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A local shop recently approached me about having a small booth to sell hand tools. I'm interested in the idea but having come to a 'happy spot' with my working collection, I haven't been in the market lately. All the tools I use have come from antique shops but that was 10 years ago. Since then folks have gotten keen to the trendiness of hand tools among a certain, younger population. It's been a few years since I saw a bargain at an antique shop. And besides that, cruising the cramped aisles of a shop isn't particularly COVID friendly. Besides my city only has a couple that I've ever seen tools at.
That brings me to other options for tools that I can get for a modest price, rehab and, then sell for a modest profit. I know the swap and sell board here is great but typically they are fair priced and ready to use. Not the kind of thing that allows for profit off another resell. I'm good at keeping my ear to the ground in a few places, but I'm looking to expand my options.
So that brings me to the topic of the post: Who's had good luck shopping for tools on eBay? Do you ever find "fixer-uppers" for a bargain? On some initial looking, I was not encouraged. Prices were all over the place but I wouldn't say any were 'cheap'. The handful that seems to have a decent price for my purposes had a $10+ shipping fee that would kill any margin on a resell. Maybe its the case that eBay isn't really an option for this kind of thing. Thanks in advance for any input.
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12-07-2020, 10:01 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-07-2020, 10:02 PM by Handplanesandmore.)
I haven't checked Paul Sellers' blog for quite a while (since he digressed a lot into the philosophical domain a couple of years ago), but I recall seeing in his old posts about good finds on ebay (UK), from saws to planes to chisels. But shipping costs from that side of the pond might just as well kill any potential margin left for you. Craiglist still has good deals on power machines from time to time, but I know nothing about its hand tool sales.
Simon
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12-07-2020, 10:20 PM
(12-07-2020, 10:01 PM)Handplanesandmore Wrote: I haven't checked Paul Sellers' blog for quite a while (since he digressed a lot into the philosophical domain a couple of years ago), but I recall seeing in his old posts about good finds on ebay (UK), from saws to planes to chisels. But shipping costs from that side of the pond might just as well kill any potential margin left for you. Craiglist still has good deals on power machines from time to time, but I know nothing about its hand tool sales.
Simon
I came across a blog post by Paul Sellers giving some tips on buying off eBay. They were helpful but not really anything I didn't already know having collected my own set of tools. It was also 4+ years old and I feel like a lot has changed in the market since then. I agree that craigslist is a good place to look for power tools. I've found many and saved hundreds of dollars over the years but folks selling hand tools seem to be clueless and think they're going to retire on grandpa's antique tools. I'm only about 90 minutes from Minneapolis/St. Paul and will have to do some research and see what's available through private sellers or antique shops.
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(12-07-2020, 10:20 PM)mr_skittle Wrote: I live in Mpls, and can tell you it's like winning the lottery to find good hand tools below retail prices on Craig's List or in antique shops here. Certainly not enough to supply a space in a shop.
Good luck!
I came across a blog post by Paul Sellers giving some tips on buying off eBay. They were helpful but not really anything I didn't already know having collected my own set of tools. It was also 4+ years old and I feel like a lot has changed in the market since then. I agree that craigslist is a good place to look for power tools. I've found many and saved hundreds of dollars over the years but folks selling hand tools seem to be clueless and think they're going to retire on grandpa's antique tools. I'm only about 90 minutes from Minneapolis/St. Paul and will have to do some research and see what's available through private sellers or antique shops.
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My experience with eBay suggests that the gold there is in tools that are not labeled well. Things with misspellings in the names, incorrect labels, etc are likely to be overlooked. Otherwise, there are enough people on eBay who can get caught up in the auction action to drive prices to retail or higher for a lot of things.
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For most stuff these days, eBay is closer to retail pricing than auction pricing. The profit margin is unlikely to be there most of the time unless you comb the site constantly for things that are incorrectly described and develop a good list of mispelled search terms to automate that part of the process. It can be done. Good luck!
Zachary Dillinger
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Author of "On Woodworking: Notes from a Lifetime at the Bench" and "With Saw, Plane and Chisel: Making Historic American Furniture With Hand Tools",
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This is what I was worried about: While there once was a time that eBay had the best deals, that time has passed. I blame it on the Amazonification of online sellers. I think they've found a successful niche highlighting refurbished products, especially electronics.
