snap on questions

[bird]

Hi folks, it's bird again..... you can tell I'm up all night!!!!  I've asked persons in the past, but, I'd like to know if anyone can tell me the best way to sell a large amount of snap on tools. Is it worth selling them on ebay?  Should I list individual wrenches, sets, or all of the wrenches I have?  I've never sold anything on ebay, and I'm not sure I want to.  But, I know some of you folks deal with ebay. I have around 70 snap on wrenches that I'd really like to sell........ considering I'm lacking a hand right now, I have absolutely no income. Thus, my sudden interest in possibly resorting to ebay to sell some of my tools. Doesn't ebay take a large percentage of the amount you sell things for?  Does ebay charge you to list things?
     I've always thought ebay was a total "scam."  Although, I'm not quite sure if I can afford to do anything but resort to Ebay right now. I have a "peg board" to the right of my office chair.  It's filled with shiny, beautiful wrenches-- that makes me smile. But, those wrenches are Snap On wrenches. They are probably the most valuable things I own (well, minus my piano, guitar, and fiddle.....ok, and my house!).
       I'm not  a mechanic. I'm a woodworker. I don't have any reason to own the "cream of the crop" wrenches. But, for  as long as I can remember, my dad always opened presents at Christmas that were shiny, new, snap on wrenches. I guess due to nostalgia, an appreciation of a top of the line tool, and buying tools to give my brother and my father for presents, I got caught up on snap on tools.
        If any of you could tell the percentage of money I will have to give ebay if I sell my tools via them, that would help me figure out what to charge. Most of the tools I've bought for around half of the original price.... or a bit more.  (I know, I'm not the smartest buyer). 
     It will seem silly to most persons, but, being able to look at a wall of carefully organized sets of snap on tools makes me happy. ...... there must be something wrong with me!!!!!!!!!!
     Anyhow, if anyone has any advice as to how I should go about selling these tools---- I'd really appreciate your thoughts/info.
Well, I suppose I've said enough for one night. I must have replied to a dozen posts and started a dozen posts this evening/morning. I hope everyone is doing well.  It's strange to consider a group of persons I've never met as a type of family. But, several of you folks are just that---- you know who you are. I love you all.
cheers, bird

[1930]

I would post pict. here and ask for people opinions on their values or look them up individually on e-bay to see what they might be SELLING for not what people are asking and then decide if it worth selling them on e-bay.
Its a scam and they find ways to take your money every chance they get but if you have particular wrenches that are worth money than maybe it would still be worth it to you, I would say just as an example if a wrench is worth 100 dollars and you would be happy to get 75 after all is said and done than e-bay might be a good choice but you have to set up an account, you have to give them your account information so they can access your checking ect ect.
Its a big shannanigan
Dont just give them away, theres always another way to make money.

[kxxr]

  It's a shame you have to sell your wrenches. I know that happy feeling they give. But, if you must, you must. You might consider listing them on Craigslist. You can access the list and specify the area where you live and also post pictures of what you have to sell. You don't have to list your address or phone number, you just enter your email when you make the post and the people interested in buying can contact you by email. You then decide how you'd like to conduct the sale. Usually you just set a time and the person comes over to have a look.
Craigslist is completely free and once you place the ad, it stays there for 45 days or until you delete it after the sale. One drawback I have noticed, at least in my area, is that people call and don't show up. It's a great way to go though, and you can have your ad up and running with pictures in about 5 minutes and it doesn't cost a thing.
  As for pricing, that's your call. You can set a firm price or advertise for best offer. A good way to see what things go for is to check the "Completed Listings" to see what your items have sold for recently and how many people bid on them. You'll have to register on ebay to be able to access the completed listings, but that is free and easy too. Be sure to take a look at the 'shipping charges' on those listings. If someone buys a 30 dollar item and pays 10 dollars shipping, it means they probably would have been happy to pay $40 at their local flea market.  Be prepared to meet all kinds though, you know people!
Ebay is not a scam, but scammers use it for evil for sure. Ebay has a lot of good information that is worth reading that is written to help you avoid scams and also to teach you how to best use their service. Ebay is a good place to sell but it's a much steeper learning curve than Craigslist. Also, for lots of reasons, people tend not to want to buy expensive items from sellers that have no track record, especially if the same items are available from sellers with 1000 or more positive reviews.
A pawn shop will gladly buy your stuff, but that is a last resort in my opinion. They will most likely offer you less than 1/4 of what they think they can sell them for. Not a good deal.
If you need help getting Craigslist to work, or if you have trouble with the ebay research, let us know and we can probably help with that. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Oh, and you have the best reason in the world to own the wrenches, you state it very nicely in your second paragraph, fourth sentence. That's all the reason you need!

