helping a widow

[richard shelby]

Her husband was a "collector". His basement shop is crammed with high-end saws, planers, sanders, dust collectors, clamps, hand tools, and lumber of every size and species. This would be a great shop for a cabinet maker, once the rust and dust are removed. She really wants to have her basement back and us unable to sell on-line, especially one piece at time. She would love for someone to take the whole lot .Do any of you have experiences with this sort of "disposal"? Suggestions? Horror stories? Positive outcomes? Thanks, Richard

[Dan Barber]

Richard, it's possible someone here can help but pictures would be very helpful. One persons view of "high end" tools is much different than others. Especially when you mention "rust and dust". Pictures would help members who might be able to help her gauge the amount of work that could be ahead of them.

[Zachary Hoyt]

A good auctioneer will do it in a month or three, and get pretty good prices, with no effort required on the part of the widow except making the initial contact. A not so good auctioneer will not get as much for it. Private sales are possible, but given the logistics of you, her and a hypothetical buyer agreeing on a price it might be riskier, as there can be feelings of regret after the sale. With a well-advertised and well run auction everyone knows that nobody got an unethical deal.

[andrew whicker]

I do see residential tools (read: single phase and hand tools) go for pretty high prices on auction.

[Pat Germain]

An estate sale company would be the fastest way to get rid of everything. They'll send people in to pick it all up and auction it off. They also have ways to get rid of what doesn't sell at auction. It's what they do.

[Jimmy Harris]

Post it on CL or FB Marketplace as the whole lot, junk and all. As long as the price is right, someone will gladly come in and take the whole mess out and resell the good pieces individually. I've done that before. It can be very lucrative. But it's also extremely time consuming for the buyer.

Or an estate sale or auction company could work too. They may leave you with the junk that they won't want to sell, however. So find that out before you agree to anything.

[Dan Barber]

My sincere advice is DO NOT put it on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist as Jimmy suggested above. You will attract all the crazies in the area who will be unwelcome guests into the widows home and will drive her (or you) batty. Way to many weirdos out there who think they will get the best deal, will not show up, not have the money, want to trade, etc. Just too big of a hassle, particularly for the widow. Way better off with an auction if you can't find someone here to take it or help out.

[Patty Hann]

My sincere advice is DO NOT put it on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist as Jimmy suggested above. You will attract all the crazies in the area who will be unwelcome guests into the widows home and will drive her (or you) batty. Way to many weirdos out there who think they will get the best deal, will not show up, not have the money, want to trade, etc. Just too big of a hassle, particularly for the widow. Way better off with an auction if you can't find someone here to take it or help out.

^^^THIS^^^ ... squared and cubed.

I use CL all the time....it it is for single items, not in basement (basements are rare in Phoenix), I am very "mobile", can physically manage all the items.
I field all the nut cases that reply, that play games, that show up saying my ad said one price and now I'm saying it's another (I always have a copy of the ad handy, which shows the posting date)
I'm willing to do it, but a lot of people won't or can't.
I don't know specifically what service will work here, but I agree that attempting to manage the sales herself would not be a good idea.

[Dave VanDewerker]

Our WW club gets these kind of messages on a routine basis. Some are complete shops with nice tools, but most are just run of the mill or low end tools that are hard to sell., Most of the time we just look things over and give them a reasonable estimate of what the stuff would be worth if they want to "dispose" of things quickly or spend the time and effort to get top dollar. Most time people just want to get rid of things. Currently we are helping a guy whose dad pasted away and was a amateur luthier. Nice stuff but very limited market and a lot of the tools are hand made.
The best one was a guy who gave our club over $100k worth of nice tools from a cabinet shop he ran, something about not wanting the ex to get them in the divorce :-), we auctioned them off to our club members.

[George Yetka]

This is a pretty common post here unfortunately. Someone should come up with a business that just handles helping widows dealing with their SO's hobby stuff. From shooting/fishing/woodworking/etc. Certain hobbies accumulate tons of stuff and for our safety we usually don't fully explain the values of said stuff. Auction sites i believe have a large fee but ive never used one.

