Succession plan for your tools?

[jmarkwolf]

Someday, Son...

 

[Jtels85]

My wife and I have no children.

My hope would be that she enlists the help of a self-proclaimed tool “expert” who will tell her it is worth 5X what it actually is. After that, she’ll list it online for an outrageous amount only to be ridiculed and offered fair market value by people whom she will presume are trying to rip her off. All of this because she was told differently by some clown who didn’t know ****.

This is exactly what happens whenever someone dies and their spouse attempts to sell their tool collection on Marketplace.

 

[zendriver]

I told my wife to call an auctioneer

 

[PelicanPines]

It's in my will... Two of my friends... "Thunderdome" two men enter ... one man leaves with the tools.

 

[rust in the eye]

I'm going to go on a tangent here that may not be well received considering that this forum seemingly skews older. Being one of the few younger guys in the family who actually works on things, I've helped clear out numerous relative's garages. In essence, my advice boils down to get rid of it now.

By that, I don't mean sell off all of your hand tools or things that you use regularly. I'm talking about those of you who have amassed a large amount of metallic dust collectors. At best, you will have someone like me to help make sense of things and ensure that your tool collection does not go unused and/or ends up in the hands of someone that will appreciate them. More often, those things you cherished will end up dumped at an estate sale. Whatever is left will end up in a 40 yard dumpster the Monday after the sale concludes.

That vise collection that you've amassed over the past decade? Sell them now while they are worth money. Use it as a means to network with other tool guys, especially those of you who have nobody to pass things onto.

Are you sitting on an old Bridgeport that hasn't been used in a decade? Extract the value now before your family sells it for scrap. I assure you, the amount of money you spend paying the local engine builder to resurface a few sets of heads between now and then is less than what you'd get out of a good mill.

Old trinkets like milk cans, horse draw bars, etc.? These will likely go straight into the trash if they don't end up on the wall of your local brunch restaurant.

The biggest offender, however, is the amount of small parts. This stuff will also go straight in the trash, no matter how organized. I FULLY understand the mindset of having to repurpose things and making do. Keeping around mason jars full of old nails, cabinet hinges, and other building materials is not helping anyone. Contact your local Habitat for Humanity and see if you can donate them. If the need arises for a few misc. screws and such, pick them up piecemeal from your corner hardware store.

For everything else, have a specific plan with regards to how you want your belongings to be divided after you pass and make sure that it is put into writing.

I say all of the above not out of spite, but respect. I've seen the pride and joy of too many men pieced out and sold to the lowest bidder. Unfortunately, that happens more frequently when the person's belongings are too large, too voluminous, or too disorganized. Use the culling of your collections as a means to network with like-minded individuals and pass knowledge and tooling down to the next generation, be it blood related or otherwise.

Sage advice from a young guy here.
I'm perhaps not your typical member here as I don't "collect" but still have a fair amount of stuff that is used.
I'm culling the things that came into my possession "by accident", stuff I stumbled upon whilst buying something needed or unnecessary duplicates/triplicates.
I have enough hand tools to run a one bay auto repair shop along with with enough carpentry, plumbing, electrical to have built my house. This is the stuff I'd like to see go into appreciative hands.
Little is "collectible" to my knowledge but someone could earn a living with this stuff.

 

[MushCreek]

If I need tools to fix stuff in the afterlife, than I've been a bad boy in this life.

 

[Nutria]

If I need tools to fix stuff in the afterlife, than I've been a bad boy in this life.

Ah, but we like doing this stuff, no? Maybe you would have been a good boy in this life.

 

[CoogarXR]

No matter how nice your stuff is, it's almost always a pain the *** to the survivors.

My friend's neighbor passed away, and had no living relatives nearby. Just a sibling from down south. They came up for one week to blitz the estate. My friend told me to stop over, they are literally giving everything away. Yep. I filled two trucks full of free stuff. Tools, electronics, you name it. I slipped them some money when I left, just because I know how much dealing with a death and an estate *****. But yeah, they knew there was value in this stuff, but they just wanted to get back home to their life. They didn't want to deal with selling any of it. Just make it go away so they can get the house listed and be done with it.

