Successful strategy for selling father’s lifetime of tools

[heatherG]

My father recently passed. He has 65 years of tools and miscellaneous that now must go.
He was a quality contractor. I imagine some of these items, ‘you don’t find the quality these days’ . Items are in New York

 

[SusKatCas]

Convince me that you are a legit poster and I have a lot of thoughts. My experience stems from cleaning up after my Dad passed in '19. It took nine small tool auctions, one big outdoor equipment auction (all online) and numerous spot deals.

His collection was location in central Michigan.

Cheers, Alan

 

[PoorUB]

It really depends on the specific tools. The sad part is some of the older tools might have very little value. A 50 year old hammer or framing square has questionable value. Power tools that need to be plugged in have been replaced with battery powered are questionable as for value. Condition means a lot.

Some older tools do have a following and some guys collect them, but that varies greatly.

If you have time, Facebook is good, but be prepared to sort out the scammers and low ballers.

 

[cgrutt]

Some pics or a description would help. Some vintage tools have collector value and some don't it really depends on what you're looking to get out of it and how much time and effort you're willing to put into making that happen. As far as maximizing value ebay for individual items (those that hold alot of value) may be best but its alot of work and expensive in terms off selling fees and transaction costs. FBMP may work but you'll be dealing with people individually not sure if you're comfortable with that or not. Auction house would be least amount of effort but its anyone's guess what you'll come out of it with. Garage sale will likely clear you out fast but I wouldn't expect much of a return. Where abouts in NY are you? I'm just outside NYC.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

My father recently passed. He has 65 years of tools and miscellaneous that now must go.
He was a quality contractor. I imagine some of these items, ‘you don’t find the quality these days’ . Items are in New York

Sorry for your loss. I can't, with good conscious, vote on your poll as there are too many variables - effectiveness of various "for sale" venues in your area, how long you are prepared to spend on the dispersal, whether your priority is to disperse the items or maximize income, your knowledge of the value of the items, the population of the area . I have spent time dispersing several estates and spent time thinking about what my heir should do. My best advice is to find someone such as an estate sale firm that has more knowledge of the local market and values, after first removing any items desired by the heirs.

 

[four.cycle]

As noted above, there is no one answer. Too many variables.
Post some photos.

That said:
Pipe wrenches - unless it is an exceptionally rare model - are fairly worthless.
"Speeder handles" - can't give 'em away. More worthless than pipe wrenches.

When you say "contractor", that implies stuff like building houses, remodeling kitchens and bathrooms.

As noted above, corded 120-volt power tools have pretty much gone the way of the dinosaur - everybody's going to battery-powered hand-held power tools. (I paid $9.50 for this B&D drill set - like new! In the case!) You can buy 120-volt hand-held drill motors or circular saws around here for $15-$20 all day long, seven days a week.

Same with air-powered pneumatic hand-held power tools - that market is also going to battery powered stuff.

There are narrow niche markets for woodworking tools like saws, planes, chisels, auger braces, and levels, but again, those are narrow markets and there are not a lot of items that will fetch premium selling prices, simply because most of those items are fairly common.

As to venues:
I sell on ebay and Craigslist (and a wee bit here in the "Classifieds" section.)
Both ebay and Craigslist are slow and cumbersome and tedious, and require one to put up with a lot of chicanery from would-be buyers.
I've been advised I should set up a "Facebook Marketplace" account in order to dispose of non-tool items that are going to be tough sells - i have a house full of antiques.

Best of luck in your quest.

 

[heatherG]

My father recently passed. He has 65 years of tools and miscellaneous that now must go.
He was a quality contractor. I imagine some of these items, ‘you don’t find the quality these days’ . Items are in New York

Thank you for all of the replies. Very good realistic replies.
After identifying which things might be most valueable, FB marketplace maybe the way to go.
Then Advertising a local contractors ‘garage sale’ day or weekend would come next.
As you can imagine, it is some logistics and scheduling with the siblings and the amount of effort each ones wants to put in.

Or putting an affordable, ‘kitchen sink’ tool kit price for someone just starting out in the business.
I’m just trying to find some common ground between trashing or donating it all to extracting some value from his years in business.
Stuck in one of those situations where Dad always thought he would use it! Even though he was in his 80’s.

 

[MOS3522]

Does he have mechanical tools? Brands like snap-on hold surprisingly good resale.

 

[jimindm]

I would call an auction or estate sale place first. They need enough to have a sale. That is the good and the bad stuff.

