Inherited tools and boxes

[Snidey]

Hi, I am new to the forum. I have researched some of the threads and it seems the members are very helpful.

I have recently inherited a number of toolboxes and numerous tools. My brother passed earlier this year; he was a mechanic by trade. I brought his boxes home and have been going through them. I have a few questions that the forum members may be able to help me with:

What is the best venue for selling automotive tools? (Craigslist/ebay, swap meets, trade shows, etc.)

Same question for the boxes. I have a Matco MB2010CX (custom built for my brother in '93) a MAC MB500, and a few assorted Craftsman boxes, tops and bottoms. I have seen a pretty wide range of prices on used boxes and not sure what these are worth. I assume the Craftsman don't have much value.

The Matco is in very good shape except I don't have keys. Box is open. Should I replace locks (there are three) or is there somewhere I can order keys?

The MAC does NOT clean up very nice... No real damage, but plenty of wear. Also I need to repair lock. The bar that goes to the back is there, but lock is missing. Can I order MAC lock and keys?

Some of the tools I am familiar with, but there are others that I have no clue. I will post pics as I work through them. Right now I am working my way through hundreds of sockets, 1/4" drive through 1" drive. Mostly Craftsman, but some Snap On and MAC, as well as SK.

Finding many custom tools my brother made by grinding, filing, bending, welding, etc., as he had need. I wish I had 10% of his mechanical ability. I am planning on selling the bulk of it after assembling a couple sets for my kids.

Thanks for any help/advice.

Snidey

 

[FJ 432]

I am local if you would like some advice.

 

[Speed-Racer]

Sorry to hear of your loss. I would choose Ebay if you have the time to list and ship the tools individually. Try to find an auctions that has similar items to determine what they can sell for. Even tool boxes can sell on ebay if you accept a USHIP.com pickup.

If you want to sell the tools in a larger lot or quicker, then craigslist. Everyone will have a different view, it will be interesting to see what others say.

 

[Cato]

Here in California we have tool swap meets where you can just set up a table and sell. Check if you have something like that in CO.

Be sure you do some research and see what your late brother's tools are going for on
Ebay.

Beware of bargain hunters and scammers who will offer you pennies on the dollar. Matcho, MAC, and even Craftsman (USA) are pretty valuable. Even Craftsman (Made in China) are good, functional tools.

 

[BFBOB]

I agree your best return and safest course is eBay. But, to do it effectively takes some time and effort. one of eBay's strongest points is the ability to see what the same or similar tools have actually sold for. Then you can get a feel for whether you're better off selling single tools or sets. From your description, probably your worst return would be by selling it as one lot locally - and there's the risk of having strangers come to your home.
On eBay, of course buyers will see your return address, unless you spoof it by using, say, your work address for shipping labels, and not using eBay's label printing.
Depending on just how much stuff you have, turning the sale over to pro's might be the best. It will save you lots of time, and can be handled (by some of them, at least) at some other location. Auction houses, Estate Sale managers and the like.
I've done all of the above under various circumstances; one size does not fit all.
You've got lots of homework to do now, so get to it!

And good luck.

 

[LXCam]

I am local if you would like some advice.

Take this kind gentleman up on his offer unless you have endless amounts of time to figure it out for yourself.

 

[Empty Pockets]

First, Welcome to the forum. and please accept my condolences on the loss of your brother.

Second, If you are unclear on what the value of the tools you have is, I would probably accept LJ 432's offer.

If your kids are old enough to understand what is going on, you may want to get them involved, as well. One or more of them may have an interest in working with them. You may want to keep a box and a chest (if they are not too big) for yourself and build a set of too;ls for yourself, as well.

Good luck

 

[four.cycle]

Hello Snidey and welcome to the site.

Sorry about your brother.

I got nothin' to add other than:

Generally speaking, Craigslist buyers want everything for nothing and most of them are flakes.
GJ member ssdave has sold a ton of stuff on Ebay and might offer some tips.

You can always post stuff here in the "classifieds" section after you have reached a hundred posts here on the site.

I'm always open to the possibility of more Indestro, Thorsen, and Giller.

 

[sgtmac]

Sorry for your loss. It's no fun going through someone's possessions. It's a real emotional roller coaster.

I lost my 9 year old to cancer and I will miss her till the day we meet again.

 

[bdelmar2]

I've sold a lot of cars and car parts on CL for about 3 years, and I've bought some stuff.

I find the sellers to be much harder to deal with than the buyers, but perhaps this is due to my perspective and area.

I set fair prices and accurately described whatever I was selling and had no real problems, and actually few issues at all.

I would estimate I had to answer something like 4 or 5 calls selling a car/truck before somebody actually showed up to look at it.

I only remember a couple people who actually showed up and didn't buy the vehicle out of probably 300 or so sales.

Parts I had fewer calls per item and I can't recall anybody ever failing to buy something they came for. I also would warranty the part to work when installed and had perhaps 6 people return parts out of probably thousands of sales, and of those one was because the buyer had a really bad mechanic trying to install the engine. (at a shop even)

After giving his money back, I resold the engine for $100 less because they managed to break a corner of the block off. The new buyer drove like 100 miles, we loaded the engine in the trunk of a caddy, he called me the next morning to let me know the engine was in and ran great.

Another return was someone straight trying to rip me off, they swapped the rotating assembly out of a Honda engine and switched the head. I had the head and block marked and I know it didn't have broken rods because I drove it up to where I pulled the engine the day before.

The other 4 returns I believe were actual part failures, can't catch everything, but considering the amount of parts sold, that's a pretty good return rate, I get that many or more failures on new parts.