 

[SaabN]

If I get to that age without any younger relatives who want them, I'd like to see my tools go to a school shop class or community organization. Better than my wife getting a nickel for them at an estate sale. I wonder if a charity exists that arranges things like that.

 

[brandyspaw]

I mean, at the end of the day it's not "your problem" since you'd be dead.

Ideally if one wants their stuff while living, "post-life" sale is ones only option. An executor of a will could perhaps liquefy any remaining assets, including tools? That then begs the question, liquefy assets for what purpose?

I think that's a real first question. The money doesn't matter if you're in the ground, so assuming you anything remaining when you're deceased, what is the "goal" of your legacy? Assuming we'll have one adult after all, and don't end up spending down all remaining assets on some horrible fate like dementia care.

No, it is my problem because if I don't have a plan to get rid of stuff (or have the stuff gone by the time I die) I'll leave it all on my wife's shoulders. No one else is around to help. Its not a concern of the money as much as the concern of having things in order for the future.

 

[Tools4Me]

Growing up, I had almost no tools to work with because my father cared little about tools. That drove me nuts because I always liked fixing and building things, so once I was old enough to start making some money of my own I started accumulating tools wherever I could find them at good prices. Now I'm in the phase of storing my tools as densely as possible and also leaning out my tools without losing much capability. My ideal future goal is to have a densely packed large shed or small single car garage sized shop and nothing more. My current motto is, "can I do without this tool or item and be just fine?" If the answer is yes, it gets sold. I also have a "rust rule". If a tool isn't useful enough to me to happily keep up on rust prevention, lubrication, changing the bearings if they go bad, etc. it isn't that important or useful of a tool to me and it should be sold. I also try my best to ensure that any one machine, tool, or piece of equipment I own can be easily transported by one average person in the back of a minivan or a small utility trailer, in case that's ever necessary.

I recently inherited all of my grandfather's tools. He had a multiple acre property with a home, a large basement shop area, a medium sized barn, multiple other outbuildings, etc. Everything was full of stuff around 5 feet high with nothing but narrow aisle ways to get around. Even the house attic had many thousands of pounds of stuff in it. For the last 8 months I have been spending almost all my free time helping my family clean out his property so it can be sold. There are other circumstances involved which prevent hiring an estate sale company or clean-up crew to do the work for us much more quickly.

So far, it has resulted in 40+ 2,000lb or heavier dump loads in a 3/4 ton truck, 8+ 2,000lb or heavier metal scrap recycle loads, multiple vehicle loads to hazardous waste, and 10+ 2,000lb or heavier recycling loads of just plastic, paper, cardboard, etc. Haven't started with the furniture yet, we are just getting down to the stuff that actually has value for something like a garage or estate sale. It has been fun working through it all slowly and cleaning things up because I enjoy doing that sort of work, but it's also hard to see so much stuff just end up in a landfill. Restoration projects are fun, but they also take time, and there is only so much time in a day so many sacrifices have to be made when dealing with large volumes of stuff. The home and a couple of the outbuildings also had roof leaks that went unnoticed for multiple years due to everything being so packed with stuff. Many items were ruined when they otherwise could have been sold. For instance, he had a complete collection of National Geographics that went back into the early 1940's. Hundreds of pounds of magazines that were all damp, wavy, and visibly moldy, so they had to be thrown.

In the last years, my grandfather wanted to start cleaning his property up in order to help out those who would be left after he passed, but by then it was too late. He no longer had the ability to do the work or even legally drive to take a load to the dump. Medical bills also ate up all of his money at the end, so he couldn't have paid the dump fees even if he could have done the work. In the last years, my family and I offered to help him clean things up many times (so he could at least have more room to move around inside his home), but he didn't want it. In the end, his hoarding instinct was stronger than all his other desires so nothing ever left his property until after he passed.

