Lathe Selling Advice Needed

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Some weeks ago I posted my Jet 1442 for sale and have had little response so I'd like to ask, "Is there some advice you can give to maybe help me with this? I have only placed the ad here on our site and the AAW site. I've been asking myself these questions:

Do I need better pictures?
Is the explanation not clear?
Is the price too high?
Is the lathe market too slow?
What other resources should I use?
Is the Houston area for pickup and no shipping too limited?Here is the link: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=53363

Any advice or thoughts will be appreciated. Thanks:)

[Mike Jory]

Chris,
If I could drive to TX, I'd "probably" buy it. That's a killer price, and with a chuck. I'm in Northern California and I'd love to upgrade from my 1236! It looks like you made a tool shelf inbetween the legs and the bed. Very clever... Gives me a great idea!
Good Luck, Mike

[Tony De Masi]

Chris,

I had the same issues when I tried to sell my Delta. Advertised here, AAW, work web page, etc..... with no bites. Being that I needed to move the Delta before I ordered my 3520B made me change my tactics. I am not rich nor wealthy just plain ole middle class but since I had been saving for quite some time I decided to give mine away to someone deserving. I posted it here and was expecting numerous hits but that wasn't the case, as I had just three. And all three, IMO, were most deserving. Not saying this is what you should or need to do, just another possible option.

Tony

[Jeff Moffett]

Chris,

I sold my Jet 1442 last year. In addition to posting it on SMC, I put an ad on Craig's List and posted a flyer at my local woodturning club. I got bites from both of those places and ended up selling it to a guy in the local club.

I looked at your pictures and I would suggest adding a shot of the lathe competely cleaned up. Your main shot looks cool with a project in process and all the shavings, but if I was buying, I'd want to see it clean.

[Bill Wyko]

Christopher, If you go that route. I'll drive to houston if I have to.:D
Fuel $396
Hotel 1 night 64.99
Free lathe and a good day of conversation. Priceless:D

I couldn't resist. It just came to mind.

[Reed Gray]

Try running an add in the tool section of the local paper. Generally good responce.
robo hippy

[Jim Becker]

A heartily agree with the Craig's List suggestion...big exposure and you can't beat the listing price, unlike your local paper. When I was selling my cabinet saw, within a few hours of listing, I had several bites and a buyer. Timing is everything, of course...

[Jonathon Spafford]

Craig's list would probably be the way to go... but man, your price is low! Seems like you could get more with that especially with all the stuff you are selling with it. Seems to me you could get at least $800 if it is in good condition... but I'm no expert. Anyway, good luck selling it!!

[Ralph Lindberg]

I listed mine on Craigs list, after two weeks of nibbles I listed it on eBay (pickup only) and sold it for $5 more then I had asked on Craigs list.

The same with my Wood-Master drum sander

But I got -zero- responce every where else.

[Bruce Page]

Chris, whenever I am trying to sell something I try to make it look as nice as possible, maybe even shine up the cast iron with some scotch-brite. I do think your first two pictures take something away from the WOW factor. I would give the lathe a thorough cleanup and remove the large blanks from the shelf. I think you should also include a picture of the “extras” that go with it.

[Doug Shepard]

Ditto on craigslist. I've sold 4-5 things on it over the last few months. I'd never used them before that. I put prices on them that I thought would move them but even then was a bit surprised at how quick I was able to sell stuff there. There seem to be quite a number of folks keeping an eye on the tool listings there looking for good deals.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Thanks everyone, I am in the process of taking much of the advice given. As to giving it away, I didn't feel I could do that, but I set the price where someone might get a real good deal and not spend a fortune. In that way I hope to help someone out just a bit. I have posted already on Craig's list and was amazed to see it. I was totally unaware of it. Great pointers thanks.:)

[Jeff Towle]

Chris,
I'm still hoping but SWMBO says I need to wait until I hear what we're getting back from Uncle Sam this year. CPA has had our stuff for about 3 weeks so I'm hoping to hear something soon, will let you know as soon as I do.

Jeff

[CPeter James]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=54130

This was my ad that sold the lathe in 15 minutes on Craig's list. I will second what others have said, clean it up, take well composed and well lit photos, show details of important features and price it to sell - if you want it to sell. The most important thing is clean it up. If it looks well cared for that the buyers will pay more, if it is dirty, they figure you don't take care of your tools and will shy away.

I have sold a bunch of stuff recently using Craig's list. It free and you can target your area for local pickup.

CPeter

[Brodie Brickey]

If you haven't post to the following forum sites:

AAW
WoodCentral
WoodTurners Resource
Wood Magazine Forum
WoodNet -- the classifieds here are really active.

CraigsList also. Texas seems to have a lot of turners so if you can get decent coverage you should be ok.

Good luck.

[Jack Norfleet]

Craigslist worked for me selling my Delta Midi Lathe. I would have posted it on the Creek but I didn't want to ship it. I had to lower my price after my first ad got zero nibbles.