Selling Old Tools

[redidbull]

My Dad was a Millright who worked for a big brake company for 33 years. When he retired took my pickup and we loaded his 2 huge foot locker tool boxes in. That have since been resting in the basement, over 30 years. He passed nearly 4 years ago. Where/how is a good way to sell theses tools? It consists of wrenches, taps, dies, big plumbing wrenches and lots of small had tools. SSSOO many files. In the basement there are also vintage handsaws and many more tool boxes around. My Pop owned this house for 70years and as others in his and my Mom's families passed they got alot of their stuff. I am pretty overwhelmed but don't trust anyone coming in right now til I can get the junk sorted. Thanks for any help. Jim

 

[r_olson_06]

Sorry for loss.

There is many ways to do this. Selling in lots will yeild a smaller return vs selling and sets and pieces but would be quicker. eBay is a good source for value. Depending on how old they could be considered collector vs user. Condition is huge for collectors along with brand name and era. eBay is good for small stuff what can be somewhat alot of work if you havent had my experience selling on it. You can sell on FB marketplace or even here on the classifieds. Post up some pics and there is a bunch of honest people on here on how to best accomplish the downsizing.

Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrench 3061

 

[redidbull]

Thanks for the reply. I was thinking of ebay. I like the lot idea. I think that will work great with the wrenches and files and other small stuff. Thanks again. I'll post up some pix when I start to go through al of it. Jim

 

[DFB]

Give it a try to list things...hard to say what could be deemed collectable without knowing brand names, condition etc.

I do get to spend a lot of time at a local flea I'm there every weekend and when it comes to old tools there are often piles of them they always pique great interest from the herds and always get picked thru, often not a whole lot of it sells. Especially old files and larger taps, and old pipe wrenches among other things. At least in this part of the country, even big old vises are tough to get a top dollar for around here at the Flea

Though do people collect lots of different stuff and you'll never know what they might buy for what reason its worth the effort to at least understand the value of what your sitting on.

I had one guy give me in trade me a beautiful old Walworth Walco 24inch pipe wrench he had that no one was the least bit interested in. (along with used fiberglass handled axe and $20 for a HF triball I only paid $20 for

I see the same used Walworth wrenches online a lot with people commonly asking from
$30 - $50


I had another flea mkt wheeler dealer sell me an 18" Ridgid pipe wrench in pristine condition (was his father's he said) for $5.00

We often use big pipe wrenches for our greenhouse plumbing so I'm good with them both.

 

[Roberts210]

Undoubtedly there are more than a few valuable tools there. If you can't identify them, you'll have to trust someone who can. Those valuable ones can then be researched for value, and sold on ebay, and also, undoubtedly, there are a lot of good, user-quality tools there. Those can also be sold on ebay, OR, are there any old tool swap meets in your area? Taking a load to the swap meet every Sat. will rustle up a lot of interest, and you won't have to ship anything.

 

[outofbounds]

Thanks for the reply. I was thinking of ebay. I like the lot idea. I think that will work great with the wrenches and files and other small stuff. Thanks again. I'll post up some pix when I start to go through al of it. Jim

My suggestion is that if you are selling various "lots" of items, that you photograph them clearly laid out flat so that buyers can peruse them and see if there is anything of value to them in that grouping. Also, be sure to list any "name" items that might be of interest to buyers and collectors.

Also, because of the big weights involved in moving lots, I suggest offering them on Facebook Marketplace where you will draw local buyers who can pick them up, rather than bear the unwieldy shipping expenses. On that note,if you want to sell them on Ebay, you might want to "presize" the lots, knowing that you can fit them into USPS Priority Mail FLAT RATE shipping boxes (Medium $14.35 & Large $17.85) as the best way to keep the shipping costs palatable to most lot buyers.

Lastly, there are a lot of participants in these threads who get a rise out of seeing photos of uncovered caches of tools, and the boxes they come in. Share some pics here!

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

As a retired millwright , we tend use tools that are more effective than fancy. A millwright uses $500 worth of tools to work on multimillion dollar machines, where as a car mechanic uses $10,000 worth of tolls to work on a $1000 Chevy Cavalier. And millwrights make a good deal more money at it. As fellow millwright, I'm sorry to hear of your loss.

With wrenches and sockets, J.H.Williams and Proto were THE millwright brands. But most anything would do as long as it was strong. While these brands were better quality than Snap-On they don't carry the prestige or resale of Snap-On

Millwrights do a lot of precision work, so they should have a machinist level, dial indicators and micrometers. Here Starrett and Brown&Sharp would be the common brands. They are quite valuable, even used.

Pipefitting is also part of the trade, so your dad would have had pipe wrenches . As expensive as new Ridgid wrenches would have been, they are seen as merely heavy scrap iron.

Most millwrights know how to weld, those Armstrong, Williams and Jorgensen C-clamps have been replaced by Bessy,

Taps, dies, drills, and files are all consumables.