He left me all of his tools. I have been slowly going through them and I will be keeping about 20% of what he had, to fill-in or upgrade what I already own. About 40% of his tools will be thrown or recycled because they are broken, functionally obsolete, poor quality, or worn out. About 20% will be donated to charity because it's useful stuff but not worth selling, and about 20% will be sold online or at a garage sale and the earnings will be used to help reimburse some of the dump fees the family has been paying while cleaning up the property.

My advice to everyone, start leaning things down heavily now, especially if you own lots of heavy, large, or hard to sell items. The heavier or more obscure an item is, the less likely it will sell for good money in a timely fashion once you pass on. For the most part, the largest density of value in any shop (per cubic foot of volume) will be the hand tools. They are also the easiest items to sell online and ship, so get rid of your hand tools last unless you have lots of duplicates that can be sold now.

 

[crewchief888]

I told my wife to call an auctioneer

told my wife the same thing.
tool wise
keep whatever she wants
gift whatever she wants to to her sister & niece
then call an auction company
guns/gear
keep what she wants
gift some
i have a couple guns that belonged to my dad, i'd like those passed along to a (much older) cousin if he's still around.
told her to contact a couple of the guys i shoot competition with to take care of the rest

 

[BrandonV]

For sure sell the obscure stuff. Honestly if its something you haven't used in X years... it's probably worth selling.

After my father passed I was throwing out a lot of old and obsolete stuff nobody wants anymore he had from father (tools for lead & oakum and the like).

 

[four.cycle]

I am foisting it off onto other GarageJOurnal.com members one NOT Secret Santa gift at a time,

 

[NDJ]

My Dad left behind a grand mess. Once he knew the end was nigh,

Alas I had the same situation. Unfortunately he died on the waiting list for cancer treatment. He had hope right to the end that there was help.
I was left to sift through his stuff, which was alternate moments of memories and just getting rid of junk.
I plan to not leave my family with such a burden. I think about how to do this every day.

 

[M635_Guy]

My Dad left behind a grand mess. Once he knew the end was nigh, he did his best to give away as much as he could to family and friends far and wide, and asked my sister and I to do our best to do the same before auctioning off the rest. But it was still weeks and weeks of hauling and scrapping and trashing and cleaning.

You don't always get a warning, though. And even if you're not a hoarder, it's something to think about.

That said, sometimes people are reluctant to accept things you're giving away because it might feel like you're giving up, or it's morbid, or they don't want to take advantage. So you have to invent some other creative excuses sometimes to move stuff along.

Or, just move it along for your own sake, so you can better enjoy the use of your tools and stuff while you're still above ground. For example, WAYYYYYY too many people hang on to WAYYYYY too much scrap and extra materials. Pretty soon you're literally up to your ears in 2x4 scraps and clearance plumbing fittings, and you can't safely actually, y'know, DO anything.

And since this is on your mind, stop buying **** just because you can or it's a good deal. Yeah, you might pay more for the wood for that boat later on, but storing the materials for 20 years bears a cost of its own.

As far as estate auctions, they're a method of getting rid of stuff quickly, but they're not a way to get the most money. Even on the open market, it's a safe bet that your tools are not worth anywhere near what you think they're worth.

If it worries you, make sure your wishes as to where your things go are known.

Also, don't try to burden your heirs with instructions. If a batch of tools goes to a nephew or whatever, he might be able to use them or he might sell them. It's not up to you, so please don't threaten to haunt people...

With my Dad's stuff, there's a lot I took because I can and do use it, but the vast majority was given away and some was sold in the auction. Quite a lot was too damaged to be recoverable, and had to be scrapped.

This is a great post, and obviously born of a tough experience.

I might be a hoarder.

