It was inevitable....

[Ken Glass]

Friends,

I have reached that stage where I have been contemplating a move south and have settled on Osage Beach, MO. I have decided on a golf cart community and have no room for a shop and don't want to rent or buy a garage/building to do wood turning/woodworking. I have enjoyed a large heated/air conditioned shop with many many tools and now I am gong to sell it all. Here is my question, as I live in a small town in west central Illinois, there is no good source like Craigslist or Shoppers guides to sell on, so how do I get the word out and how have those before me priced there beloved tools? Thanks for any suggestions.....

[Grant Wilkinson]

If you don't have a craiglist-like option, you could look at Ebay and set them to "buy it now", so you don't have to deal with low ball bidding. What about your local newspaper? Do you have a woodworking retail store that has a for sale bulletin board? Local woodworking clubs may help, too.

[Ken Glass]

Grant,
Thanks for the suggestions. All the items would have to be picked up and the last time I sold an item ( Mortising machine) on Ebay the fee was almost 5%. The local newspaper has priced themselves out of the classified add game with 4 lines costing near $60 for 4 days.

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

if you're willing to ship items - why not make a list with prices and sell them here?

then at least you won't have to pay ebay fees.

If you're not willing to ship and looking for a single purchaser - well, good luck.

[Curt Fuller]

Also try listing things on the Sawmill Creek classifieds ..http://www.sawmillcreek.org/forumdisplay.php?10-SawMill-Creek-Classifieds or the AAW want ads site.

[Marty Tippin]

You could successfully sell your stuff on the nearest "big city" craigslist - Chicago, St. Louis fr example. The big stuff will find a buyer who's willing to travel. Little stuff would move well on the classifieds here, if you're willing to ship.

[Steve Peterson]

Grant,
Thanks for the suggestions. All the items would have to be picked up and the last time I sold an item ( Mortising machine) on Ebay the fee was almost 5%. The local newspaper has priced themselves out of the classified add game with 4 lines costing near $60 for 4 days.

5% sounds high, but you open up yourself to a much larger customer base. If you can get more than 5% extra for the item, then it makes sense to pay the fee.

Steve

[John Conklin]

You could successfully sell your stuff on the nearest "big city" craigslist - Chicago, St. Louis fr example. The big stuff will find a buyer who's willing to travel. Little stuff would move well on the classifieds here, if you're willing to ship.

I completely agree with Marty. When I check Craigslist for woodworking things I'm interested in, I'd travel 100 miles (possibly more) for a large tool that I really wanted.

It's more of a national economy today... heck, my buddy went from lower Michigan to Georgia for a motorcycle he wanted.

[Bill Gugel]

Go with craigs list, had one person drive 120 miles from upstate NY to Long Island, and another drive from Virginia in the rain for a different item.

[Tony Rozendaal]

I drove from just south of Milwaukee, WI to Syracuse New York to buy my first lathe. I bought it on eBay, but that was 12 years ago or so. If I were you, I would list your stuff on St. Louis, Chicago or Quad Cities Craiglist with "local pickup only." It doesn't cost anything except your time.

[Mike Tilley]

Ken
there are several turners here that live in central Illinois list them here and see what happens. I know if I wanted something that you had for sale the drive would not matter.

[Ken Glass]

All,
All good suggestions. It's bitter sweet to sell your shop after o many years, but a new adventure awaits, so be looking for my ad in the classified section here at SMc as a first step.

[Nicolas Silva]

If you are an AAW member, they have a for sale section as well.

[Tom Megow]

Ken
Please post when you place ad, in classified section

[Scott Hackler]

Ken, Congrats on your "new chapter" and I am sure the shop will be liquidated quickly, no matter how you go about selling. I looked up Osage Beach and my first thought was "that looks like a nice area" followed by "that isn't far enough south for me". Geographically it's further north than I am now and I hate the winter cold we get. Of course compared with where you are now... that is a big difference!

Good luck and don't be a stranger.

[Ken Glass]

Scott,
Osage Beach will just be home base. We try and winter in Old San Juan from Jan-March. 70 nights and 82-85 days, with no humidity and no bugs.

Tom,
I will post a message here when I list my shop tools in the classifieds....

[Scott Hackler]

Scott,
Osage Beach will just be home base. We try and winter in Old San Juan from Jan-March. 70 nights and 82-85 days, with no humidity and no bugs....

San Juan, now that is a place to winter! My wife and I might be headed down there in March with 10-20 friends for a little vacation. I am in constant search for our future winter home, so I will be taking notes!

[Ken Glass]

Latin Jazz, great food and Mojitos.........can't beat it.

[Matt Meiser]

I just sold off my shop as we are moving from a 1900sqft house and 30x48 pole barn on 10 acres to a 2000sqft house with a 12x12 shed on 1/3 acre. Started as a downsizing to a basement shop and then I slowly came to the realization that I really wasn't going to be happy with smaller tools, noise, and dust eating up a basement that's smaller than we have today (moving from a ranch to a 2-story so we lose basement square footage.)

For larger equipment, and even some small things, people come from Indiana, Cleveland, and north of Detroit to buy. Can't imagine you are further than that from St. Louis, Peoria, and the Quad Cities. I shipped a LOT of stuff USPS and a good bit of larger, heavier boxes Fedex ground/home. USPS provides free Priority Mail boxes and I've found Home Depot has great larger boxes CHEAP. I used Craigslist, the various woodworking forums as well as the forum for a local club. I actually found Craigslist to be the least effective though it wasn't useless. For the most part things sold FAST and I was happy with the prices I was getting. I unloaded a lot of less valuable supplies and accumulated stuff at a barn sale. For some things (like lumber) I sold CHEAP with the condition that the buyer had to provide all labor to load which was more valuable than the extra cash to me.

[Ken Glass]

Friends,
I now have some tools posted on the SMC Classified section. My GO555 Band saw sold already today. Lots of bargains, don't hesitate.....