The best scenario is that someone in the family is into said hobby as well. My grandfather died years back and his woodshop went to my cousin(I had already stocked my garage with all but a good bench). If my cousin wasnt interested Id know how to piece it out for my grandmother but it would be time consuming.

[Pat Germain]

This is a pretty common post here unfortunately. Someone should come up with a business that just handles helping widows dealing with their SO's hobby stuff. From shooting/fishing/woodworking/etc. Certain hobbies accumulate tons of stuff and for our safety we usually don't fully explain the values of said stuff. Auction sites i believe have a large fee but ive never used one.

The best scenario is that someone in the family is into said hobby as well. My grandfather died years back and his woodshop went to my cousin(I had already stocked my garage with all but a good bench). If my cousin wasnt interested Id know how to piece it out for my grandmother but it would be time consuming.

I'm a classic car enthusiast and I see the same situation you describe. Dad or Grandad passed and left us this car. What do we do with it? My specialty is Ford Mustangs. People watch the Barrett Jackson auction on TV and see a Mustang sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. They assume the clapped out, six-cylinder Coupe they have rusting in the back yard must be worth a fortune. So they contact my Mustang club to look for buyers. It's not easy to tell people that car they saw on TV was a rare and desirable Boss 429 and their car is worthless. But some people just want the car gone.

[Richard Coers]

I spent hours and hours appraising a good friend's shop like that. Then the widow told me she took pennies on the dollar to make it disappear. I was pretty upset, because I would have been thrilled to buy it for that. So the priority is to decide if she wants money or wants it gone. You'll always get pickers who want the best, but if she wants it gone, price it like a super bargain on Facebook Marketplace. The most help you could give her is screen or be the representative who meets the people. Widows don't like reliving their husbands life over and over, and can be nervous about strangers.

[Erik Loza]

...she took pennies on the dollar to make it disappear...

This was my observation when I was in the business. I can think of several cases where it was a mom-n-pop cabinet shop. Pop passed away, then mom was left trying to liquidate the machinery. They would call me, ask what it was worth (an impossible question to answer in most cases). Then, I would drop by months later and they ended either still sitting on it, or selling it all for scrap or "haul off for free". An estate sale makes the most sense and agree that FB marketplace will mostly get you weirdos and tire-kickers. Good luck in any event.

Erik

[mike stenson]

Widows don't like reliving their husbands life over and over, and can be nervous about strangers.

It's not just widows. We gave away my dad's tools and a whole bunch of other stuff. That which we didn't know people who could use it, we donated it. Dealing with it otherwise, was just a mess.

[Dan Barber]

I'll say it again - DO NOT put this on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist, you will set yourself up for a world of issues. If she wants it "gone" , put a good price on it and list it here in the classified's.

[Warren Lake]

being in the trade helps., Ive had calls several times about buying equipment either while alive or years after they passed or even an ex mechanic asked if I was interested in machines. I figured craftsman radial but most of this stuff has been Italian and they were the best bang for the buck. Ive paid fairly high for some stuff but didnt care. They were people that I respected and they helped me huge along the way with their time and knowledge. It is something to think about have a lot of machines and friends with 10 - 20 special cars as well and kids that are often not interested.

[Pat Germain]

I'll say it again - DO NOT put this on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist, you will set yourself up for a world of issues. If she wants it "gone" , put a good price on it and list it here in the classified's.

One of the biggest issues with Craigslist and FB Marketplace these days is scammers. Neither web site appears to do anything about screening out scammers. They come from all over the world trying to "buy" something through a Zelle account only to rip you off. Ever time I try to sell something, I immediately receive multiple "offers" to buy it sight unseen. "I'll take it. Mark it sold. Send me your Zelle account information."