I know you were (probably) joking, but having spent multiple weekends of long, grueling, disgusting days digging through the six storage sheds my aunt left behind (thankfully those were all we knew about) that were full of 'treasures', and with full apologies for the rant, I'd say this:

Get rid of stuff.

If you die and leave behind a bunch of stuff, it's a terrible burden on those who have to deal with it. My mother struggles in a variety of ways, and the storage units full of stuff from her sister were completely and immediately overwhelming (and she never saw the worst of it). I made a point through the whole ordeal to separate the disease from the person and memories of my aunt because she was a fun, wonderful person and I loved her. But damn... that was hard in a lot of ways.

The line in @bwringer's post about things that were too damaged to be recoverable hits for me as well. If it's damaged, get rid of it one way or another. Same if neglect is killing something. Saying "I'll get to it" isn't true 99% of the time. "Do or do not - there is no 'try' "

As for me, I definitely recognized a bit of an accumulation tendency in myself, but that experience has forged two absolutes for me:
- I'm never going to rent a storage unit to have extra space for my stuff. Beyond the insane expense of that kind of thing (in just the 15-year window I could sorta see, this woman spent well over $70K on storage units, and probably more), it enables a pretty insidious disease.
- I'm going to go on a process of sorting in the next few months on my own stuff: Keep/Sell/Donate/Trash. I may be moving in the sorta-near timeframe, which will be a good opportunity for it, but going to get at it nonetheless.

I'll still have more things than most people, and for tools there will definitely be some that are lying in wait of a situation, but I'm definitely looking forward to doing it. The good news is what I'm referring to is contained in the storage areas of one moderately sized house and isn't covered in rat and mouse ****. I don't want to die and my wife/kids have to sort through even my relatively-small pile of stuff for sure.

 

[four.cycle]

If you have not used it or worn it in over a year, will you really miss it?

and if you DO just give it away and a year later you need it, how much is it going to cost in dollars?

(this actually happened to me a year ago. a new China-made "come-a-long" was less than $30 bucks out the door at Harbor Freight.)

 

[PugetDude]

My brother has storage units all over the DFW metro area. One of them still has stuff from his first marriage that ended in 2001. Every time he moves it seems like he ends up with another storage unit full of stuff. Several are full of dated or obsolete inventory for his business.

He just bought a new house on acreage, I offered to put up a small (12 units + covered boat and RV spaces) mini-storage on the property and rent them all out to him so he could consolidate everything in one place.

I wasn't kidding, it would have been extremely profitable.

 

[Aileron]

Dont know what the answer is but shame of the whole thing is , you keep or horded stuff that is valuable to you, maybe tools you needed and used for your job, maybe a classic car then it gets put into a estate sale. I guess its now peoples career to just be flippers and go to estate sales to low ball stuff they can make some good coin on. I get it , but if your trying yourself to sell it , whatever it is , it could be brand new gold bars your always told its junk. I just myself threw a couple thousands of dollars worth of parts away for a total of 32 dollars in scrap at the yard.

Even if you could ebay your stuff , Ebay changed there site so much, they just found another way to take a bit more. You don't make much. It just cost me 26% to sell a new pair of harley boots that were 1 size too small so they were basically brand new.

The kicker is if shipping gets screwed up , your in the hole because they will give the buyer their money back and deduct it from you. They have what they call promoted listings aka sponsored and even take a precedent on the sales tax collected that ebay charges the buyer.

It's different if someone wants something for their selves or something that needs to be rebuilt but the flipper part turns me off. Its a shame because in the end I'd rather throw the stuff away then see someone on youtube spout off on how much they profited off someone else's loss.

It was gas monkey garage where they bought a man's prized at least to hims Lincoln continental and flipped it , Put a air suspension on it, flipped it,then fanned the money out like a deck of cards of what they made of of it.

 

[Aileron]

My brother has storage units all over the DFW metro area. One of them still has stuff from his first marriage that ended in 2001. Every time he moves it seems like he ends up with another storage unit full of stuff. Several are full of dated or obsolete inventory for his business.

