To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

Do Chinese Sockets/Tools Have Any Value?

Bull

Super Moderator
Joined
Dec 12, 2005
Messages
16,189
Location
MA
I want to get a specific ratchet, but it comes attached to a large lot of tools, mostly ratchets, sockets and extensions, many of which are Asian.

If I buy the lot to get my one tool, will there be ANY resale value on the foreign stuff? Perhaps if I bundled it all together?
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
OP
B

Bull

Super Moderator
Joined
Dec 12, 2005
Messages
16,189
Location
MA
Damn. So if I buy this lot for the one ratchet that I want, I should expect to literally throw away all of the Chinese tools?

What about Taiwanese tools...they must have some value? Some of them are ok!
 

ears

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 23, 2008
Messages
943
Location
lorton VA
They sell better than good tools at yard sales/flea markets. You have to sell cheap though.
 

Red Green

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
1,905
Location
South Central Michigan
Damn. So if I buy this lot for the one ratchet that I want, I should expect to literally throw away all of the Chinese tools?

What about Taiwanese tools...they must have some value? Some of them are ok!

I sold a mix of about 100 Chinese and Taiwanese sockets and some other assorted off brand import tools for $5 this summer at a garage sale.

So unless someone here is looking for a certain socket for a set they are trying to rebuild they have next to no value. You don't ever buy any Chinese tools at the pawn shops do you?
 
OP
B

Bull

Super Moderator
Joined
Dec 12, 2005
Messages
16,189
Location
MA
I never buy any Chinese tools if I can avoid it. But this damn ratchet is stuck in the middle of this unknown pile of foreign ****! The seller does not communicate very well...says the items are packed away and he wont look at them. Says there is a mix of USA and foreign in the lot, but wont give details. I think the ratchet is a long-handled Herbrand, but there is only one picture, the thing is upside down, and it's hard to tell. If I buy the lot, I'll be taking a risk since I can't count on any value from the overseas stuff. :willy_nil
 

autoace

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 20, 2008
Messages
3,440
Location
Maine,USA
I never buy any Chinese tools if I can avoid it. But this damn ratchet is stuck in the middle of this unknown pile of foreign ****! The seller does not communicate very well...says the items are packed away and he wont look at them. Says there is a mix of USA and foreign in the lot, but wont give details. I think the ratchet is a long-handled Herbrand, but there is only one picture, the thing is upside down, and it's hard to tell. If I buy the lot, I'll be taking a risk since I can't count on any value from the overseas stuff. :willy_nil

You could always hide in the bushes, with a sack of chinese sockets, and throw them at the fart can muffler cars you were talking about, priceless:thumbup:
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

TireTracks

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 11, 2009
Messages
2,397
Location
Yakima,Washington.
Well they have value, would you rather have cheap tools or none at all? but in this case i dont know, you could pick out the good stuff then sell the rest, make some money back from them.
 

Danglerb

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 6, 2007
Messages
9,736
Location
SoCal
Find somebody local to check it out and/or deal with the junk parts. Shipping and hoping sounds kind of nuts, too many of the Asian tools were made to look like US brands.

Value of the stuff depends on what it is too, Craftsman has some value, even Husky and Pittsburgh have some value, but stuff with just a size stamp is hard to give away.
 

Need4racin

Banned
Joined
Oct 22, 2008
Messages
1,320
Location
SE Georgia / Dallas TX
I have a bag full of china/twain sockets that are unlabeled that I keep just in-case I need to grind down a socket to fit in a tight spot. Or weld the socket onto a stripped bolt. Other than that they are literally worthless.
 
Last edited:
OP
B

Bull

Super Moderator
Joined
Dec 12, 2005
Messages
16,189
Location
MA
You could always hide in the bushes, with a sack of chinese sockets, and throw them at the fart can muffler cars you were talking about, priceless:thumbup:

:lol_hitti:beer: This was a great way to start my Monday morning:thumbup:

Sack of Chinese sockets!
 

jamesemery728

Well-known member
Joined
May 2, 2009
Messages
961
They have lots of value:
1. Keep them as loaner tools for those neighbors.
2. Carry them in your vehicle for emergency repairs.
3. When you have a yard sale you can advertise "Tools".
4. Sinkers for deep sea fishing.
5. Balast for winter driving in the back of your pickup.
To answer your question truthfully, you probably will never get what you paid for them and FWIW whenever I am serious about bidding on something on ebay I send the seller an email and ask a question. If he does not respond or does not communicate well I will not place a bid. If you can't get a response to a question as a potential buyer then your chances of resolving a problem after you have bought the item are probably going to be nil.
 
OP
B

Bull

Super Moderator
Joined
Dec 12, 2005
Messages
16,189
Location
MA
To answer your question truthfully, you probably will never get what you paid for them and FWIW whenever I am serious about bidding on something on ebay I send the seller an email and ask a question. If he does not respond or does not communicate well I will not place a bid. If you can't get a response to a question as a potential buyer then your chances of resolving a problem after you have bought the item are probably going to be nil.

I usually abide by this rule, too. However, eBay, like the world, has plenty of people who just don't know how to write effectively, or who are lazy and unresponsive. But, some of them have neat stuff. If there's a long handled Herbrand sitting in that junk pile, then it might be worth it to take this risk and hope there are enough decent tools in the lot to get back a few bucks after selling them.