There is a cost, for them to do the work, and there simply has to be enough value in them doing the work. When they are done, the rest really has no value, or very little. Many times they deal with left overs and you have nothing left and get a check.

Many times people will sell off the good stuff, cheaper than a company will get out of it, and then have what is left. What is left has very little value, and not enough for anyone to put the work in of clearing it all out.

At the end of the day you can put the work in at selling what you can. Meeting people, taking pictures, listing it and so on, then cleaning out what is left over. Or you can have a company come in and be done with it in a few days. It usually is a wash.

If there is a lot of something you might be able to make a package deal with someone that is in that business. As others have said though the trades have changed a lot over time.

 

[four.cycle]

Thank you for all of the replies. Very good realistic replies.
After identifying which things might be most valueable, FB marketplace maybe the way to go.

A buddy of mine had roaring success peddling the contents of his shop a few months ago using Facebook Marketplace. He is the one who suggested I open up a Facebook account for that purpose.
I was actually quite surprised at the prices people were willing to pay for old dusty junk.

While you are commiserating about which option to explore, let me offer a couple thoughts:

Just because an item doesn't sell within 48 hours doesn't necessarily mean you've set the price too high - my ebay sales prove that with every transaction.

proof

A buddy of mine sold used cars. He had a partnership with his brother-in-law Gary.
He and Gary would go up to Auburn and pick up cars at the auction.
Sometimes Gary would bid on a vehicle and my buddy would ask him "Hey, what are you thinking?"
Gary's standard reply: "There's an *** for every seat."

Somewhere out there your customer is looking for that widget you're trying to sell.

 

[LeonardY]

Thank you for all of the replies. Very good realistic replies.
After identifying which things might be most valueable, FB marketplace maybe the way to go.
Then Advertising a local contractors ‘garage sale’ day or weekend would come next.
As you can imagine, it is some logistics and scheduling with the siblings and the amount of effort each ones wants to put in.

Or putting an affordable, ‘kitchen sink’ tool kit price for someone just starting out in the business.
I’m just trying to find some common ground between trashing or donating it all to extracting some value from his years in business.
Stuck in one of those situations where Dad always thought he would use it! Even though he was in his 80’s.

My condolences for your loss.

We just went through this a couple of years ago. After losing my parents two days apart.

Some of the things we learned.

If you have estate attorney consult with them. Ours had a person who was very knowledgeable And was the best option for clearing the house.
We did interview a number of people to auction items. There was one who was the most honest but wasn’t interested in selling everything. He was an auction house and only wanted to cherry pick. Probably the best exposure as they had internet catalogs and auctions base on the type of items. Charged 50% of the sales

The next was a swing the doors open and everything is for sale. We (The family) would not have to be there. They would take of everything. BTW. A true estate sale is when all items are marked with a price. There is no haggling. The person pays what it says. They would discount everything on the last day. Whatever is left they would pay a lump sum price. They charged 50% up to $6000. above that 30%.

Thrift/commission store was another option we looked at. They took 50% of the sales.

The last was curated (Attorney’s person) He brought in select people in small groups. We went with that. He only took 30% of the sales.

If you haven’t learned how to use Google lens. Now is the time. You will get prices. Mostly inflated. From other sales of the same item.
Remember that whatever price you find. Selling to a wholesale person will be less than wholesale.

Find one of your dad’s friends or a former worker that you trust. They will be able to help you identify things or tell you what’s worth selling and whats’s not.

If you have the time, space and patience to sell the stuff yourself, that will net you the most money. We chose to liquidate as much as we could quickly because we needed to sell the house.

I wish all the best.

 

[WisJim]

If you know a ball park price for all (or most) of the tools, a garage sale that is well advertised with good pictures could work well. That is what I have done when I sold a lot of usable and collectible tools in preparation for moving. I priced a lot of things individually and put the cheaper and common items on a $5 table, and $1 table, etc., to avoid pricing every little thing. I find that eBay works for high value and rarer and collectible stuff, and FaceBook Marketplace is a pain, with too many time wasters responding to ads. FBM does work for advertising garage sales, though.
When I check eBay sold items for price ranges on my items, I don't try to sell them for what they sell for on eBay, rather I figure what I would pay for the item if I was going to then resell it on eBay. In other words, I take into consideration shipping cost and eBay fees.