He just bought a new house on acreage, I offered to put up a small (12 units + covered boat and RV spaces) mini-storage on the property and rent them all out to him so he could consolidate everything in one place.

I wasn't kidding, it would have been extremely profitable.

Ha , that doesn't work with family. I had a trailer i stored .Even though i paid it was like they were doing me a favor, and when they needed something it was supposed to be fixed for free and within a given time frame. I paid for and put a light up so I could see at night to get it backed in. It was a 45 ft goose. Next year they had me move it so some hunters could use the space. WTF? Reminds me i need to go shoot that light out.,

 

[steel 35]

I know you were (probably) joking, but having spent multiple weekends of long, grueling, disgusting days digging through the six storage sheds my aunt left behind (thankfully those were all we knew about) that were full of 'treasures', and with full apologies for the rant, I'd say this:

Get rid of stuff.

I have path's though a 1000 sq ft,
on good days i can park one inside.

No thanks to 2020; Three and 1/2 Guy's various hobbies, not including mine,
& thinking I could flip the (Trinket's)

Still saving the **** for later

 

[M635_Guy]

Dont know what the answer is but shame of the whole thing is , you keep or horded stuff that is valuable to you, maybe tools you needed and used for your job, maybe a classic car then it gets put into a estate sale.

In my aunt's case, it was a bunch of $2 **** from Goodwill (literally - most still had the price tag and were still in the bag from the store), milk crates filled with unopened bottles of wine and lots and lots of groceries - biscuit mix was popular and lots of other complete junk. Across the units you could see phases as well as the consistent staples (picture frames, for example). But there was a 1% of stuff that was important to my mom or the family sprinkled in, and a few gems from Goodwill. I did rescue a sorta-cool industrial table that we've decided to keep around. This is after a little elbow-grease:

It needs more, but I'm trying to keep in closer to as-found:

 

[All]

I've thought about putting dated price tags on everything in my garage, so that my wife will at least have a ball park range of what any given item was typically worth on the open market at the time I priced it.

It was amusing to read how some GJ'rs don't want their wives to get a dime, but I want to help my wife recover as much value as possible for the tools and machines that I keep and still use until my time is up.

I would ask if anyone else has pre-priced their items, garage sale style, in anticipation of not being alive to advise on what to sell them for, and how it worked out in the end. But obviously such persons would no longer be available to report on how it worked out in the end.

 

[RMERR]

I've got no kids and no relatives really into making stuff. I'm 69, currently pretty healthy and still figuring out just what to do about this very question. I've downsized a ton this year, emptied three 10 X 20 storage spaces, mostly materials as mentioned. Still have a packed house besides the shop.

I've got a loose plan to gift each of the local shops that I've had long time relationships with like machinists, powder coating, polishing, chrome, auto-body/ paint. I've got four BurrKing machines might give one to each. My landlords have been really great to me and I may just leave the rest of the shop to them. Donating to the local JC where I've taken many classes in the past appeals to me also. I'm continuing to whittle things down and damn this thread for reminding me I need to keep on it.

 

[RMERR]

I've thought about putting dated price tags on everything in my garage, so that my wife will at least have a ball park range of what any given item was typically worth on the open market at the time I priced it.

It was amusing to read how some GJ'rs don't want their wives to get a dime, but I want to help my wife recover as much value as possible for the tools and machines that I keep and still use until my time is up.

I would ask if anyone else has pre-priced their items, garage sale style, in anticipation of not being alive to advise on what to sell them for, and how it worked out in the end. But obviously such persons would no longer be available to report on how it worked out in the end.

Yes All, while I haven't put actual price tags on items, I'm planning on doing this exact thing in a list. Have too many rare and unique and unusual items, that noone will have any idea how to price.

 

[steel 35]

I would ask if anyone else has pre-priced their items, garage sale style,

Someone did, and I thank Him.