The ratchet in the picture looks too old to be anything BUT vintage USA. You can sort of spot poor Asian quality ratchets very easily. This one looks old, has a weird patina, and resembles a Herbrand from the underside.
 

austin308

Active member
Joined
Oct 14, 2009
Messages
28
Best value for your Chinese tools. If you go to a salvage yard to buy parts you will soon find out the price of the part depends alot on how they feel about you. So try bringing a big bag of tools to give them, you will be happy with the value you can get for that ****. That is a place were good tools don't last long, so any tools are good to have around. They may even give you the part you need for free. Even if it doesn't work out you it keeps you from filling your trash can with this **** it is a win- win for you either way.
 

Chris Adams

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 21, 2007
Messages
2,117
OK, all the BULL (sorry about that):) aside,
yes, they have value.
Not a terrific amount.

I just (yesterday) sold about twenty pounds of mostly Chinese and Taiwan sockets and wrenches for roughly 100 bucks.
I say roughly because the total was 150, and there were some non-wrench items in the mix.


I bought a large estate sale a few weeks ago,filled the bed on my truck, because I wanted three items.
Well, two, but I knew one tool box was worth nearly the cost of the truck load.

I paid 500 bucks, sold the box that weekend for 450.

Box was worth more, but I just wanted to get my money back right away. Gives me bragging rights to the wife (see honey, it was all free...) and have been parting it out ever since.
I finished with the big pile of wrenches, sockets and whatever yesterday.
Well, one tool box left, but... I could throw it away and still be fine.

I did end up keeping about a third of the stuff. He had better files/chisels/Tap&Die stuff than I already owned.

So you can always put together boxes of hand tools and sell them on Craig's List.

A tip, take lots of photos, sell in clumps, and keep the price down.
Another thing, on CL, if it is under priced it will sell in about half a day at the max.
If it is a fair deal, it takes about one or two weeks.
Keep taking the add down, and reposting it for the best action on small things or collections. Many people NEVER use the search function.
I mean, never.
So if it isn't on the first page, they never see it.
Also, most people checking CL only check an average of once in two weeks.
So you need to 'cross' the two week mark before most your customers will be sure to have seen the add.
 

Danglerb

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 6, 2007
Messages
9,736
Location
SoCal
The last time I bought 20 lbs of sockets they were 90% brand new SK, and the lot cost me $25. I think I could buy 20 lbs of sockets new at some places for less than $50 and get all 100% warranty brands. You must have found some awfully ripe customers, or some of the sockets must have looked very good to them.
 
OP
B

Bull

Super Moderator
Joined
Dec 12, 2005
Messages
16,189
Location
MA
The last time I bought 20 lbs of sockets they were 90% brand new SK, and the lot cost me $25. I think I could buy 20 lbs of sockets new at some places for less than $50 and get all 100% warranty brands. You must have found some awfully ripe customers, or some of the sockets must have looked very good to them.

To be fair, it sounds like the prices you pay are uncommonly good.

It seems that, in addition to earthquakes, SoCal is known for having oodles and oodles of stuff for sale, and a lot of it at exceptionally low prices. :headscrat

If I found 20lbs of new SK sockets for $25, I would look around the corner for a leprechaun and buy a lottery ticket, too. It's not normal.
 

Danglerb

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 6, 2007
Messages
9,736
Location
SoCal
If I found 20lbs of new SK sockets for $25, I would look around the corner for a leprechaun and buy a lottery ticket, too. It's not normal.

Hey I looked for the little guy too, should have paid more attention to the sockets. I posted about it when I bought them here, when I got them home instead of a nice set of SK I had as many as 15 of the same size socket, and not all that much variety of sizes and types. They are still sitting next to my desk in a 24 compartment case waiting for me to think of something to do with them.

SK 40708 9mm 1/4" drive 6 pt. x15
SK 41705 9mm 1/4" drive extended 6 pt. x12
SK 48014 14mm 1/2" drive extended 6 pt. x6
SK 40314 14mm 1/2" drive 12 pt. x10
SK 48214 14mm 1/2" drive 6 pt. x6
SK 309 9mm 3/8" drive 6 pt. x7
SK 40331 31mm 1/2" drive 12 pt. x2

Wright 35-14 -USA -95D 14mm 3/8" drive extended 6 pt. x3
Wright 36-14 -USA -91 14mm 3/8" drive extended 12 pt. x1
Wright 35-09 -USA -94D 9mm 3/8" drive extended 6 pt. x3
Wright 36-09 -USA -91 9mm 3/8" drive extended 12 pt. x1
Wright 30-14 -USA -95E 14mm 3/8" drive extended 6 pt. x1
Wright 41-09 -USA *3D 9mm 1/2" drive 12 pt. x1
Wright 30-09 -USA -95E 9mm 3/8" drive 6 pt. x1
Wright 31-09 -USA -95D 9mm 3/8" drive 12 pt. x3

Easco 52 6109 9mm 3/8" drive 6 pt. x1
 

[email protected]

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 19, 2009
Messages
130
Location
Nelson county, va --- no stoplights, and no one to
A while ago I took all of my "throw away" tools, and starting making tool sets out of them. At which point, I could give boys interested in tools a working set to start with. (I say boys, cause I haven't met a girl too interested in them..... accept for me!!) Just a thought, but I think it's worth doing.
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
Top Bottom