For what I might make stocking a booth with tools, I don't think scouring eBay is really worth my time because I agree that the best deals are to be found in mislabeled stuff. After thinking about where I found most of my tools, it was at small city and town antique shops. Not online or in big cities. I suppose that's what I'll have stick with if I want to ever want to turn a profit. There was one shop in central MN that I'd stop at whenever I could. It was owned by a couple old as the hills and he had an AMAZING booth of hand tools at incredible prices. I was sooo crushed the last time I stopped to find the place had been turned into one of those doily and colored glass junk shops...
John W. Hello to a fellow Minnesotan. I'm up in Duluth. Do you know of any tool swaps or anything like that around the metro area?
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For what its worth, ebay "surfing" takes a lot of time, and most of the "bargains" that are mislabeled, etc., are few and far between; even then, pics generally suck, and one gets burned with cracked cast iron, or frankenplanes, so a significant number of ebay bargains end up as parts planes. This started to turn this way about 6 or 7 years ago, when I stopped buying from ebay. As far as venues, the best for what you are thinking about are tool meets, MWTCA, CRAFTSofNJ, regional swap meets, PATINA, that sort of thing; you accumulate stock and lay them on your table and they generally sell if they don't have significant issues. As a long time seller/rust hunter, its really a hobby, not a for profit enterprise, and gets me enough to keep me in wood and supplies, plus the ability to upgrade my user till from time to time with tools in better condition than those I have.
The other thing about selling on forums like this one is that you will have more success by adding value to the tool, by cleaning, tuning and sharpening such it is ready to go; and with things like saws, to rehab and sharpen such that they are in working order. Folks like Bob page (Enguneer here) do a great job with that, and I will post one from time to time, but saw rehab gets time intensive, with jointing, forming passes and sharpening passes, and with good files going for $8-10 each, the time and consumed files push up the asking price for a saw (but a comparable new production saw is very expensive as well). But I tell you, taking a vintage Disston out of the saw vice, stoning the edges lightly, and putting it to wood where it cuts smoothly, straight and true, is a great feeling.
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(12-07-2020, 08:42 PM)mr_skittle Wrote: A local shop recently approached me about having a small booth to sell hand tools. I'm interested in the idea but having come to a 'happy spot' with my working collection, I haven't been in the market lately. All the tools I use have come from antique shops but that was 10 years ago. Since then folks have gotten keen to the trendiness of hand tools among a certain, younger population. It's been a few years since I saw a bargain at an antique shop. And besides that, cruising the cramped aisles of a shop isn't particularly COVID friendly. Besides my city only has a couple that I've ever seen tools at.
That brings me to other options for tools that I can get for a modest price, rehab and, then sell for a modest profit. I know the swap and sell board here is great but typically they are fair priced and ready to use. Not the kind of thing that allows for profit off another resell. I'm good at keeping my ear to the ground in a few places, but I'm looking to expand my options.
So that brings me to the topic of the post: Who's had good luck shopping for tools on eBay? Do you ever find "fixer-uppers" for a bargain? On some initial looking, I was not encouraged. Prices were all over the place but I wouldn't say any were 'cheap'. The handful that seems to have a decent price for my purposes had a $10+ shipping fee that would kill any margin on a resell. Maybe its the case that eBay isn't really an option for this kind of thing. Thanks in advance for any input.
I also quit using Ebay some years ago. I paid attention to my failure ratio, defined as (Tools I regretted buying/all tools bought on the site) x 100%. When I first started buying on Ebay, this percentage was low, 10% or less. When I quit, it was at least 25%. You have to remember that that 25% eats into the profit margins pretty fast, hence my departure from the site.
Mark
Mark in Sugar Land, TX
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Admiral, you've confirmed my suspicions on the whole topic. eBay seems like a huge time commitment for what can actually be gotten. I think my time would be better spent cruising the few local antique shops a few times a month.
Your point of adding value is exactly what I intend to do. That's why I'm looking for stuff on the cheap. Buy low, sell high! I also don't expect to pay my mortgage with profits. Just like you, the most I hope for is a few extra bucks to go back into the shop and the occasional upgrade on a tool.
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