 

[pima67]

A different approach: If there are any trade schools in your area, consider donating the "stuff" to them. Depending on where you are in the estate settling process this may have an tax deduction advantage.

 

[cgrutt]

A different approach: If there are any trade schools in your area, consider donating the "stuff" to them. Depending on where you are in the estate settling process this may have an tax deduction advantage.

While I think donating property is a great idea it would need to be fairly large estate (>$15M) before tax deduction would kick in, no?

ETA or are you talking about taking them as an inheritance after estate is settled and having individual heirs donate them and take deduction on individual returns?

 

[65ranchero]

While I think donating property is a great idea it would need to be fairly large estate (>$15M) before tax deduction would kick in, no?

ETA or are you talking about taking them as an inheritance after estate is settled and having individual heirs donate them and take deduction on individual returns?

I really didn't think there is a low limit to tax deductions.
There is also the possibility of donating tools to Habitat for Humanities which may qualify for tax deduction.

 

[cgrutt]

I really didn't think there is a low limit to tax deductions.
There is also the possibility of donating tools to Habitat for Humanities which may qualify for tax deduction.

No I was I was just saying small estates (below $15 million) generally are not taxed so donating property (within the estate) doesn't have a tax benefit. But there actually could be a tax benefit if the property is distributed to the heirs and they donate the property individually. Anyway no worries your comment had me thinking about it that's all.

 

[MarcSeattle]

Some cities have what they call tool libraries, where homeowners can buy a membership and borrow tools that they need, like borrowing a book from a library. This is best for things that a homeowner wouldn't use enough to justify owning, or would be inconvenient to store. Examples are a long ladder, roto-hammer, pressure washer, compressor, or a powered lawn de-thatcher. Tool libraries are usually nonprofit and welcome estate donations.

They might be thankful enough to give you some consulting on the best method of selling or auctioning the rest of your father's collection. They definitely know the thoughts and needs of your local contractors / craftspeople / mechanics.

 

[BurtEggley]

sorry about your loss. Depends what you want to accomplish. If you want max dollar then you will need to research every tool, and advertise in the places people prone to using them might be. Roofing tools won't sell well in to an automotive shop. A set of tools to release brakes on a specific car won't sell in some other environment. Someone who needs that tool may be the only person who would buy it. If he had a lot of woodworking tools, maybe someone who wants to start a shop might want them. I would try Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, and forums where people use those specific tools. Even then you may only get 5 - 10 cents on the dollar when someone finally knocks on your door. There are not a lot of places you can dump them quickly except to donate them.

 

[stickshift]

Fastest is to donate them. If you want to get some money out of them, but be efficient with your time, you might check to see if there are flea markets in your area and then post pictures of the tools on FB Mktplace and say you will be at this flea market on this date. Or you could do a yard sale and post on FB Mktplace, but you will not get nearly as much foot traffic, but you have the convenience of not having to haul all that stuff around.

 

[Stuart in MN]

You'll probably need to do a lot of sorting and culling before you'll be ready to do any selling - if he was like most guys, a fair portion of that 65 year collection is stuff that wore out or broke decades ago, and he put it on the shelf thinking some day he'd get around to fixing it. See if you have any friends or family who are familiar with his work who can help with assessing just what's there.

I'm guessing there's a lot of miscellaneous nuts and bolts and nails and general hardware too.

 

[drokihazan]

My partner has pretty clear instructions. She's supposed to call my Snap-On dealer and ask him to go through my stuff and pay her whatever he thinks is fair for whatever he's interested in. He's a good person, he'll probably give her 50% of what he thinks he can resell for. Then she's just supposed to list literally everything else as a single lot on Marketplace for not even less than what I think it's worth, but less than what *she* thinks it's worth. Priced to sell, with instructions that they can't have anything if they don't pick up everything, and keep dropping the price until the tools and stuff are gone.

This is because, while I have a lot of valuable tools worth a lot of money, I know full well that the money will be worth a lot less than getting rid of my stuff so she can grieve in peace would be. Things that are important to me or have sentimental value to me, they mean nothing to her. My shop is just me, and we've both taken steps to ensure that money won't be the immediate problem when either of us is gone. No reason for her to try to eke every dollar out of it, or to have all my stuff taking up space in her life.

It would be a nightmare for me to imagine her trying to go through and sell my bolt bins or drill indexes to extract value. Sure, they're worth money, but come on, she needs to be able to move on. I'm no hoarder and my shop is incredibly organized, but I have untold amounts of tools and hardware, and it would be so unfair to leave all that as a burden to her.

