planes or transitionals with broken parts) that aren't even worth USPS shipping costs).

[Jim Koepke]

In my part of the country you have two options for used tools, risk it on eBay and possibly waste your money on a paperweight or pay more for a tool from a known dealer like Jim Bode that you know will be good or else you can return with no questions asked. Maybe you're just not in his target market.

Steve, I am in your part of the country and there are some good finds to be had. It just takes perseverance. When I have the time in town stops are made at The Restore (Habitat For Humanities store of used items), pawn shops and antique malls. Restore is pretty hit and miss, but it is a quick search and sometimes they have good prices on wood, hardware or other things I need.

Pawn shops are often over priced and the people there know it. I makes it easy to knock down the asking price. Bought a rusty #604 for $15 in one and a #5 in another for $4. They both needed work, but the Bedrock sold for a good profit and the #5 now gets regular use.

Antique shops and malls are another good source at times. Most antique shop owners tend to have their favorite areas of inventory. Some will have no tools, some know tools are a way to get the old man in while the wife looks for other nick knacks. If you ever get out to Astoria, there are a few shops there that usually have a smattering of tools.

There is one antique mall I will always check when in Astoria. It is where I found my #4-1/2 for $30.

Portland also has a few used tool shops and stores like Goodwill. I have never tried to work with the people in the thrift stores, but you might find a friendly manager who would call you when something comes in.

Ted's Tool Shed out around 89th and SE Powell is one of my stops when that part of Portland is on my schedule. A lot of junk to sift through, but often something goes home with me. His prices on planes is usually more than I want to pay. Haven't tried talking him down, but he seems flexible as he has given me a discount without even asking.

Also look for estate auctions and sales. The north west was built on logging and wood. There had to be a few tools to work it. Maybe not as rich a hunting ground as in the eastern home to furniture making, but there are still a few to be had.

The hunt for Red All Over (or rust hunting in general) takes time, diligence and getting up early.

Set up searches on Craig's list. Be willing to buy a box of tools to get one and then sell the rest to make up a little cash.

Yes, one can save money if they are willing to put in a little time and labor.

It has been about 5 or 6 years since I was there and not really sure where it was but there was a guy with a shop a little in from the Oregon coast who specialized in antique tools. I found him by asking in shops about tools.

Almost all of these antique shop owners know each other. They work together. If someone comes into a shop looking for a particular item they do not have but know of another dealer who has one, they will send the customer to the other shop. As soon as the person walks out the door, they call the other dealer to let them know someone is on the way.

If you ever make it down toward Aurora there are a couple of shops there with used tools.

There is a Bookstore/antique shop in Woodburn, not sure if it is still there, but Terry is a tool collector/seller that is worth paying a visit if you get down that far south. My first #8 came from him at $50. If you go see him, make sure you have a lot of time incase he wants to show you his collection. At least my wife and the woman who was there enjoyed talking about us men acting like kids in a candy store. I didn't think we were there that long, but my wife swears it was about 4 hours.

Learn about older tools and get your sites set in on what you want in your tools.

Do you want to only buy for your own needs or are you willing to do some restoration to resell?

Do you want to stay with mostly one maker or does that matter? Life is easier for me with just Stanley as the maker of almost all of my planes. Many people feel the same way about their assortment of Millers Falls, Sargent, Record, Union or other makers planes. One person posts here often about just almost any maker's plane you can imagine in his assortment.

If you are not sure about the tool you are being offered, it might be better to pass. Old tools are like busses. If you miss one, another will be along eventually.

Check the completed listings on ebay. You will see prices in red for items that didn't sell and green for those that did sell. You can get a decent idea of what does and doesn't sell.

I am not familiar with the Portland area classifieds. When we lived in the San Francisco area public auctions would be listed and were often a good place to find tools.

Be on the lookout for broken tools with a few good parts. Extra handles always come in handy.

Wow, didn't realize how much enthusiasm for hunting rust there has been pent up inside of me. Need to get out on a hunt sometime soon.

Good luck with your hunting,

jtk

P.S. Search > used tools Portland, OR < not all the hits will be good, but you will find a few. Widen the map and you will find some that are a short drive.

[Chuck Nickerson]

Well I'm brave enough to admit I've bought half a dozen or so tools from Jim Bode.
Being on the west coast, local access to vintage tools is quite limited.
I've decided to spend more time woodworking, less time looking for tools.
The other dealers listed make it difficult to figure out what they have in stock.