Absolutely this is not a situation for Craigslist or FB Marketplace. The widow could easily end up losing her entire life savings. Mrs. Pat is a banker and she sees this all the time.

[Richard Coers]

I'll say it again - DO NOT put this on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist, you will set yourself up for a world of issues. If she wants it "gone" , put a good price on it and list it here in the classified's.
You should read the classified rules on here. A third party CAN NOT liquidate an estate on the classifieds !

[Dan Barber]

You should read the classified rules on here. A third party CAN NOT liquidate an estate on the classifieds !

Thanks for pointing that out Richard, looks like from the rules it's not kosher to sell a large lot of equipment even if you are the owner of the equipment. I can understand the thought behind that rule. This being the case, I till say no FBMP or CL. Better off to go to an auction house. Way to many headaches with the FBMP and CL goofballs.

[Malcolm McLeod]

… looks like from the rules it's not kosher to sell a large lot of equipment even if you are the owner of the equipment. I can understand the thought behind that rule. ….

Simple for the widow to join SMC (contributor), then drop the lot in the classifieds. She can carefully guard her password and so prevent Mr. Shelby from ever assisting her. In any way. Not a bit. Nada.;)

[Carroll Courtney]

I buy from marketplace but never consider myself being crazy. If it was me, I would start right here and other woodworking forums. Auction houses don’t sell for free, they take a % just like lawyers does in lawsuits. If you had time, I would start out with highly desirable machines then work from there. If they are highly desirable, like Unisaw, Oliver etc old arn then I don’t see problem. Craftsmen??? To many are out there. As they say in car business, Price sales cars

[Jim Becker]

Thanks for pointing that out Richard, looks like from the rules it's not kosher to sell a large lot of equipment even if you are the owner of the equipment.
Not quite accurate, Dan. An individual owner can liquidate their entire personal shop here if they wish to or need do it. However, someone selling/reselling constantly to make a profit results in a business and a business is not permitted to advertise in the Classifieds. I'm sad that's not clear.

In this particular situation that the OP asks about, I personally agree with engaging with an experienced professional to auction/estate-sale everything as it removes the arduous task of doing it from the now-owner of the stuff. Even with help, it's a "yuge" task. Heck, I tend to procrastinate doing the things necessary to sell of some odds and ends that I really need to get out of here!

[Dan Barber]

Not quite accurate, Dan. An individual owner can liquidate their entire personal shop here if they wish to or need do it. However, someone selling/reselling constantly to make a profit results in a business and a business is not permitted to advertise in the Classifieds. I'm sad that's not clear.

Fair explanation Jim. I understand the sprit of the law in this case...

[Bob Cooper]

If we could see some pictures of what’s in this shop I think it would impact our advice

[Ron Selzer]

get a good auctioneer and get it gone.
Ron

[Richard Coers]

Not quite accurate, Dan. An individual owner can liquidate their entire personal shop here if they wish to or need do it.
The rules don't spell that out at all Jim. It reads The Classified forum is intended only for the use of Contributors for the occasional sale of their own surplus tools.
Surplus tools is far from liquidating an entire shop.

[Derek Kessler]

Consider reaching out to a reputable estate sale company if you want someone else to handle the entire process. Another option would be tapping into woodworking communities on Facebook. There are several groups there dedicated to buying and selling woodworking tools. Woodworkers in there are often on the lookout for tools, so you may find someone who's interested. I would recommend going for groups instead of marketplace. I would suggest vetting potential buyers, though. Don't entertain any dummy accounts, for example, so you avoid wasting your time.

[Stan Calow]

One factor to take into account is that widows in this circumstance may just not want to deal with the hassle of pricing, advertising, selling, and shipping things piece by piece. Think about a pile of random wood - someone knowledgeable needs to sort it, and it could be an endless task. The grief gets in the way.

[Jim Becker]

The rules don't spell that out at all Jim. It reads The Classified forum is intended only for the use of Contributors for the occasional sale of their own surplus tools.
Surplus tools is far from liquidating an entire shop.
Not going to argue about this...we have always permitted folks selling off all their personal shop equipment. There have even been recent threads.

