Shopsmith Forums

If I wanted to sell my shopsmith, what would be the best way to go about doing that?

beeg wrote:Craigslist.

Totally agree!

That is where I bought mine. All three of them But whose counting.

Clean it up, do a good write up, take good pictures, price it correctly, and put it on Craig's list with a phone number. then sit back and get ready to miss your SS...

When you list it on Craigslist make sure your pictures are oriented correctly and are large enough. List it under Tools and then both Shopsmith and Shop Smith. Do the required maintenance and make sure every thing runs smoothly. Clean, no rust and pretty sells. Just like when you were dating.

I helped a friend buy one a few months ago that had been listed for over a month. When the price dropped to $500 we went to see it. I checked some things and the speed control was not smooth, it was missing a few minor things and I pulled the cover to look at the belt, etc. and asked, "When was the last time you did maintenance on this?" His answer, was "Huh?" I pointed out everything that would need to be fixed (all minor except for a missing end table which I told him would cost almost $200 from Shopsmith. We made an offer, which he declined and we started walking away. He asked if we would give $25 more, which we did and bought it for $275.

I mention this because you don't want that to happen to you. Have everything in order and have the answers a knowledgeable buyer would ask.

Thank you all for your replies, your advice will be very useful

This info on selling is good, but, how much is it worth? How does one establish a price for their Shop Smith?? I noticed on Craigs List, that if someone was selling theirs, They would estimate $1100.00 -$1500.00. If someone was selling their grandfather's, it would be priced at around $500.00, with accessories. So, how much is it worth?????????????

wrench66 wrote:This info on selling is good, but, how much is it worth? How does one establish a price for their Shop Smith?? I noticed on Craigs List, that if someone was selling theirs, They would estimate $1100.00 -$1500.00. If someone was selling their grandfather's, it would be priced at around $500.00, with accessories. So, how much is it worth?????????????

Not meaning to add to your frustration but the simple answer is

"What someone is willing to pay"

and add to that - How quickly do you want / need to sell it?

I don't think that there is a demographic buyer profile for you to target. So figuring out how much to charge is more a matter of how much do you want to charge.

I looked at ShopSmiths in all sorts of repair and disrepair, but I traveled to get the less expensive systems that were offered by those who were selling it to get money rather than those who lost interest or now have separate equipment or inherited and and no interest in using it..

I bought a an older 500 basic system (no lathe tools, a couple older saw blades, no extra table inserts) for $250 (800 miles round trip). A newer 500 with LOTS of extra pieces and a bandsaw for $500 (200 miles round trip - twice) and a 510 in nice condition with bandsaw and DC3000 for $800 (400 miles round trip). There are MANY similar to the 510 I found that are still being advertised on CL (still being the operative word) for $1200 to $1500 that also have the jointer and sander and maybe some other pieces. There are a couple 520s with a couple SPTs that started out at $3000 and are now down to $2000 and have been at that price for a couple months.

Do you want or need to sell it quickly? Then find the lower prices on CL and match or list lower than theirs. If you can afford to wait and you clean it up and do the maintenance, then advertise a higher price, but let the prospective buyer know that the maintenance has been done. If they do any research, they will come to find out that you have been careful and the extra is worth it.

I am not certain that my experience is of any help to you, but it might give you a view from the (cheap) buyer's perspective

Ben

I'd agree with benush26. My guess, and it's a guess, is that very few machines sell for $1,000. Maybe others can chime in on this.

I've bought 3 machines in the last year or so:

(1) a 1982 500 with bandsaw, belt sander, jigsaw and several smaller extras (mortise set,etc)...all for $700 after it failed to sell on Ebay.

(2) A 1983 500 with no SPTs for $400....but in supreme condition.

(3) A 510 (no SPTs) and a bent speed control and about $100 of missing parts for $200....in Fair shape.

The $1,000-1,500 priced machines I see locally, languish on Craigslist. What I don't understand is that they rarely are reposted with price reductions. So, either I'm wrong in guessing what they sell for, or they end up not being sold. Or go to goodwill. Or are gifted. Or are sold at greatly reduced prices.

Ebay sales are another indicator. "Completed listings" show few, if any, sales over $500-600 unless they are really nice 520s or have multiple SPTs and many extras. In fact, MOST machines on Ebay do not sell nor get any bids at all.

I'd love to be proven wrong on my assessment of prices, but I have kept a close eye on this for a year and a half.

As to how to sell. Consider parting it out if going Ebay. Otherwise use Craigslist. Post good photos of a really clean machine. Add a description that shows you are knowledgeable. Advertise that maintenance was done. Tell them you will demo the machine.

Good luck!

Fred

Fred -

I'd say you are spot on. If it is listed on Craigslist for more than a week - it didn't sell and it probably won't sell unless there are special circumstances, i.e. far from the listing area, no pictures, seller is hard to get a hold of.

Prices tend to build so after a while you get several $1,000 postings and new people come around not knowing better and price around the same level. Probably the best deal locally near me is a 510 with 3 spts for $750 and he has been trying to sell it the whole summer. So I doubt that newly posted 1954 Mark V is going to fetch $1,100.

Here is a situation that happened to me. For months locally we've had a stand alone scroll saw for sale for $150. The seller dropped the price to $75 to get it out of his garage. He told me that 11 people responded in 1 day after the price drop. Prior to the drop he had one person who was out of town interested. Craiglist and Ebay are full of people looking for deals only.

I thought it was funny and true, someone here said that a posting that tells you the value of the item they want too much. I've seen tons of 500 posted touting the prices of 520s or Power Pros. "it's worth $3,800!" Without fail their listing is still up months later.