 

[jonesg]

not my problem, burn it, give it away, order a dumpster, I couldn't give a hoot.

 

[bbbarracuda]

Every time I buy some "worthless" old tool, I tell my kids its just something for them to deal with when I'm gone.

 

[pbon]

I am only 59, but hope I can find someone to give the contents of my well equipped shop to when I am about 80, assuming there are still people in 20 years who want tools and that mine are not useless by then. If not, the heirs can get a dumpster — they will get enough property and money to pay the dumpster fee.

 

[ZRX61]

Restoration dept at an air museum

 

[Tools4Me]

A couple more things I forgot to mention in my original post. One, is to try and think of your tools and possessions from a novice's perspective when going through your stuff to lean things down while you are still alive. Most people know little to nothing about tools. They aren't going to know brand symbol stampings by memory to help with looking up the value of items, or know the difference between a valuable piece of heat treated tooling and a piece of mild steel left over from a previous DIY project.

Average people should be able to identify socket sets, read stamped branding and/or part numbers on pliers, look at machine nameplates, and do some internet searches to find the relative value of those items if they want to earn some money selling them after you pass on, but that's about all you will get out of a normal person. That also takes time to do, and there will be many tools and tool accessories that come with little to no physical identification, tools that don't have enough of an online presence for a part number to generate any online search results, etc.

If you don't have tool junky friends who can help your spouse or family sell off your tools once you pass on, do everyone a favor and sell off the more obscure stuff now. A tremendous amount of value can be lost as a result of someone innocently sticking a $1 price tag on an unknown tool or from a helper throwing away stuff that looks like junk when the time comes. If you don't sell it now, it might not even make it into the hands of an opportunistic flipper at a garage or estate sale after you pass on.

When I started going through my grandfather's stuff, I eventually had to tell my father to completely stop "trying to help" me process my grandfather's tools, because he was going through them when I wasn't there and "just grabbing the obvious metal scrap" to help reduce the volume I had to deal with. When he wasn't understanding why I kept telling him not to touch any of the tools, I told him that the small pile of "good tools" he had made for me on the workbench was worth a collective $40. Then I showed him the $100 partial set of vintage rivet anvil punches, and the $300+ large beak horn stake anvil that my father had recently put in the metal scrap pile. He got the point, and he no longer touches any of the tools.

Another dynamic some people here might want to consider is downvaluing some of your tools in addition to downsizing. Especially if money is often tight, or if you don't have anyone to pass your tools on to. Once you reach the point where there aren't many years of tool usage left in your body, you no longer need to own top of the line tools that can handle constant wear and use for years without failing, because they won't be seeing much more use before you pass away. For instance, you might be able to sell off hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of Snap-on ratchets and replace them with a couple decent inexpensive Taiwan made ratchets and still be fully functional and happy with your tools for the years you have left in you. That would enable you to free up a bunch of money now without it affecting any of your work capabilities, and there would be less potential value locked up in your tools for a family member to sell for pennies on the dollar or accidentally throw away once you pass on.

 

[PugetDude]

I bought a small rubbermaid tote full of dirty PLVMB sockets at an estate sale for $5. Probably had 40+ sockets, extensions, adapters, stud extractors, etc. Traded most of it to another GJ member. Same day, across the street at a yard sale bought a dozen Unibits for $3, and three unopened boxes of Klein screw anchors for a buck apiece.
What I have learned at the few estate sales I have been to is that hand tools, hardware, and fasteners are usually underpriced and anything with a cord or motor is usually overpriced. I've seen people walk past a cigar box for of high-quality USA made drill bits priced at $5 to fight over a Harbor Freight cordless drill at $30. I'm the guy walking out with the drill bits.
Very few people want to take the time to ascertain the "value" of individual sockets, screwdrivers, pliers, etc. These usually go in a bin. That's where I found the Snap On Deadblow i bought last month for $3.00- in a bin full of rusty claw hammers and K-Mart rubber mallets. It's easy to pull up power tools (stationary and hand) and put a % of new price on them, so that's where the effort goes.
Perceived value is what this stuff is going to bring. That box of stainless socket head cap screws you paid $50 for is lucky to bring $2 at your estate sale- if it sells at all.

