01-30-2016, 12:37 PM
I got a call the other day from a gentleman who got my name from a friend of mine. He introduced himself & said he was told I was a collector and that he thought it may be time to sell his hand tool collection. He said that he was 91 years old & had a few nice things he had collected over time. He related a lot of important Stanley plane numbers and said they were all in good condition. I asked about the missing number 1 and he said he sold that a long time ago. He told me that he had started his collection just after he returned from the war in 1945. He had spent his life since then as a trim carpenter.
We talked quite a bit and arranged for me to visit and look at what he had. I arrived at his condo with anticipation of seeing quite a few well cared for tools. I wasn't disappointed. We talked at length & I photographed the collection. The amount he said he wanted was quite high. When we parted I told him it would be a few days till I came up with a value I was willing to pay. After valuing each tool in the photographs and having another collector do the same thing I arrived at my offer.
I made a second appointment to discuss numbers with the collector. We sat at his dining room table so I could show him photos of part of my collection and furniture I had constructed. When we got around to numbers he had reconsidered his request and lowered his amount. My collector friend & I had come up with a value that only varied by $200 from each other. I was comfortable with my offer and gave him my offer. After more discussion, I raised my offer a bit but it still wasn't a number he was willing to sell for, so I explained my valuation process & we parted friends.
I wrote him a thank you note for his time and repeated my interest & asked for reconsideration of my offer.
A few days later my phone rang & the collector was willing to sell if I would take the collection minus a Winchester hatchet, a Winchester plane and a small level.
Seeing the photo below, you'll agree those three tools didn't break the deal.
My new collector friend will be getting copies of the photo below with my thank you note next week.
We talked quite a bit and arranged for me to visit and look at what he had. I arrived at his condo with anticipation of seeing quite a few well cared for tools. I wasn't disappointed. We talked at length & I photographed the collection. The amount he said he wanted was quite high. When we parted I told him it would be a few days till I came up with a value I was willing to pay. After valuing each tool in the photographs and having another collector do the same thing I arrived at my offer.
I made a second appointment to discuss numbers with the collector. We sat at his dining room table so I could show him photos of part of my collection and furniture I had constructed. When we got around to numbers he had reconsidered his request and lowered his amount. My collector friend & I had come up with a value that only varied by $200 from each other. I was comfortable with my offer and gave him my offer. After more discussion, I raised my offer a bit but it still wasn't a number he was willing to sell for, so I explained my valuation process & we parted friends.
I wrote him a thank you note for his time and repeated my interest & asked for reconsideration of my offer.
A few days later my phone rang & the collector was willing to sell if I would take the collection minus a Winchester hatchet, a Winchester plane and a small level.
Seeing the photo below, you'll agree those three tools didn't break the deal.
My new collector friend will be getting copies of the photo below with my thank you note next week.