[paul cottingham]

I bought some hollows and rounds and some beading planes from him. With two exceptions, they are good users, the two in question seriously need new blades.
Btw, am I imagining it, or have his prices really jumped of late?

[David Weaver]

It may be with various things. As i mentioned above, he has a spiers rosewood infilled panel plane...dovetailed sides for $485 or something. I can't see anything at all wrong with that, really. I paid $600 for a spiers copy 18" cocobolo infilled kit, and don't feel like it was bad deal the way it turned out. I would've had some deciding to do had there been a longer spiers rosewood dovetailed in that range.

But there is other stuff that is out there. Gobs of common english paring chisels in the $100 range, sans rust that was on them at one point as there is pitting left behind, and the aforementioned $280 common washita stone that I would probably pass by at a flea market for $25. There's a norris iron on there for $231, too...stunned a little by that. I also recall seeing a slightly used version of the same iyoroi cabinet maker's chisels that joel sells for a price significantly higher than they were new, and someone bought them. Hopefully for their sake, they called him and did some dealing, as there aren't many places to lose money faster than japanese tools if you don't get them bought right.

His prices on ebay are definitely higher than they are on the site, or at least they were - the only time I seriously considered buying something from him was years ago when I wanted a really big toothed rip saw and I was having trouble finding a decent copy. What was $175 on ebay was $100 on his website, but the saw in question was uniformly pitted top to bottom front to back on one side and clean on the other and I ultimately chickened out based on the fear that I'd never get close to $100 for it if I decided I didn't like it. You can, though, bargain on ebay, and on his site you can't. So, I don't know if things have increased or not, as far back as I can remember, the common things I've had an interest in in the past (carving gouges, paring chisels, sharpening stones, etc) have all been way out of line.

Anyway, all that said, if he's got something you want, and nobody else does, I don't see anything wrong with making the personal decision to buy the tools, I just don't like to see them all over ebay like wax museum exhibits. If some folks just want one or two things and they have zero intention of ever selling them, then the cost matters even less because you don't have that arbitrary rule that you don't want to lose money on something you change your mind about. I didn't have it at first, either, but I got disgusted enough selling stones and tools for 2/3rds or 1/2 of what I paid. As individuals, we don't get premium prices without a reputation (for example, I could do the same thing to a saw that michael merlo does, and I'll bet it would only sell for half as much).

One of the things I thought about when I made my post last night was that I'd wake up in the morning and hopefully not find out anyone thought I was alienating them for buying something that very well could've been a fair deal, or even if not if they feel like they want to spend something to indulge themselves. It would be pure trolling on my part to tell people how to spend their money, I definitely don't ever want to get involved in that kind of stuff. Everyone can make their own choices about that....we all moved away from our mothers at some point in our lives, I don't intend to be a second mother, if you know what I mean.

[paul cottingham]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I was relieved to see that someone else feels the way I do. My beef with the H+Rs and the beading plane was that I was told they were all good users. I don't mind being told I got burned if
1) I didn't know better.
2) other people have been burned. :-)
3) overall I didn't do too badly in the end.

[David Weaver]

H&Rs are a fairly difficult thing to "just buy", unlike bench planes. If you get a good set you can use in the end, that's far ahead of what a lot of people end up with picking up flea market planes. I can buy gobs of hollows and rounds (not matched sets) near my parents in northern maryland and central PA...for about $15 each, but most of them would be more trouble to redo than making a plane (which is the route I opted for, but you can never really know those things until you've tried a couple...and you can't rely on the gurus and blogs, because they'll make universal statements like "old tools are false economy" vs premium tools, which makes no sense to me at all. Not may things most of us do in life where we get good at them without learning from a few (or many) mistakes first.

[paul cottingham]

Not may things most of us do in life where we get good at them without learning from a few (or many) mistakes first.

Then I should be a really good woodworker by now! I wonder what I'm doing wrong....so to speak.

[Tony Zaffuto]

For those unable to go to a Donnelly or Fine Tool Journal tailgate sale, or Patina, it helps to develop an ongoing relationship with guys like Josh Clark or Patrick Leach. Josh has excellent quality user tools at great prices. Patrick's lean a bit towards collectors, and he differentiates between users and collectors, and priced accordingly. With either of these two, you can contact anytime with something specific you are looking for and do not have to wait for their monthly lists.

Lee Richmond, of The Best Things, leans far more towards collectors, but again, he has a extensive online list always up. I've always been pleased with everything I've purchased from these three. If anyone is looking for top grade saws, The Best Things always has excellent saws up with prices in line with equivalent quality at the aforementioned tool sales. If he errs on descriptions, it is in your favor. When Lee says a saw is straight, it is dead nuts straight!

