One needs to know the chainging market. It is nevr the same and never the same form place to place in this counrty.
Souply and Demand.
When I first started a year or two ago, vises were going pretty cheap at local swap meets in Riverside County, Calif. I bought every good vise I could find. Prices shot up, and sson there were no more good vises to be had. (Still lots of junk, though).
I finally asked one of the rusty tool sellers why. He said, "There's some old fat, ball-headed white guy whose been buying up everything."
With nothing good to buy, I stopped buying. Soon vices began to reappear, but no buyers. Not even the old fat, ball-headed white guy. Prices plunged.
With so many vises at home, this old fat ball-headed white guy started picking and choosing what he bought. He (me) recently bought a beautiful Wilton 9300 swivel bullet for $15 (the seller wanted $13, but I didn't have exact change), and a clean made-in-1955 Wilton 9400 swivel bullet (my birth year) for $25. (Pix to come, I promise). Some guys try to sell these same vises on Craigslist and eBay for $200 or more.
A younger fella could do the same with wrenches (or hammers... anything, really). Buy 'em by the box full, take them home, sort them out, clean up the ones that are worth the effort, and, in no time, you will have a fabulous collection of wrench sets from many brands. Sell the less desireable ones - cleaned up and properly sorted - for more than you paid for the whole bunch.
Next time the Outsource boys Snappy, Matt or Mac pull up, tell them you already got a set of old Proto, Bonney, Armstrong, S-K or Williams 1" to 2-1/4" combo wrenches that you paid $5 to $10 each.
And there's no need to follow others into the HF parking lot; you got better tools cheaper.
In no time, the best older American tools will find their way into younger hands, where they can continue to build and serve this country. The cheapos can get sent back across the ocean where they are needed to build that country.
if it says Craftsman, and it is 25% or less than new, I buy it. Even if it's not vintage/collectible, you can always swap it for a new tool so you can not lose.