 

[dutchgray]

I bought a small rubbermaid tote full of dirty PLVMB sockets at an estate sale for $5. Probably had 40+ sockets, extensions, adapters, stud extractors, etc. Traded most of it to another GJ member. Same day, across the street at a yard sale bought a dozen Unibits for $3, and three unopened boxes of Klein screw anchors for a buck apiece.
What I have learned at the few estate sales I have been to is that hand tools and fasterners are usually underpriced and anything with a cord or motor is usually overpriced. I've seen people wallk past a cigar box for of high-quality USA made drill bits priced at $5 to fight over a HarborFreight cordless drill at $30. I'm the guy walking out with the drill bits.
Very few people want to take the time to ascertain the "value" of individual sockets, screwdrivers, pliers, etc. These usually go in a bin. Thats where I found the SnapOn Deadblow i bought last month for $3.00- in a bin full of rusty claw hammers and K-Mart rubber mallets. It's easy to pull up power tools (stationary and hand) and put a % of new price on them, so that's where the effort goes.
Perceived value is what this stuff is going to bring. That box of stainless socket head cap screws you paid $50 for is lucky to bring $2 at your estate sale- if it sells at all.

I buy most of the stuff that goes for almost nothing used, in used form for very little, I only buy things new that I need now or can't find a deal on used, or wouldn't want to risk it being a dud.

Frankly if I get old and cant use my machines or tools I will sell them off, if I don't get the chance to do so I DGAF one I will be dead and two I don't have any kids, it will be someone else's problem, probably my brothers kids who can do whatever they want, they'll be getting any money and assets I have.

 

[steel 35]

Dug for a minute today in another garage while helping a widow and found a Black hawk 3/4 drive ratshit and socket set, Guess I better leave it; Already have one I don't use

 

[Outahere]

I'll be shipping my tools to @BlakeTheCarGuy.
In one of his posts here he mentioned "you can never have too many tools" !

 

[carmantl]

The last three years have been rough. Dad passed unexpectedly about 3 years ago and left me a 40 by 60 pole barn full of mostly worthless hardware he accumulated over a lifetime as a hoarder of every bolt, nut, and screw he ever found. He did have some high quality tools that I kept. Most of the hardware went to the scrappers for a penny to a nickel per pound. My dear mother passed this spring and we had to try to unload a collection of basically useless antiques that she had inherited from her mother and 2 aunts, along with what she collected. Both appraisers we hired said that the market for antique doodads is gone and her TWELVE curio cabinets (very nice ones I might add) of old stuff was basically worthless. It's a shame because she was so proud of her collection. My two nieces and one grandniece have absolutely no interest in antiques. We live in a new age of Gen x, y, and z who don't give a darn about the past. So sad. I will keep a couple of the best curio cabinets to display my flashlight and antique tool collections. I am sure my heirs won't give a damn about them either. New World!

 

[M635_Guy]

The last three years have been rough. Dad passed unexpectedly about 3 years ago and left me a 40 by 60 pole barn full of mostly worthless hardware he accumulated over a lifetime as a hoarder of every bolt, nut, and screw he ever found. He did have some high quality tools that I kept. Most of the hardware went to the scrappers for a penny to a nickel per pound. My dear mother passed this spring and we had to try to unload a collection of basically useless antiques that she had inherited from her mother and 2 aunts, along with what she collected. Both appraisers we hired said that the market for antique doodads is gone and her TWELVE curio cabinets (very nice ones I might add) of old stuff was basically worthless. It's a shame because she was so proud of her collection. My two nieces and one grandniece have absolutely no interest in antiques. We live in a new age of Gen x, y, and z who don't give a darn about the past. So sad. I will keep a couple of the best curio cabinets to display my flashlight and antique tool collections. I am sure my heirs won't give a damn about them either. New World!