[Bill Howatt]

Did something similar recently but only was selling 5 items at the time. Also, items were in garage so no need to enter the house itself and easy to remove by purchaser.
I don't do FB but have a neighbor who does a lot of FB Marketplace selling so I gave him pictures and the words and he posted it with the owner-lady's phone number.
Items were listed as: $x.00 Firm Cash Only
As soon as it was sold the posting for the item was removed from the site.
In spite of "Firm" some callers wanted to haggle but she told them it was firm period.
Worked out very well but she did have me to figure out the pricing. Fortunately, she was not trying to get every last dollar out of the price, getting rid of it was number 1.

[Warren Lake]

all this and still dont know if its high end Ryobi or Martin stuff.

Been to tons of auctions and know the guys running them. Make a list of the equipment. On site is done its time with Covid putting the nail in that then auction guys realized it was way easier and cheaper and no theft to do online. Not sure live will ever come back based on that. Im not sure top companies I know would touch estate stuff but no clue of what the stuff is.

Either way if you dont know what it is how are you going to sell it in any fashion

[Richard Coers]

Not going to argue about this...we have always permitted folks selling off all their personal shop equipment. There have even been recent threads.
I'm not arguing, I just want it clarified for my future. Sorry you took it differently than I intended.

[Jim Becker]

I'm not arguing, I just want it clarified for my future. Sorry you took it differently than I intended.
My apologies...I didn't mean to offend either. Any Contributor to SMC can use the Classifieds for selling/liquidating tools and other shop stuff--even a whole shop full of them--if and when then need to. It's a benefit of being a Contributor and a valuable one, at that, for the minimal amount that's requested. The one real restriction is when folks are actually doing it as a business, rather than just offloading personal use items. We've had that happen, too, unfortunately. I truly hope there are few that need to get rid of everything, of course. I'll be very sad if and when that time comes for me (or my family), for sure.

[Thomas McCurnin]

I've had nothing but good experiences with Craigslist, but I use common sense precautions. I generally meet the folks in a remote public location like inside a Starbucks, no meeting on the street by their address which might just be a dark dead end street. For tools, we exchange photos, emails, names, and phone numbers before they come over. If they are unwilling to exchange this stuff, then I'm not interested in selling to them.

eBay has the same issues, but again, I use common sense precautions.

Edit: If I liked the woman, and if she trusted me, I would simply take all the stuff, set it up in a covered location at your place and put up a CL and/or eBay ad. Part it out or offer a steep discount for the whole thing. Price it to sell. You keep 20-30% of the proceeds as a commission.

[Jerome Stanek]

An auctioneer oncw told me if you want to sell everything then have an auction. He said if someting isn't going to sell he will group it with another item. Everthing goes in 1 day

[richard shelby]

Thanks to all. I will advise her to contact a pro auction company. I'll take some pictures also.

[Zachary Hoyt]

If I died or otherwise had to sell off my shop contents I would try to get Brzostek Auction Services to do it, as they are the best in the nothern/central part of NY in my experience. Not best for the buyers, but best for the sellers. There was an outfit out of Rochester which I won't name who did commercial liquidations, and I went to a furniture factory auction they did in my area several years ago about a week before Christmas, and with very little publicity. They made orts of pretty much everything, and I don't imagine the owner was thrilled, but I got a lot of clamps and tables and things that I still use now at extremely low prices. It was funny too, in a sad way, because the auctioneer was an extremely old-looking man who was very bent and had a very wheezy voice, and was pushed around from lot to lot on a lectern on wheels by a younger worker. If he thought something was going too low he would sort of contort and loudly hiss "NO MONEY" in a way that reminded me strongly of Mr. Smallweed from Bleak House by Dickens.

I don't know how to go about choosing an auction company if you're not familiar with them from going to auctions, but it can make a big difference which one is hired.