Aladdin's cave of machines to dispose of - help needed

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Thanks all for your very useful posts and info. I'll update the list I did and start adding prices.
In the second picture there are two lathe chucks. The front one appears to be an independent 4 jaw but I can't see enough to be sure. The farther back is a chuck too but I can't see enough to tell just what kind.
Hi.,
How do I make a private offer to you?

Kind regards,

Andrew
 
Good afternoon all.

Had an offer of £600 collected for the Myford lathe, tooling (cutting tools) and the 3 and 4 jaw chucks.
 
David
That is far far to low. Should be getting over £2000 for the lathe and basic equipment. One like yours recently sold for £2800 - always collected.
Let the auction decide!
Mike
 
Indeed. I thought so too. I'm aware there are people who set out to target vulnerable sellers.
 
David
You are correct. Thats the advantage of eBay. It finds the best price from a vast (well UK) member base and anything large would be picked up. You would always get more if the smaller items could be couriered. From what I have seen I would be expecting in excess of £10,000 for the lot. I noticed that a Hegner multicut fret/jig saw recently sold for over £300. I sold one last year for £270. The myford vertical slide goes for around £150 - I sold one last year for £160.
Get your camera out and start making a photographic schedule!!!

Mike
 
I sell on Ebay, when the price is right, by setting a reserve where I have made at least bottom value of c the competition, including my profit. Use the unique selling points to make yours a better buy by little extras that beat the opposition's offers.
That way you automatically do not sell to the bargain hunters! They will by anything for $£¥ 0.99!
K2
 
I agree with most of the points made by K2. In my experience the photos and detailed description of the key features are critical. I think I have said to David that I would be happy to review his description given that he (by his own admission) lacks experience of these types of tools.

Not sure what your last sentence means. There is a wealth of experience and research which shows that starting at a low price encourages a higher end price largely based on the number of interested buyers who become "locked" into the auction. 2 of us recently, by way of an experiment, placed identical items on eBay. One had a good description and a low starting price (£1 in this case for an item expected to sell for £300) and the second listing starting at £150 with not such a good description. The first listing received around 25 bids (from memory) and the second listing did not sell. The auction price obtained was £320.

I would add that it is always sensible to check the Sold listings to make sure that the item would sell at a reasonable price and that there is a demand.

If I were listing David's Myford I would start at £100

Mike
 
Fair comment Mike. I'm glad you suggested my post was confusing, I can explain my strategy more here. I have sold, starting low, without reserve, then sold low! But I start low, with a reserve where I will sell. One item was re listed 4 times while the bargain hunters just went too low for me to sell, but eventually (4 re-listings I think?) the dross was weeded out and 2 real bidders chased it over my reserve.
Some things I have not sold, but I am too poor to give stuff away. Just try again when the seasons change.
But I always get at least my reserve, so never lose when I sell.
Each to his own strategy?
Ken
 
Hello firstly let me say I am sorry to hear of the loss of your BiL and the position you find yourself in I have been following this thread quite closely as I am in the process of trying to set up a complete home workshop.
I have watched many MYFORD lathes sell on eBay while I was looking for a lathe for myself and they have always sold very well because they are a very attractive option as a very reliable and well made lathe with many additional Myford made accessories available as you have found out yourself.
They seem to come in various guises (and I am not an expert here) from a basic 7 to a super 7 and ones with added clutches etc etc etc, the one you have is quite obviously at the very top of the tree with a gear head fitted and powered cross slide,I have not seen one of these sell before so cannot say I have seen one of these sell for lets say £2,800.The ones I have watched generally sold from £1,200 to £1,700 which is easy to verify as there are generally a few for sale.I personally was put of buying one by the pure weight of them and the difficulty moving them.This may alert you to one of the problems you have in the fact that yours is situated in an up stairs bedroom, getting a MYFORD SUPER SEVEN with gear head out of an up stairs bedroom and down to ground level is no mean feat, which also applies to all the other weighty things you have.I personally think this would put off a lot off potential buyers, if you consider what your market will be for the lathe it is probably someone like myself wanting to set up a little home workshop probably for the first time with a limited budget, unless of course they have bottomless pockets, another buyer of the lathe might be someone that already has a workshop and would like to upgrade his basic lathe to something better this will be someone that knows the score as far as moving such things about, ie dismantling said lathe with a helper to get the lathe out and any other problems that might be.I think this would probably affect the price he would be willing to pay. Selling the lathe with all the various accessories that you have will make it a far more attractive proposition to anyone buying the lathe but don't expect that person to pay top dollar for all these extras, and why would you want to be left with all these things to try to sell separately.
I would say if that's what you want to do try to sell the accessories first and see what reaction you get to them at the end of the day something is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it.
In my case the lathe I bought I had to go and pick it up, a round trip of maybe 160 miles but the lathe was situated in a large garage and had been placed directly behind the large shutter doors so it was a doddle to reverse the car up and slide the lathe into the back.The gentleman selling the lathe on eBay had put very little info about the lathe and had started bidding at £1,500 or make an offer which is what I did there were no other bids at all so it looks like start low and set a minimum reserve and see how it goes.