Our Donate|Trash|Keep breakdown was about 39%|60%|1%. I kinda hated to put things back at Goodwill/etc. that seemed likely to wind up in a different hoarder's storage units, but seemed sad to put it all in the landfill.

That said, the vast majority of the 1% (and honestly that's likely rounding way up - it was probably more like 0.25%) went to one of my sisters or my mother. Other than rescuing pictures/etc. of my family from the early-mid 1900's, we kept a very-few things and the table. I very-specifically said I'd want virtually nothing.

 

[Gurp]

My ole lady's dad is 64.
Still healthy, retired, and active still. a garage full of harleys in various states of disrepair and tools. 2 drag cars as well. his plan is let his kids make some money off it. He said its his and he never dreamed he'd have any of it growing up a poor kid. He plans on keeping it all till death. His son has zero interest in any of it. Mid 40s lives at home an barely works..
His daughter (My GF) has o idea what any of it is really worth. Honestly I don't think much is being left to the son. I know the houses both go to my GF. I think the bikes and cars do as well.

I'm not looking forward to going through his garage. I know where a lot of the stuff is but there are boxes and boxes of parts that haven't been gone through in years. Most of the bikes can be on the road again to be sold or passed down to grandchildren without to much work though. the tools are a mess bucket of stuff here and there and everywhere....

At 33 myself I'm not sure what my future with this holds, my 4 children ( 3 boys) have a good interest in fixing so hopefully they will take over my stuff when the clock stops for me.

 

[iamhomeless]

I am still working on sorting out the last trailer load of totes we hauled back from my FIL's estate. It's taken years to get this far and I'm not even sure when I will get it done. The place was a mess when he passed and it looks us months to just put the good stuff into totes, and everything else in the dumpster. And we never even got the time to hit one of the sheds out back.

When my mom's dad passed it was a much easier ordeal. He wasn't a hoarder, but did have a very full shop and office. But it was all layed out well in nicely organized tool boxes and cabinets. He had spent some time the last year giving select stuff away, like the Williams wrench set he handed me. what remained went to his only son and I think that was the right call and he distributed a few things to his boys. Even the bolt bins were labeled and organized, I helped empty each one into a separate cardboard box and tag them and I think my cousin ended up with them.

A good strategy is to toss the trash now, who ever is dealing with this is going to be sentimental and sometimes won't know if there was a reason you kept something that you actually don't care about.

Organize everything, tools should be in tool boxes. Whenever possible put sets and kits together, sockets on rails, wrenches in racks or rolls. If you have multiple sets, this is a great excuse to go find a few vintage boxes and get them all sorted. If you have multiple sons or grandsons, setup each box as a standalone tool set and put a tag on the back that says which boy gets what box.

Move those old parts to a separate shelf and tag them for what ear make and model they are for, otherwise, unless they go with a project that is sitting near by, they are going to the scrap yard. Same with random bolt bins, and that whole pile of projects you haven't gotten to yet.

Even if you don't have heirs, these steps will make selling things off much easier on your widow. Most auction companies don't want to deal with a junk pile, many of them won't bother if things aren't at least mostly well laid out. Which means your wife or one of your kids is going to have to get a dumpster before they can even think about selling anything.

 

[logical]

My wife and I have no children.

My hope would be that she enlists the help of a self-proclaimed tool “expert” who will tell her it is worth 5X what it actually is. After that, she’ll list it online for an outrageous amount only to be ridiculed and offered fair market value by people whom she will presume are trying to rip her off. All of this because she was told differently by some clown who didn’t know ****.

This is exactly what happens whenever someone dies and their spouse attempts to sell their tool collection on Marketplace.

It could be worse, she could sell it for what I said I paid.