Used tool demmand declining?

[Bill Wilson]

I think there's a natural ebb & flow to a lot of hobbies.  I can't say where woodworking is today, but I do notice more of, what I've heard referred to as the "maker's movement" or "maker culture" amongst the millennial generation.  I have no idea if it's something that has legs or if it's just a fad, driven by channels like DIY & HGTV and websites like Etsy & Pinterest.  It may not always represent traditional woodworking, as we know it, but I do believe that "hand made" will always hold some appeal.

[mvflaim]

I see a lot of younger "makers" taking a 2" slab of whatever, sanding down the top, sloshing heavy coats of poly on it, and making legs out of black pipe and calling it woodworking.  Or, they surf Ana White's site (who has zero knowledge about proper joinery or technique), buy a circular saw, cordless drill, a Kreg jig and some screws, and make "furniture" out of 2x stock with total pocket screw joinery.  All I can saw is to each his own.  

On the positive side I guess its a start...... and when they figure out that all they've been making is just Ana's junk, but got bit by the woodworking bug and expand their horizons, they start to improve.

Maybe that's one of the problems. People are going to these online sites and learning to slap things together instead of reading a book or magazine to learn how to do things right. Seems everyone today wants to be online and create a viral video of 8 hr woodworking project sped up to 90 seconds.

[Cecil]

Demand seems to be strong in my neck of the woods.  For example, I saw an egg beater drill on the bench, so I walked to it.  By the time I go there, in less than one minute, someone snatched it up.  I saw Stanley #4 in great shape (he took good care of his tools).  I grabbed it, and the man immediately to my left said, I saw that online, in the pics, and that is what I came for.

Around here, if you want the good tools, you need to get to the sale early.  We do have a reasonable number of Amish in the area.

[bandit571]

Some days....you just have to be "picky"...
 

   
Stanley No. 3c....
 

   
3 patent dates...and the SW in a heart....
 

   
May take a bit to clean up...

   

Cost me $30 + tax, today.

[MG14]

I have observed a big drop in prices and demmand for woodworking equipment. I can not speak for auctions but estate and more so garage sale prices and demmand is very low.
Many sales have just a few old I mean really old guys looking at tools and they are very stingy about what they buy and will pay.
Is the market shrunk this bad?

The decline in the price of used tools does not necessarily indicate the decline of the craft.

The stock market is 50% higher than just a few years ago. 

Maybe people are buying new tools instead of used? Lie-Nielsen seemed to be expanding at their open house a few weeks ago. Their buildings are bigger. Much of their machinery is new.

Maybe the decrease in price has nothing to do with the DOW and has solely to do with a successful marketing strategy by Lie-Nielsen, Lee Valley, etc. They could have cleared out the top tier of used-tool buyers.

Whatever, there were a lot a 20-45ers at Lie-Nielsen's open house. There were a lot of women there, too. The attendance seemed high, the lobster bake sold out for the first time. 

This is all good, unless your retirement is in old tools that perform poorly.

[MG14]

Additionally, Woodworking forums are a thing of the past. You six people have been musing and opining upon this subject by yourselves for the past 6 years. 

Woodworking forums and blog aggregators are without positive value, but that has nothing to do with the craft.

There's a lot of new and cool stuff out there to feed all of your interests, including used tools. You're simply in the wrong place.

P. S. My friend told my the MJD auction last week was bigger than ever, similarly expensive as ever.

[Bobby Thompson]

Do you know any millennials that work with wood or who took shop class for that matter? The younger generation has very little interest in woodworking. I'm sure you'll find a few of them on instagram if you look, but the majority of them have no interest in the trades. They're too busy playing video games. Without the young blood, there's no one to take the place of an old guy who retired.

Mike

 
+1. But there is hope. My grandson (14) loves to make wooden knives and swords. I am teaching him to use some of the tools, placing emphasis on safety of course. The other day he asked " Papa, who is going to take care of the shop when you can't".  I told him that would be his job. That made him happy. My hope is that he will progress to bigger and better things. I would really like for him to become a bladesmith since he loves swords. Woodworking could be his second hobby.

[gov.cheese]

Ebay and the downtrend of Stanley plane prices may have to do with dispelling the myth of 'rarity' and just how common planes and other woodworking tools really are. When I started acquiring woodworking hand tools antique tool dealers (e.g. Martin, Donnelly, etc.) and people like John Walters who wrote the Stanley books on price/value were telling us what the tools were worth. Ebay came along and it allowed the buyers to impact the selling prices. Lo and behold, the 'rare' Stanley #3 (just an example) they said was worth $100-$150  proved to be worth a lot less when we could go on Ebay and buy them all day long at $40-$60 a whack. Today, a mint Stanley #3 in a box on Ebay fetches $70-$80. There is nothing 'rare' about the Stanley #3-#8's and current prices reflect this. I've walked past many a plane in the last several years that 20-25 years ago would have made my knees weak.

[sarir]

I have been selling hand tools for about 15 years and have never been busier. There are a ton of young people living in apartments or condos and can put a small workbench in a closet. I wish I could post pictures of them that my buyers have sent me. They can saw, plane, chisel to their hearts content and not bother the neighbors or wake the baby.

[Bibliophile 13]

I think the hobby is actually growing among the millennial generation. 

For example, have you taken a look at what Mortise & Tenon Magazine has been doing lately?  Look at their staff page, especially.  I'm pretty sure that the only person there who isn't under 40 is Megan Fitzpatrick (though of course I would never presume to know a lady's exact age...).  And I don't think they're shipping most of their magazines to senior citizens living in retirement communities. 

Social media sites like Pinterest have made it very easy to share simple DIY woodworking projects.  Most of them don't require anything more than a chop saw and a drill, which isn't exactly fine joinery.  But you know, once people find the limits of their few power tools, some of them branch into hand tools and discover traditional joinery techniques.  Most don't, but a few do. 

I don't think we've seen the end of the Hand Tool Renaissance yet.