When I total up what I've spent over the years on _bay tools, with shipping, some hidden gems, some hidden problems and some outright bad descriptions, I find that the are not that many bargains to be had. Dealing with reputable dealers or handling the tool before buying, is the way to go. By the way, the three dealers I mentioned all offer no questions asked, full money back return policies.

[Chuck Nickerson]

One of the things I thought about when I made my post last night was that I'd wake up in the morning and hopefully not find out anyone thought I was alienating them for buying something that very well could've been a fair deal, or even if not if they feel like they want to spend something to indulge themselves.

I understood the spirit of your post, I just wanted to provide a slight counterpoint.
After all, he's got lots of tools for which I won't pay his price.

He's got a Stanley 77 dowel maker that looks better each month (five so far) I don't find something equivalent for less.

[Steve Meliza]

Steve, I am in your part of the country and there are some good finds to be had. It just takes perseverance. When I have the time in town stops are made at The Restore (Habitat For Humanities store of used items), pawn shops and antique malls. Restore is pretty hit and miss, but it is a quick search and sometimes they have good prices on wood, hardware or other things I need.

Jim, thanks for the tips and pointers of the various places to look. At one time or another I have visited all of the towns that you mentioned, but I'd have to make a dedicated trip to visit any of these stores and dealers just for the hope they had something. The price of fuel is a big factor in the search, I've made the 25 minute drive across town to buy tools from Jon Zimmers and I've paid $5 shipping to have him send me a tool because I can't make the trip there and back for under $5 plus an hour of my time. I guess I don't mind keeping an eye out for tools if I'm following my wife through the antique mall, but I'm not keen to spend a lot of time and money looking for bargains in an area where fellow rust hunters outnumber the tools.

As long as we're talking about annoyances foisted upon us by vintage tool sellers, why do so many of them list items as "sold" and keep them on their webpage for weeks and months afterwards? I hate finding just the tool I'm looking for and then....sold. Some sellers have pages so littered with sold items that I find it easier to look for un-sold items then read the description to see if it is a tool I'm looking for rather than the other way around.

[Mark Wyatt]

I've bought a couple of things from Jim, and I find him to be a pleasant enough guy. Like most dealers, he will negotiate a price. He gave me a jump once when I left my lights on and drained my battery at a MJD Tools auction. He was leaving Indianapolis for New York after the auction and didn't need to stay around, but he did. He didn't know who I was, just a good guy doing another a favor. He knows old tools and has been kind enough to share his knowledge knowledge with me several times.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Pleasant enough guy, but, about 5, 6 or 7 years ago, I bought a Preston small shoulder plane from him. The price marked(high for the market & time) was the only price he would accept. I wanted the plane so I paid the tariff. Upside is I got the plane, downside is that is what I remember the guy by.

There are other dealers that also do not negotiate on marked prices, but for the most part I find their prices a more reasonable, comparatively speaking (except one goomer who is far worse - always at shows, always has the same stuff there and is generally a pain in the butt to talk to. Has an antique store in PA that I have visited several times and the store policy is the same).

[Stan Calow]

Thanks for the information, Handsome Harley.

[Ryan Baker]

I've done business with most of the vendors mentioned so far. What I have found with Bode's site (haven't looked there revently) is that he has certain items (mostly planes and chisels) listed for very high prices, but certain other items, that are much less popular, for very reasonable prices. I have found some good deals there on rare things that don't show up often. And there is little "poor-condition junk" in that mix, as mentioned. And I have had no issues in dealing with them either.

Like any other vendor, you have to decide whether they have something you want and whether you are willing to pay what they want. If you can get a deal for something you have been searching for ... grab it. If you think their price is way too high, keep looking. If nobody pays the prices vendors are charging, the prices will come down. Right now, there are apparently enough people willing to pay the rates they are asking. That's just business. People have complained for a long time about collectors and wealthy weekenders driving up prices. The best bet for finding deals is still going to be to stick with looking for "user" grade tools at the small shops and markets -- avoiding the popular mass-market venues like ebay and the big online vendors.

[David Weaver]

I've done business with most of the vendors mentioned so far. What I have found with Bode's site (haven't looked there revently) is that he has certain items (mostly planes and chisels) listed for very high prices, but certain other items, that are much less popular, for very reasonable prices. I have found some good deals there on rare things that don't show up often. And there is little "poor-condition junk" in that mix, as mentioned. And I have had no issues in dealing with them either.