 

[Junkman]

If the rest of the heirs are going to share in the proceeds but not in the work, then find an estate company to handle everything. I liquidated my father-in-law's entire house in a weekend. He had already sold or given away all of his tools, so what was left were household items, furniture, etc. I put an ad on Craigslist, and gave a brief description of what was in the home and a number to call. I interviewed each person to see what they were looking for and why. I found many people who needed furniture, and I gave them what they had asked for. I also had people who were ready to come and take everything, but they never got the address to come for the items. They were just going to take the stuff and resell it. I wanted it to go to people who actually needed the items. By Monday, the house was empty and ready to be sold. If you don't need the money, find people who can use the items; if that is going to be more work than you want to do, donate them to a charity. Just tell them that they have to take everything.

 

[mikedodge]

Without knowing what you have What I've seen work the best is if he had a big tool box sell the standard tools together with it and throw a decent price at it and unload it in one shot. If he had a lot of tools for a specific use Group them together as Separate lots.. like automotive, wood working, plumbing etc. Someone starting out might be interested or if you just want it gone fast if someone buys the big box without haggling much give them a huge break on the other stuff if they show any interest in it.

 

[SusKatCas]

Our main auctioneer would cart away stuff so that Mom did not have to deal with buyers.

Those first nine auctions came with a 20% fee from proceeds. Generally there were around 500 lots per sale. There was also a buyers premium of about 20%. The combo of those two charges really hurt Mom's share of the proceeds. Example: Buy a Milwaukee Hole Hawg for $50. Mom pockets $30, Auctioneer gets $60 from buyer. He also agreed to ship stuff on a per lot basis. I discussed with four local auctioneers. We chose the only guy who would agree to pick stuff up. There was some risk in this method, but there was no practical way for us to deliver with itemized inventory that they others required. I've know this guy for over 40 years, that helped a little.

The big outdoor auction (also held online due to covid lockdowns) had an inspection day onsite and allowed a week for pickup. I took ten days off work to be present for that. The auctioneer charged Mom 10% and the buyer premium was 10%. A lot of old farm equipment that my Dad had "saved" from the scrappers was bought here by scrappers. We also paid the auctioneer about $12k for labor hours lining all this stuff up so it could be photographed and accessed during loading week.

My little brother sold a bunch of model tractors on FB Marketplace. He took a week off work and managed to sell about six lots of toys. Many were the precision models still in boxes. This may have been the best return on money, but also took the most time and you get the fun of random FB Marketplace crazies. I do prefer FB to Craigslist in this regard as you can do some vetting of the person.

When she moved off the farm there were a lot of machine tools left in the house. We brought in an estate guy whom we had chosen carefully. He did a good job advertising, brought in a large crowd of people and left the house broom clean as we had agreed. Mom was happy with her $16k check, but like all of the above options I think she netted about 30% of what the Dad paid for stuff.

Best Regards, Alan

 

[58Yeoman]

We have estate sales here, but they all operate differently. One high end one comes in and sells what she can, and when the sale is over, she leaves. Everything not sold stays there. Another sells what he can, but after the sale, everything left belongs to him. He hauls it to his warehouse and every once in a while, he has a large sale there a huge discounts. The last one is best. The second day, everything is 25% off the third day 50% off. The sale stops at 2pm on Saturday, the last day (3rd day). At 3 pm, he has an auction to sell off everything. Nothing left when he's done.

Good luck with whichever way you choose.

 

[nicks78camaro]

First step is to get a trusted professional opinion on actual quality and value. Some things may be worth significantly more or less than anticipated.

 

[Shiftless]

But there actually could be a tax benefit if the property is distributed to the heirs and they donate the property individually.

As far as I know, that’s how it works.
I itemize my tax deductions for state taxes (not federal) and I deduct what I donate to thrift stores. (Like household goods and old clothes) I estimate what the thrift store will sell them for and take that amount as a deduction. Clear out your storage and get a tax deduction. If you inherit a closet full of clothes, value each shirt at $5 and coats for $10. Jeans, shoes, it all goes.

 

[cgrutt]

As far as I know, that’s how it works.
I itemize my tax deductions for state taxes (not federal) and I deduct what I donate to thrift stores. (Like household goods and old clothes) I estimate the thrift store will sell them for and take that amount as a deduction. Clear out your storage and get a tax deduction. If you inherit a closet full of clothes, value each shirt at $5 and coats for $10. Jeans, shoes, it all goes.

