Clearing Out the Shop

[Coop]

No, not mine but I am in the process of straightening things up a notch. 
My younger brother just found out that he is in early stages of late onset Alzheimer’s and is being proactive while he still can. He has a three car garage that has never seen rubber tires for his woodworking shop and needs to vacate from floor to ceiling. He nor I have any serious woodworking friends and I have most of the tools that he has. 
I’m sure he would just as soon give everything away as opposed to advertising on some national platform and having to box up and shipping things so would rather try and sell locally. 
Anyone have any suggestions. He nor I have any Facebook experience but could study up on it if directed in that direction. Thanks in advance. 

[Beechwood Chip]

When I upgraded my dust collector, I put my old system on Craig's List for $50.  I explained that the system was a bit of a frankenstein, but even so it was snapped up in less than a day.  The person who bought it showed up and popped it in the back of his pickup - no muss, no fuss.

When he picked it up he explained that his shop had been destroyed in a fire so he was going around buying an entire shop from Craig's List, etc.  So he was very happy to get my old DC, and I was happy to help him out.

I considered putting it in the Craig's list "for free" section, but had a hunch it would go faster if I charged something for it.  No idea if that's true, just what I decided.

[Von]

You might look for a local woodworking club, makers space/co-op, or a school. 

So sorry for the news.

[Coop]

Wow! All ideas I never considered. Craigs list is should have been my first idea and I am a frequent flyer at Rockler’s and I’m sure they can connect me to local woodworking clubs! 
Thanks @Von for your thoughts. This is a situation we never envisioned. 

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

On 2/11/2026 at 7:58 PM, Beechwood Chip said:

When I upgraded my dust collector, I put my old system on Craig's List for $50.  I explained that the system was a bit of a frankenstein, but even so it was snapped up in less than a day.  The person who bought it showed up and popped it in the back of his pickup - no muss, no fuss.

When he picked it up he explained that his shop had been destroyed in a fire so he was going around buying an entire shop from Craig's List, etc.  So he was very happy to get my old DC, and I was happy to help him out.

I considered putting it in the Craig's list "for free" section, but had a hunch it would go faster if I charged something for it.  No idea if that's true, just what I decided.

@Beechwood Chip i second this. I've found that you can put literally anything up for free and someone will show up and take it away. They might a scrapper, a tinkerer or a world class pack rat, but there's someone out there who will beat a path to your door if they're getting it for free. I don't even bother with Craigslist anymore. I just set things on the curb with a FREE sign and it never fails. 

 

@Coop I'm very sorry to hear this news. My father is going through this also and it won't be long before I'm in the same situation, divesting his shop. My best wishes to you and your brother. 

[Mark J]

10 hours ago, Von said:

You might look for a local woodworking club, makers space/co-op, or a school. 

So sorry for the news.

+1

If you're selling something, identify it as "cash & carry".  In other words, you except cash, only, and the buyer is responsible to transport the item.

[Mark J]

Also, you could consider just having a garage sale.  Advertise the sale on Craig's List.  Or you could look into an estate seller.  But they take a significant commission, and can overprice woodworking equipment.

[Tom King]

Craigslist is almost dead now relative to Facebook Marketplace.  I quit even looking at CL probably 2 years ago but I look on Marketplace almost every day.

[legenddc]

So sorry to hear about your brother. Alzheimer’s is a nasty disease.

Craigslist has died down a lot here too but I still check it in case some old, retired woodworker is selling off their tools.

Facebook seems to be the best, but its not a fun way to sell stuff. You get a ton of "Is it available" messages and then no response. I find waiting 10+ minutes to respond means a lot of the scammer accounts have been shut down. If he does decide on Facebook, get him to share his login details with you so you can monitor the messages. The last thing your brother deserves is to get scammed. Not sure how close you are geographically to your brother, but having someone else there when people come to pick up tools would be a good idea depending on how far gone his memory is.

[JustAnotherGuy]

Sorry to hear about your brother. Good on you both for tackling it early. For simple local sales, try Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist and list everything as local pickup only. You could also reach out to nearby woodworking clubs or just do a small shop/garage sale. 

[Coop]

Thanks guys. You’d have to have known brother for a while to know that he has this dreaded disease. He still drives around Houston and they are  looking tomorrow at a 1,100 sq ft. bungalow ( down from a 3,200 sq ft. Home on a 3 acre lot)  at a senior community that also has a long term memory care facility. Again, appreciate ya’s! 

[curlyoak]

If possible tools should be passed along to friends and family. Or any groups he is associated with. Past school. Church. I think good will has trucks. Coop, take a hand tool. Even if you already have the same. And retire your old tool and use the one that is your brothers. I have several tools from people I knew along the way. When I use a hand me down I think of them. 