Actually buying something from CL I have found to be much more difficult, all the way from contacting the person, to setting up a workable time, to finding out the item doesn't look anything like the photo, or doesn't run, or is no longer available, to goodness knows what.

I watch CL daily for tools, and what I see are mainly way overpriced, or beat to death, or both.

Personally I never sell tools, but I think if you sold individual sets at a reasonable price and were available during realistic times you could do ok. Still a lot of time involved, and you would have to deal with a lot of people most likely, and they would know where you lived, although I never had any issues the potential is there for problems.

I think you would do just as well or better with ebay, and it would take some time, but I don't know if it would be any more time than cl, and it could be done on your schedule rather than someone else's.


I agree that you would make more by selling individually no matter where you choose to sell.

I also agree with making sure you keep a decent set, not only as a practical matter, but also for the memory.

I've never used the sale section of GJ, I've looked there a few times but usually don't see a lot, though the prices were decent.

 

[ryan20021982]

I would sell the shippable tools on Ebay but like already said it takes alot of time. One thing you could do is list them all as auctions and start say 20 1 day and then 20 the next day or 2 days later to give you time to get the first set shipped before the next lot sells, and the boxes on Craigslist and find some sale sites on Facebook that are local, we are not that big on an area here and we have a few local tool sale pages so you should have something.

 

[gte718p]

I buy and sell a lot of tools on Craigslist, Ebay, and occasionally here. To better assist you a couple of questions are important. First, are you trying to get rid of everything or make money? How much time are you willing to invest?

A couple of general tips from someone who has been doing this for almost 15 years. Selling entire sets is easy, but takes time and does not make money. The market for people who need an entire tool set and are willing and able to fork over several thousand dollars at one time is small. Also putting $1000 dollar plus items on craigslist seems to bring out the scammers. Sure I will take your check and you movers will come pick it up.

Breaking up sets takes time, but brings the most money. Your main line Snap On tools (wrenches, ratchets, sockets, screw drivers, pry bars) will consistently sell for 50% of list. Occasionally a little more occasionally a little less. Most mechanics don't buy pay list to begin with. Mac generally goes around 40% and Matco 35-40%. Craftsman is generally worthless unless you have old US made stuff and can tap into the right market.

Specialty tools are different. If you don't really care about selling them, you can get 80% of list for Snap On. However they will sit on Craigslist or Ebay, sometimes for year until the day someone needs that tool. If you want to get rid of them in a timely madder 30% of list will cause people to buy it because they might need it some day.

Tool boxes **** to sell. I don't buy them unless I have to. They take up space and only a select market can afford them. Replacing the locks will not buy you anything. Most people are going to rekey them anyway so that they have the only set of keys and to match any other boxes they may have.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

I watch CL daily for tools, and what I see are mainly way overpriced, or beat to death, or both.

Personally I never sell tools, but I think if you sold individual sets at a reasonable price and were available during realistic times you could do ok. Still a lot of time involved, and you would have to deal with a lot of people most likely, and they would know where you lived, although I never had any issues the potential is there for problems.

I see that as well as I suspect most CL users see that overpriced crappy tools are the norm on CL.

As far as people knowing where you live, there are ways to get around that.

 

[Snidey]

SgtMac - I am so sorry for your loss. I can't imagine...

 

[Snidey]

Thank you all for your thoughts. I appreciate your insights and concern.

I am not looking to make a ton of money with this, but want to be responsible to take care in liquidating my brother's stuff.
As some of you mentioned, it is an emotional process. It is hard, but I also appreciate the time working through it a couple evenings a week. I think somehow it helps me in grieving.
I am going to keep a set of tools for myself and a top & bottom box. I want to keep the Matco because it is the biggest and coolest, and has a "made for" plaque with my brother's name. But I figure this box is also worth the most and will help cover the cost of trucking all this back here from SoCal.
Most of the tools are USA Craftsman, with a decent amount of Snap On and some Mac, Matco, etc., as well as some Harbor Freight here and there.
I am not in a hurry, but will want this to end at some point.
I will post updates to my progress here and any questions that come up. Thank you again and also thank you for letting me in your community.
John

 

[Richard Cranium]

for 50.00 you can become an alliance member and sell the tools here at G.J.

 

[Cope]

A Matco dealer should be able to order keys for the MB2010 locks, but if you take the number(s) off the locks to a locksmith, he can make keys for you.

 

[wkndwarrior29]

Keys can also be bought on eBay pretty cheap.

 

[Lassen Forge]

Sorry about your loss... that just *****. I would hate to be in your shoes doing this... my brother is a wrench, and I can't fathom having to go through that.

for 50.00 you can become an alliance member and sell the tools here at G.J.

Forgot about this, but it's not a bad suggestion - at least the people here will give you a fair price for them (but do your research first!) and you know they'll be going to people who will both use them and care for them...

Good luck!

 

[Beerman]

Sorry for your loss.

My suggestion would 1st to be, take the offer from the member here to look things over, once you have them shipped from So. Cal.

Second, would be to contact a tool truck dealer in your area and see if they were interested in helping you sell them-perhaps on some sort of consignment. I'm guessing they might know a new mechanic or two on their route, using some low-end tools, that might be interested. Work out some sort of "broker's fee" if they find you a buyer. 10-20% would be fair.

I used to sell some items on consignment this way myself. I made a few bucks, the dealer got a few bucks (that I'm guessing didn't make it onto the books for tax purposes) and some guys who needed them got some great tools at a great price. If you meet a dealer who wants more than 20% find a different dealer.

FWIW, I had one dealer I dealt with in particular who said he was always asked about used tools. He was able to sell almost everything I could get to him in usually a week or so. He claimed the used, one-off stuff was a far easier sale for him than the new, shiny stuff.