Yeah but I am under impression OP wants to resolve this through the estate. If that's the case just saying there will likely be no tax benefit to the estate if tools are donated while estate is still open unless the estate is more than $15 million (and if thats the case the value of tools are probably immaterial). If the tools are inherited and heirs donate them there may be a tax benefit on their individual returns. Sorry didn't mean to take this off topic.

 

[75gmck25]

First - what is your location?

Some estate sale companies specialize in specific types of items, and in a larger city I would expect there are companies that specialize in selling tools. They could advise you on value and how they would sell it. For most entire-house sales the tools are a minor item, so some companies would not want to sell only tools.

The estate sale companies here will usually post all the pictures early in the week, and then start the sale on Friday. On Saturday they take 25% off all prices, and on Sunday they discount 50%.

 

[65ranchero]

I itemize my tax deductions for state taxes (not federal) and I deduct what I donate to thrift stores

That's what I'm talking about.

 

[rust in the eye]

What's the goal? If best monetization you'll need to inventory, educate yourself about what is there, research the market and then decide on venue to sell which will be different depending on the quality and usefulness.
Old isn't always better and sometimes is just obsolete and near worthless.
If a big lot an auction may be in order. Good luck.

 

[BurtEggley]

thinking back 10 - 15 years, we had a fellow a carpet store gave us a referral to who was going to install our carpet. We also had an inexpensive multi-tier tool chest completely full of HF and swap meet tools that were left to my other half. While he was installing our carpet, he mentioned that he was taking longer than usual to do the work because all of his tools had been stolen out of his truck a couple weeks before,a nd he was having to scounge up simple things to do the work. I asked him about it in detail, and the loss of the tools combined with the lack of insurance coverage, combined with the cost to replace them was devastating for him and his business. We decided to donate that whole chest of tools to him, saws, electric drills, things like that too I had my own of already and did not want duplicates. He was forever thankful to us for it. Sometimes it isn't what one profits from used tools, but rather what someone can create with them. We created an income for a good person to provide for his family; he was able to recover his business with those tools, and he is still a friend of ours today. Maybe it is harder for an estate if there are others involved. In our situation, my other half was the only one entittled to the tools so there were no parties other than her who had to be involved in the decision.

 

[mervyn]

Hire an estate auction outfit. Least amount of headache. And I guarantee 99% of it will sell. Best of luck

 

[pima67]

Back to the estate: An estate/trust may have taxable income on any income earned over $600 (I think) after the persons death such as interest, dividends, rents, etc. So charitable deductions may be useful. Depends on the executor's objective: get ride of the stuff fast or maximize dollars of the estate for the heirs.

 

[cgrutt]

Back to the estate: An estate/trust may have taxable income on any income earned over $600 (I think) after the persons death such as interest, dividends, rents, etc. So charitable deductions may be useful. Depends on the executor's objective: get ride of the stuff fast or maximize dollars of the estate for the heirs.

Yes, agreed.

 

[mikedodge]

As usual garagejournal take it to the extreme kicks in where a simple question about how best to sell tools and misc stuff with facebook type way in mind turns into estate sale and taxes lol

 

[Jazz1]

Yard sale it and be done in a weekend. It’s very time consuming selling a large collection. Fetching top dollar or even nickels on the dollar can be tough,,,depending on location and population…

My son picked up a 24” industrial planer and industrial table saw for $300….both no doubt cost thousands originally but large and obsolete for average person. Had to use my cherry picker to lift the the items off truck…He gifted them to apprentice carpenter who had purchased his first home and it needed some work…

 

[MOS3522]

Considering the OP drove by GJ and only posted to this hackneyed-topic thread twice, we should probably let it die now.

 

[NYBODYMAN]

@heatherG where in NY?

You will get a million and one different opinions here. Figure out which works best for you and how much time and effort you are willing to put in.

 

[LOW1]

My father recently passed. He has 65 years of tools and miscellaneous that now must go.
He was a quality contractor. I imagine some of these items, ‘you don’t find the quality these days’ . Items are in New YorkYou want the most money?
You want the least work?

No one answer.
You want the most money?
You want the least work possible?
You want things done as quickly as possible?
What is the most common method in your area?

Different priorities, Different methods.

Personally I would hire someone to do the ”open to the public estate sale with the remainder to Restore or the dump” method.