[Coop]

@curlyoak, heck of an idea. His wife is an amateur actress that performs in local playhouse venues as an hobby and he is donating lumber to be used in their props, knowing that SYP could be used just as well. She asked him to do this for the reason you mentioned. I plan on snitching his West Systems epoxy stash but a hand tool sounds great.

[Beechwood Chip]

On 2/12/2026 at 9:29 PM, curlyoak said:

Coop, take a hand tool. Even if you already have the same.

This is great advice!  And ask your brother which tools were originally other family member's.  Make sure those stay in the family, or at least go to friends.

[pkinneb]

I used Craigs list years ago but it really fell off in my area. I pretty much only use FB market place now and find it pretty good for tools.

[Coop]

I failed to address an important point, sell price. Use FBMP and Craigslist listed items as a guideline, 1/2 new price if in good condition or others? It’s not like they need the money and urgency right now is not necessarily a factor.

[Beechwood Chip]

Although you don't need an urgent solution, there's something to be said for a "one and done" solution.  If it was me, I'd make sure that all the relatives and friends had taken all everything they wanted, and then contact a school / club / maker-space and say, "you can have all of this for free, as long as you take all of it.  Bring a truck and packing materials and leave the garage empty."

You might not get any takers, but it's worth asking.

Do you want to go back and forth trying to schedule a time for someone to pick up one hand drill?

[wtnhighlander]

@Coop, I think 50% of new price for equivalent, good condition power tools works pretty well. Hand tool pricing in the used market is all over the place.

[Von]

I think it's fair to say there is a trade-off of money versus time/effort. If you want to move stuff along quickly, sell it cheaper or give it away. If you want to make more money, it's going to take more time and effort. I suggest making sure all the stakeholders are in agreement. One way these shop clearings can become difficult is when the shop owner (or their representative) unrealistically expects things to go quickly and generate lots of income.

You can also run into issues because of memory: "I paid $X for that! How can it only be worth $Y now?" Or if the owner is still around, emotional attachment: every time you start to sell something, there is a sudden change of mind.

I don't mean to dissuade you in the least, but we've spent some time discussing these clear outs in the local woodworking club because they come up regularly and lessons have been learned, so go in with your eyes open.

Also don't underestimate the effort just to go through stuff and price it - we tend to pack our shops tight, which is not an easy state from which to sell stuff. Think about how much space it would take to spread out a shop's contents for sale...

The one case I was personally deeply involved in went smoothly as the widow had her priorities clear and consistent: she wanted her garage back and would compromise on price to get there. Even still it was six months of steady off-and-on work to clear everything out. I'm watching another one play out on CL that has dragged out for over a year with no apparent end in sight.

[legenddc]

On 2/14/2026 at 10:20 PM, Coop said:

I failed to address an important point, sell price. Use FBMP and Craigslist listed items as a guideline, 1/2 new price if in good condition or others? It’s not like they need the money and urgency right now is not necessarily a factor.

1/2 the price of new if it's in good condition works. But I would start at the price of a new equivalent as prices have increased quite a bit lately. For anything like Festool, Woodpeckers, or Starett, I would price it 20-25% off.

[Mark J]

Von makes a lot of good points. 

Personally, I'm not on facebook so it would be Craigslist and Nextdoor for me.  

Selling price;  Unless something was especially valuable, I would be between half of what I paid and half of the current new price.  

I'd still check out estate sellers.  You can go to estatesales.net to see sales and sellers near you.  Another thought is an auction house? 

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

A lot of good points in here already. 

I'll just add this one thing I've seen from people in similar situations where they advertise an entire shop worth of equipment being sold on this day, at this time. So, not selling everything as one lot, but basically a one day garage sale. That'll clear out the most desirable stuff and then what's left over... Maybe that gets donated or sold as a single lot. 

I wish i was closer to you and could help take at least some of it off your hands. I'd be glad to take a look at any hand tools he's got - chisels, planes and saws and make you a fair offer on anything of interest.

[pkinneb]

On 2/15/2026 at 7:28 AM, legenddc said:

1/2 the price of new if it's in good condition works. But I would start at the price of a new equivalent as prices have increased quite a bit lately. For anything like Festool, Woodpeckers, or Starett, I would price it 20-25% off.

This is what I was going to suggest as well. I have been able to get as much as 90% on Festool and other quality hand tools on line simply because costs have gone up so much.

[fcschoenthal]

I've used Craigslist in the past and always put in "If the ad is still up, it is still available, so don't ask, I won't reply". I hate to be rude, but I also hate to be scammed & phished.

I don't use FB Marketplace, but there are several woodworking group pages, DFW Woodworking & DFW Woodworking, Buy Sell Trade that I frequent and have sold stuff on. See if there is something like that in his area.

Sorry about your brother, I went through it with my dad for a couple of years and my MIL for 17 years. It's a horrible disease.