I bet he had some shop made tools, if we don't have specialty tool, we will make one.

 

[Zrxrunner]

What I do with a lot of my bulk, is to do sort of a quick triage, and separate similar tools first. Files and punches/chisels, wrenches, sockets. With all the forging shows on now, you can sell files and chisels that are worn out to someone who will repurpose them and still get over $1 per file. After that, it just comes down to how much time u have. Bunching tools into same brand takes way less time than trying to make complete sets, but still sells pretty well to someone who knows what they're looking for. Try craigslist once you have that done, and start a little high on price. Can always haggle down a bit. Just my 2 cents

 

[Roberts210]

Jim, I think you're going to have to learn about tools and their value in order to do this right. You can certainly post pictures here and ask about them.

 

[redidbull]

Thanks all for the advice. Next week I am going to make some time to at least go through 1 box. I'll post up. Thank you also for the kind words. My Dad was a hard working guy. He retired at 62 and lived to 94. He was driving a month before he passed.Most of his friends lived to 80s and 90s. They were definitely the Greatest Generation. Jim

 

[redidbull]

My Wife went in for a knee replacement a couple weeks ago so I never had time til yesterday to get some pix. I was able to get into one of the boxes and found a few more things. Jim

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

Looking at the photos I see some gems, and other stuff I would pass on . In the last photo the older handsaw is a gem, the new one is post war. Three screw handsaws were for the homeowner. In the drill bits , there some with Morse taper shanks, those are costly to replace and usually just need a sharpening. There is also a two pin spanner.

 

[pelletman]

That is probably going to be lots of work for not much money, unless I am missing something

 

[r_olson_06]

I agree as well.

Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrench 3061

 

[Davefr]

I really don't see any $ value there. That pile would bring <<$100 at a g-sale and wouldn't be worth the shipping cost on Ebay.

I'd keep some of the better tools for sentimental value.

 

[redidbull]

I agree. There is not much in there of value. I have been looking to sell stuff on ebay lately, not just tools but toys and collectibles too, and nothing seems to be worth the time. I think all these auction sites are making everyone put their stuff on the internet making nothing of value in the past worth like it was.Thanks. Jim

 

[Rileysan]

I agree. There is not much in there of value. I have been looking to sell stuff on ebay lately, not just tools but toys and collectibles too, and nothing seems to be worth the time. I think all these auction sites are making everyone put their stuff on the internet making nothing of value in the past worth like it was.Thanks. Jim

Or to put it another way - auction sites have made the world a much smaller place.

Collectibles that used to be considered "rare", and could only be found at brick & mortar shops or trade shows, are often found to be common and readily available because of the internet, thus driving prices down.

On the other hand, collectibles that are genuinely rare sell for much more than they used to.

This is the nature of supply and demand.

 

[Manny]

Seeing as how you said your father lived in his house for 70 years, you probably have more than tools to sell.

How about hiring an Estate Sale company to sort and sell everything for you?

The sellers are usually very knowledgeable, and tend to price items fairly.

Good luck.

 

[itsDROCK]

Seeing as how you said your father lived in his house for 70 years, you probably have more than tools to sell.

How about hiring an Estate Sale company to sort and sell everything for you?

The sellers are usually very knowledgeable, and tend to price items fairly.

Good luck.

Selling a lifetimes collection of tools will take hours/days of work and eBay will take 10% of your profits. I like the idea of hiring an estate sale company / auction company to simplify things

 

[redidbull]

Seeing as how you said your father lived in his house for 70 years, you probably have more than tools to sell.

How about hiring an Estate Sale company to sort and sell everything for you?

The sellers are usually very knowledgeable, and tend to price items fairly.

Good luck.

I am really thinking of that. I want to sort out the obvious stuff that is junk or I want to keep and go from there. There is so much unknown to me I think a pro will help. Thanks. Jim

 

[redidbull]

Selling a lifetimes collection of tools will take hours/days of work and eBay will take 10% of your profits. I like the idea of hiring an estate sale company / auction company to simplify things

We are going to do tag sale at my house and I am going to bring the small stuff here to sell. I am really thinking of the pro company idea.Thanks. Jim

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Not to be contrary, but VERY FEW estate sales people understand old tools, in my experience. They may know Snap-on and Craftsman, but beyond that, probably not. And they won't be able to identify uncommon or rare items that could be sold as a collectible. If you want to save money, and get free advice, follow what Oob suggested upthread, but post them here.

Separate and sort them all by brand and/or type, lay them out in square areas that are roughly no bigger than a pizza box, take 2 photos of each "pizza box" lot, one of the up side and the second of the flip side, for flat tools, with the corners of your viewfinder on your camera-phone are as close to the corners of the "pizza box" as possible (that will provide enough detail to read markings), and post those photos here.

