Price for Used SawStop Contractor Saw

[Thomas Pender]

My neighbor and dear friend died last year (age 91) and he left among other things, a lightly used SawStop Contractor’s Saw. (He was an accomplished woodworker BTW and he fired the brake once when he cut through a nail on some reclaimed cherry - very thrifty Peace Mennonite.). His widow wants to sell the saw and I promised to ask you all what should be the bottom price she should accept. Given that new ones start at 1999 my first reaction would be to advise her not to accept anything less than say 1600. Thoughts? (Location is near Harrisonburg, VA in the Shenandoah Valley of of I81.)

[Mark Wedel]

If she tries to sell it for $1600, no one buys it, but someone offered $1400, what does she do? Sit on it for potentially a long time waiting for that $1600?

Lots of other factors can go into the pricing - are there extra saw blades, dado set, dado cartridge, etc, or is this really just the contractor saw for $1600 and nothing else vs what I could get new for $2000?

My own philosophy is that for used items, it either needs to be quite a bit cheaper, or really confirmed to be in excellent working order. Otherwise, for that $400, it might be worth it for me to buy brand new, knowing it comes with a warranty, it will work properly (and if not, covered under warranty), etc.

But one could certainly start a higher price, if you get no takers, drop the price, and keep doing so until it sells. Because presumably having the saw sit around a long time waiting for a buyer isn't doing her any good. But it also depends on how much time she wants to deal with it - starting high and dropping the price may take longer than just starting with a lower price - starting lower won't get top dollar, but may sell the saw faster with less effort.

At $1600, I can't imagine there would be any vendor who would plan to resell it - there just isn't enough money there to make it worthwhile for them (time to come out, pick it up, then market and sell it)

[Jimmy Harris]

Hard to say. It all depends on the local market.

Around here the local used hobby goods market has crashed in the last 6-10 months. Most can't afford to buy anything that isn't a necessity, and those who can, want to buy new (for both warranty and to avoid buying from a stranger). If I were her, I'd ask $1,600 and take the first $1,400 offer I get. But maybe things are different where you live. With big, heavy stuff like this that's not easy to ship, going prices are highly dependent on location.

[Tom Yaegle]

I would suggest she start at 14-1500 and go down from there. I look at a lot of machines on line for sale. A lot of it sits for months, what was the new cost? Does she want to sell or sit on it? Are you helping with the sale? That may help with the price. Good luck.

[Justin Rapp]

I need to agree with Mark on pricing. The price reflects all the 'accessories' that might come with the saw. But keep in mind, used blades are not worth so much, even if it's a high end brand. If it's a base contractor saw that can be had for 1999, with stamped wings and the 30 inch fence, I'd not pay more than 60% of it's value (forgetting about tax or delivery). Add on some upgrades to the saw and accessories and the value could go up. I think you could get 75% or more of the value if it was a PSC or ICS. However, local market does matter and ability to pull trigger on a new one based on there own buying power.