Best Place online to Buy and Sell Hand Tools?


agab6601

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I like Wood Net and Sawmill Creek or this forum for buying. Some of the sellers have established good reputations so if there's something suboptimal about an item, they're sure to point it out and usually ask a fair price. You're also virtually guaranteed a tool that will work, rather than taking a risk on something from a seller who isn't versed in planes/chisels/saws.

Some sellers consistently ask for too much, such as top dollar for "barely used" tools, but then why not get it new? Then their stuff just doesn't get sold until they come down in price or their listing slips below the waves.

Haven't sold anything over the internet, but I also like the idea of setting a price for something rather than letting a fickle market underpay by a substantial margin. A fair price for a seller and a good deal for a buyer makes for good commerce. If you have something very special, know your stuff, and/or have cultivated a certain clientele, taking your wares on ebay can be lucrative, but there are a lot of aggravated sellers who complain about having to deal with uninformed, pampered jerk buyers, so Caveat Venditor. On the other hand, if you are a buyer, and the seller seems informed and can comment about commonly missing or broken parts in a competent manner, you'll be bidding against a savvy market.

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start by identify yourself as someone is buying for use or collection. are you a collector or are you buying them strictly for using them. I for instance is one of the latter. though I have bought planes for the sake of I thought they were neat.

I suggest first reading the sticky at the top about hand tool links. secondly learn what you will need and learn what to look for in hand tools for use or collection. I find sources like ebay can be good if you know what to look for and if the pictures uploaded show you everything you need to see. sometimes ebayers are selling something they don't know much about and dont know what pictures to upload. for example pictures of the frog, lateral, depth adjuster, mouth and overall pictures of body. those are key if they don't have them all you might be taking a gamble. I have also found local tool collectors who sell. If you can in your area find an antique flea market where antique dealers all gather in one spot. Also antique stores can be a good source again if you know what you are looking at.

while I have a lot of respect for Leach his prices tend to be collector prices for people who collect more than use. user planes can be found cheaper that might need a little work on your part. I have found not all people agree on what is needed for a good user hand plane. I tend to be easier on planes that might not be ideal but will work. I've bought or acquired cheaper off brands that were really quite inexpensive and with tuning can be just as good as a expensive collectors name brand. not saying his prices aren't fair but that he tends to sell collector planes that are usable but there are cheaper sources of usable planes that aren't collectors. If that makes sense at all. I do suggest getting on his mailer its tool porn for sure. if you love tools its really cool to see.

I found I made some mistakes when I first started buying planes because I didn't know what I was looking at. It is easy to buy planes that wont fit in a collection or that are usable in anyway. Also helps to know what types of planes you will need so you know what to be on the lookout for.

I would be less likely to buy used LN or Veritas on ebay. for something like that I would be more likely to buy new.

any questions just ask I have been buying planes for a couple of years now and have acquired some knowledge on what to look for, what to avoid and what you can live with. A couple of us in the forum and on the chat that have that experience as well.

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Cool, I really do not want to sell my stuff on Feebay and that is exactly what it is IMO. I am also not trying to make a profit off of the few items I have, however I also do not want to sell them for less than I payed. I am a user not a collector so Jwatson I can see your point as to deciding what you are. I want to use the tools not collect them so at a certain point I am better off to buy new. My budget does not allow for that at this time, so I have bought some older stuff in order to refurb into a useable tool and not break the bank. However I really do like seeing old tools they have a mistque to them that is aluring and I may collect eventually but in the mean time I need to get a basic set together and build on that. So that is where I am right now.

-Andy

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Yeah, but I am not looking to make that a big deal, but I am sure you know sometimes you buy a plane and decide you no longer want it, or you have 10 #4 smoothers you know what I mean. I guess what I am saying is that I do not plan being a dealer so to speak just sell the occasional tool here and there.

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Jwatson,

I am actually looking for wood bodied planes for joinery. I really want to get a set of dado planes and then a set of molding planes. So I have been sniffing around but so far nothing that has been to apealing. However I also acumulated some other wooden planes too that I would like to off load. But that is where I am, I honestly think one is never "done" buying tools however I would like to have a core set that I use and if I happen upon something then that is all the better. I think that the wooden planes can be a good place to start also as they tend not to be as expensive as their iron bodied counter parts, what your thoughts?

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wooden planes take a whole new level of finesse to get the iron set right but when you do they are great. Bob R from Logan Cabinet Shoppe is a great resource. He has all wooden planes. he has some nice videos on tuning them up as well. he is in this forum as well. I have one moulding plane and one jointer. the jointer is great but still needs more tuning. the chips get clogged.

http://www.logancabinetshoppe.com/ his site.

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