Trust me when I say you will get help identifying your tools by brand, type, and age, and also value for whatever market (CL, eBay, etc) you choose. Because that's exactly what guys here get off on doing.

You will probably also get offers. Sales are not strictly allowed here (because the righteous intent of the site is to separate discussions/research about vintage tools from sales of vintage tools..., hence the Classifieds below this section), but in cases such as yours and roughly half a dozen others that pop up throughout the year, it's overlooked, because the innocent intent is to get them identified, not sold. Queries/offers would be a byproduct of that. If that kind of thing gets out of hand, or is abused, moderators would know the difference.

 

[930dreamer]

I like doing this sort of work but I'm retired. If you choose to sell yourself try sorting into like item groups.

 

[redidbull]

Thanks, I think I may do a little of both. In addition to the tools there is a lot of furniture too. I would hope the estate people could help with that. I am semi retired working part time but plan to quit in mid May. Ill take some pix of this mess net time I go over there. It is very over whelming. I don't want to throw out anything that is a of value. Thanks. Jim

 

[RTM]

I’m going to agree with Lugz on this. My most knowledgeable estate sale sellers don’t know the high value tools, and are often relying on eBay listed prices. Machinist tools especially.

When grouping tools, most people don’t want to buy three duplicate hatchets, but usable sets. A hatchet, drawknife and spokeshave is more sellable IMO.

Don’t let people cherry pick the good stuff, leaving you with unreliable dreck.

 

[Zrxrunner]

Remember too, estate sellers and auctioneers dont do sales for free. I'd rather see someone putting the work in like them to help sell get the 10% rather than ebay, but still have to account for it. If u do your own tag sale too, organize the good stuff and tag...advertise some as a rummage sale and get people sort through some of the lesser value stuff. Kinda like having them help sort while you're selling. I did that last fall and had pretty good luck. Just my 2 cents.

 

[bmwrd0]

The question comes down to, do you want to get rid of things, or make money on things? If you just want to get rid of stuff quickly, while picking up a couple bucks on the side, and estate company is the best bet. I know that some here feel that this is the wrong way to go as they don't really know tools, but they know how to market and sell estates. In other words, getting rid of things. If there are a lot more tools, call a few different companies and ask if they specialize in tools and tooling. Along the same lines, if there are a lot of antiques, furniture and what not, ask about that. They should be able to give refernces and people to talk to who have used them before.

But, if you want to make as much money as possible from this, start asking questions on this site (and other sites like it for any other things you might find) and do reseach about what a particular thing is worth. Check the sold section of eBay, see if things like it are listed online. Then, and only then, make decisions based on the best way to sell each item. Somethings will do well on eBay, some on Craigslist and FB Marketplace, some on a table at a swapmeet, and some by calling a consignment shop. Be be aware that ALL of these take time/money. Yes, eBay charges 10%, but you will get the greatest number of views, from all around the world. A swapmeet takes time; setting up a table, sitting there, paying to be there, etc. Craigslist takes a bunch of idiots calling/emailing so say they will take it for 10 cents on the dollar. And so on.

So, it is really up to you and how much effort you want to put into it. Good luck.

 

[redidbull]

Most of the tools are mechanic tools with some saws and many drills and taps/dies. The pics I posted are from 1 box my Dad had. I have no idea what is in the 2nd one. There are also wrenches and other hand tools everywhere. The things I will have trouble with are all the furniture and the glassware. Also alot of things brought back from vacations we took when I was a kid. Things like old bumper stickers some people collect. These have the metal on them that wrap around the bumper before they stuck on. Old baseball pennants and alot of the "Made in Japan" stuff. That stuff I think may be a good ebay thing. Thanks for the advice so far. I'll get more pix the next time I go there. Jim

 

[Davefr]

If you don't like Ebay's 10% fees, you'll hate what auctioneer's and estate sale companies charge for reaching a much smaller audience. (40% is common).

 

[pelletman]

Thanks, I think I may do a little of both. In addition to the tools there is a lot of furniture too. I would hope the estate people could help with that. I am semi retired working part time but plan to quit in mid May. Ill take some pix of this mess net time I go over there. It is very over whelming. I don't want to throw out anything that is a of value. Thanks. Jim

Unless you have really nice mid century furniture to sell, mostly used furniture isn't worth much. It is also easy to determine prices these days, just look what people are asking on CL and FB and maybe check sold items on ebay.

 

[pelletman]

Remember too, estate sellers and auctioneers dont do sales for free. I'd rather see someone putting the work in like them to help sell get the 10% rather than ebay, but still have to account for it. If u do your own tag sale too, organize the good stuff and tag...advertise some as a rummage sale and get people sort through some of the lesser value stuff. Kinda like having them help sort while you're selling. I did that last fall and had pretty good luck. Just my 2 cents.

I doubt they are doing it for 10%, more like 30 to 50. I think 10% for the eyes and results ebay gets is a pretty good deal