Like any other vendor, you have to decide whether they have something you want and whether you are willing to pay what they want. If you can get a deal for something you have been searching for ... grab it. If you think their price is way too high, keep looking. If nobody pays the prices vendors are charging, the prices will come down. Right now, there are apparently enough people willing to pay the rates they are asking. That's just business. People have complained for a long time about collectors and wealthy weekenders driving up prices. The best bet for finding deals is still going to be to stick with looking for "user" grade tools at the small shops and markets -- avoiding the popular mass-market venues like ebay and the big online vendors.

Yeah, i understand the bit about passing his stuff by if there's no deals you like. I like it much better if all I have to do to pass his stuff by is avoid his site rather than avoid thousands of listings on ebay, though.

As far as prices, in the case of bode, one or two dealers like him who are willing to hold inventory in great amounts and limit the number of tools the good dealers get (the ones who actually intend to sell tools reasonably quickly) can actually drive up prices without any value occurring to the customer. It's not hard to identify walt's value- it's hard for me to identify bode's value. He's a macro scale example of the vendor who runs around at a flea market before it opens to the public every week, taking anything that's decent and then marking it up a ridiculous amount.

But, anyway, I'd settle for him just keeping it off of ebay. You can't have everything all at the same time.

[Ryan Baker]

Well, you obviously know a lot more about Bode's (and others') purchasing habits than I do. I would agree that if vendors are sitting on large inventories to drive up prices, that is a problem. Doesn't seem like a good way to stay in business though.

With the revival of hand tools, we get a revival of hand-tool marketing manipulation.

Let's just be glad there are guys like Walt that are selling good stuff without silly markups.

As woodworkers, we are also in a fortunate position of being able to make many of the tools we need for our craft, as was so much more common with past members of the trade.

[David Weaver]

As woodworkers, we are also in a fortunate position of being able to make many of the tools we need for our craft,

Yes, big fan of that!! and videos, writeups and supplies are at our fingertips now like never before.

[Brian Ashton]

Well, I don't know if I'd go so strong as to say anyone should be avoided as a concrete rule. I have talked to several folks who have bargained stuff down from bode to a price they could tolerate, but it wasn't a price I could tolerate.

Most legitimate tool dealers use a rating system of some sort (and it's not "super mint, awesome, ..." for tools that have had pitting rust), and the ones who are highly regarded seem to have an enthusiasm for tools and a desire to turn them around pretty quickly and put them in the hands of users or collectors.

Hilton, I guess you're stuck given the shipping. Shipping from the US to overseas isn't cheap if something doesn't fit in a small flat rate box or first class mail. If I lived in SA, I don't know what I'd do, but my personal suggestion would be to look at ebay and view completed auctions (the only real way to get an idea what stuff is actually selling for) and not stray too far from there.


Even with the over inflated shipping prices it's still much cheaper to buy from overseas than in australia - at least 30% cheaper. There are a few tool sellers here that pollute ebay and they all charge like raging bulls. What's even more one of them's ebay listing are down right arrogant. I won't identify him like you did Bode because I once commented on his outrageous prices on a forum here and he threatened to sue me LOL. Lets just say he sells a lot of chinese lee valley knockoffs for way more than they're worth...

I have to admit however though I like looking at his stuff only for ideas for other tools I'd like to make. I'm hoping to make one of those button hole chisels he's been trying to peddle.

[David Weaver]

Unfortunately, as I troll around ebay looking for sharpening stones, I noticed the ridiculous (my opinion) listings seem to show up and they no longer have the promise in them that they will be going off of ebay soon.

For example.

330950404615

I have bought several stones like that one for $15-$40 (off of ebay, not at flea markets). Presumably there is something about that box that I don't understand (aside from it looking pretty bad). $315 (!!!!!!!!!!!)...

... and no promise that it will soon not be listed on ebay.

[Gary Herrmann]

He's got a Stanley 77 dowel maker that looks better each month (five so far) I don't find something equivalent for less.

Keep your eyes open, Chuck. They can be found cheaper. I got really lucky locally, but that was a fluke. The individual cutters are harder to find. I'm still looking.

[Robert Bernard]

Looks like he changed his mind. He's spamming the bay with inflated router plane listings today. I wouldn't pay his price for a router in good to fair condition and his items are anything but.

[Chris Hachet]

I like the WWW.supertool.com (http://www.supertool.com) site much better, actually....