Selling old tools on ebay: worth it?

Re: Selling old tools on ebay: worth it?

Ernie Miller Topeka

>The fees are cheaper than a conventional auction pay pal seems to pay for it's self in higher prices. but won't yeald a drastic higher proffet margin. If you have alot of tools you want to sell a well advertised tool auction might bring a higher proffit. I go to two auctions a week and some times tools will go for 2-3 times ebay. I sold a box of 5 broken #4's for $57 a couple weeks ago at one of them. You can do allright on ebay with good tools and a good discription.

Funny you should ask

Dennis

>I too have some extras and knowing we are moving soon i looked into how to sell and build up my tool fund.

Checked local auction house here that does sell few old tools but they get 40% of selling price and will not put item up for auction unless they think it will bring 100$min,so that means a lot sale.

Also have a Ebay drop off,well they charge 20$min and then its 64% off what it sells for on ebay and they said they didn't want to sell old tools,not worth the time for them.

So it looks to me you have to do everything at once and hope you make couple bucks or do like iam doing,give and trade to people that will use them.

Dennis,who in few days will not own a tailed apprentice,sure not going to miss the 32" throat bandsaw thats leaving tuesday,hehe, life is good here for sure and in the process of packing what is in the pic.

Dennis

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Re: Funny you should ask

Mike G.

>Dennis said;...snip>> they didn't want to sell old tools,not worth the time for them. <<

Scratches his head and goes," Huh?"

Old tools are about the only things that sell consistently well on Ebay,in my experience, anyway. It's all in the description and the pictures.

Re: Selling old tools on ebay: worth it?

Angelo in Cornwall, NY

>I have been ebaying for about 6 months now, not my stuff, but stuff from flea markets and yard sales. My intent was to earn a little to finance tool purchases for myself. So far, its worked well. I've sold about 100 items, kept track of all the ebay fees, and it hasn;t been too bad. I'm at about a 500% profit margin. I take paypal, but do not take credit cards. The amount that paypal takes, even on cash transfers, is annoying. Have only had one complaint about this so far. Like others have said, pictures and descriptions are important. Give honest descriptions, good pics, and state shipping prices outright.

Re: Selling old tools on ebay: worth it?

Mike G.

>>>Give honest descriptions, good pics, and state >>shipping prices outright.

On the shipping prices...I've found it's best to put a shipping calculator on the auction page. Sometimes it's hard to figure shipping from East coast to West coast. If you have a heavy item, it's gonna cost upwards of 25 bucks to ship say, from Va to North. Ca., but it might only cost 10 bucks to ship to the next state. With the shipping calculator, the prospective buyer can figure the shipping themselves and decide if it's worth bidding or not. Some items, it's easy to give a firm quote on shipping, and some you can't.

Re: Selling old tools on ebay: worth it?

Angelo in Cornwall, NY

>I use the shipping calculator for most things too... Stuff under 1 lb is $3.85 via priority mail anywhere in the US, and free boxes! Over say, 10 lbs, I state the weight and let people choose UPS or USPS, and use the shipping calculator for everything else.

Re: Selling old tools on ebay: worth it?

Todd Hughes

>I sell alot on ebay and for most things I believe it is the way to go for sure. Common bench planes ,[no.4,5 etc.] don't do much and can be hard to ship but if broken up for parts you can often still do well on these. I keep a box where I toss problim or low condition tools that I often get in lots at auctions and can't sell on Ebay and give them to a girlfriend who can use the $ and she takes them to a local auction where the un informed " Farmers" go crazy sometimes bidding on them.Once gave her a bright nickle no. 50 with a big crack and stripped of it's parts and some slow head still paid $60 and no doubt thought he got the deal of the year on a "Rare Plane!

On ebay you want tools that are in excellent condition with No problims.While most are going to users it is a mistake that you will do well with most "User Condition" tools. Users want Clean tools that are in excellent condition that look great and can be just as picky or more as "collectors".An uncleaned tool every time will go for much less then one properly cleaned too. Also of course Items that are uncommon or at least uncommon on ebay are what sell. The old saying that "you make your money when you buy something" is true as many people not knowing better will pay to much for something that they sell and then complain that ebay prices are "down".Good photos and better descriptions that describe the tool to a "T" and make you sound like you know what you are selling are important

Ebay fees are extreamly low compared to other ways to sell tools,[local auctions, shows, antique shops, etc.] My ebay bills are around $250 most months but with the much more money that I can get with my stuff selling there I don't even think about it......l.Todd