[jimwrench]

 My option is the local auction if you have one within reach. Quick way to move a lot of tools with little effort. Just sold about 50 flats of tools last week and plan to sell about that many more in a couple of weeks. Local auctions charge 25-35%  but if they have a good cadre of tool buyers it is worth it. Snap-on tools generally bring a premium locally.All it takes is two buyers who want what you are selling.

[1930]

Post them on Craigslist is a good idea if you dont mind transvestites coming over to your house or any other such oddity. Been there and was amazed at that.

[J.A.F.E.]

Bird one option is to list them here, Collecting Snap on, Tools and Garages, Tool Gods Forum, Garage Gazette and Garage Journal. You should be able to get approximately 1/2 of retail from them if they are in decent cosmetic shape and good mechanical condition. They will not be hard to sell. Better to try that route IMO than ebay which will suck up a sizable percentage of what you get  for them.

You will need to post pictures but then you'd need to post them on ebay too. I would be willing to help you post them and I have no doubt others here would be willing as well.

You can get the new retail value off the Snap on site http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/catalog.asp You my have to search a bit - if the part number has been modified or discontinued your search will come back empty. So you might need to go through the catalog to find the closest current production item. Again I'm sure someone here would be willing to help if you need it - I know I would be happy to help.

[bird]

Post them on Craigslist is a good idea if you dont mind transvestites coming over to your house or any other such oddity. Been there and was amazed at that.

That sounds highly entertaining!

[bird]

I'm not sure if I'm going to post a reply in the right place..... of course, you all know I don't have a clue.... I just figured out I have roughly 3800 dollars of snap on tools here.  (of course, what they're worth NEW).  Most of my tools are new.  I've fallen in love with them. But, I'm a woodworker. I spend my time repairing, tuning up, leveling and "tweaking" mechanisms within planes to achieve the tools I actually NEED for my job. SO, those great wrenches (which, I'm not so attached to----- they don't have the history of the old Williams, ect.) I've got to sell.
      It sounds like Ebay is a waste of time. Which, is good--- I hold Ebay to be the equivalent of Walmart. ....... that's about as low on my list as you can get.  (ummmm, if anyone works at Walmart, I apologize.)
      Anyhow, let's face it---- me posting pictures on ebay and having some kind of an account---- yeah right!!!!!!!!!
  I did sell a set of metric snap ons to a guy via craiglist. He wasn't very nice. For once in my life, "I held my ground on my price".... primarily because he was an asshole. Forgive me, I don't call persons that unless they earn the title!!
     I'm not very comfortable letting strangers come into my house in order to make a tool sale. However, I have so many tools that persons often buy more then they planned on once they see all of my other tools.
      Ideally, I would have persons meet me at the hardware store---- a place where I'm more then protected!!!!! So, I at least tell persons someone is coming to look at my furniture, tools, ect.   "If you don't see me within and hour---- come find me!!!!!"
      There's a bunch of people around here in Nelson County selling lumber.  ..... good wood---- 20 year aged 2by 6-19" by 8-12 feet. Most persons in this county I know.  So, I'm working on "striking up a deal" in order to trade tools for lumber.  I've always found the barter system to be the best "trading" system there is.
      I have only bought lumber once in the last ten years.  Lumber just seems to show up in my yard, in my car (which, of course, is never locked), or in my driveway.
 So, the idea of actually buying lumber seems absurd to me. But, some of these folks have some incredible  pieces of wood. So, maybe I can trade some tools for a stack of Cherry, Wormy Chestnut, or Walnut.
     When I first moved here, I bought a stack of wood from a guy for 150 dollars. Within that stack of lumber was a 4by 8 by 15 foot long log of REDWOOD!!!!!! If anyone knows about lumber.... it could cost up to 15o for that one piece of lumber.
    But, I'm digressing into the world of pieces of wood, planes, ect.
So, anyhow, it sounds like Ebay is out (thank goodness!!!!).  Sounds like I should list snap on tools on Craig's list. I don't think listing them on ToolTalk is the right thing to do. Afterall, we're in love with older tools. So, I don't feel like this would be the site where I would list a bunch of new Snap on tools.
      I'm sure that the Garage Journal is a great site, but, I've had some problems with them (which I'm sure is due to my 'feelings getting hurt' verses the majority of their members whom I'm sure are quite nice.)  Actually, that may be true to some degree, but having a total lack of respect for another human being isn't a site I care to deal with.
      Anyhow, I should probably put up a poster in front of the hardware store about the snap on tools for sale and see if that results in anything.
      Anyhow, I do love you all. Thankyou for your input
cheers, bird

[radguy]

Another option is to explain your problem to your local Snap-On distributer and see if they would be willing to help you sell your tools. I have seen our local guy help a few people out.

Dan