I hope this may help you in your efforts to dispose of the workshop for your Sister in Law
john
 
One of the biggest issues is the stress of selling piecemeal when my wife and I are 3hrs away and my SIL doesn't want to be the one dealing with interested parties.

I've just emailed all the firms Mike suggested in his document in post #20. A total clearance may bring only, say, 50% of the value if sold bit by bit on eBay but to have everything gone in one day would be invaluable to my SIL's stress levels.

I can see someone wanting the Myford but then arriving short-handed (I'd guess 3-4 strong people needed to manoeuvre it) or something getting damaged on the way out. And I'm not helping... broke my back a few years back. Better now but...
 
From what I have seen I would be expecting in excess of £10,000 for the lot.
...Get your camera out and start making a photographic schedule!!!

Mike
Tim at G&M tools, one of your suggestions in post #20, has responded asking what price I had in mind for "the lot."

When you said in excess of £10k, was that selling bit by bit, a workshop disposal such as Tim's, or a mixture of all means of selling?

I think the Myford and its accessories (many of which have they to be photographed, so you haven't seen them, may be up to £7-8k and my list of other machines comes to around £5k (excluding the model engine). But then the other "unseen" tools etc may add hundreds or thousands more?

I'm suggesting to Tim I take photos in every (additional) drawer and photos of every apparent Myford part I can see and forward these to him in a few weeks when next at my SIL's. From what I've seen each Myford part has it's part number stamped on it, is that correct?
 
David
Most items have the part number stamped and you will find that as there have been mods then the part numbers change. In reality a Myford (and that is stamped) vertical slide is a vertical slide irrespective of its number. Anyone familiar with these types of tools will easily recognise the item. Apart from the lathe your most valuable Myford accessory is the dividing head providing you have at least 2 plates and the tail stock.
Mike
Mike
 
Davis and Jon
You are correct that Myfords are heavy. A dealer would have no issues with that. A private buyer would, I suggest, need to part dissemble the lathe to negotiate the stairs etc. I have done this as follows:- remove motor, remove tailstock, remove head and gearbox and maybe the cross slide. Takes about 2 hours and is not difficult. The items are then easy to lift using ropes and in my case small climbing loops. I slid the bed down the stairs using a sheet of hardboard shinny side down. However you look at the lathe in question it is a lovely example.

Another approach I have seen is to hire some big blokes and move the stuff into the garage or ground floor room thus removing the "it's up the stairs" excuse for a lower price.

I guess, David, you need to decide how much time you want to spend and what your overall strategy is going to be. Put it on eBay and say that it in in a bedroom and let the buyer sort it out. But it does need a really good description and photos.

Mike
 
Tim at G&M tools, one of your suggestions in post #20, has responded asking what price I had in mind for "the lot."
Your best answer to that might be "I don't know much, but I am learning. You are the expert, you tell me". I agree sending photos would be quite sufficient to allow pretty much everything to be identified, but for this much good stuff I would have thought he ought to be able to manage a vist. For photos you would need to open the boxes. For example, in one of the drawer photos I noticed two boxes labeled Arrand Engineering. This gives not much clue as to exactly what is inside, but it does tell you that whatever is inside (and I think, from what we know already, we can be pretty certain the box will still contain the original item) will be of the very best quality, whether it is worth £5 or £100.
 
Mike, my wife had a meeting today with a specialist model railway auctioneer (she's dealing with the models). Estimated £30k but said they could easily double that.
He's interested in the machines too, a collect all offer. Their vans, their staff collecting.
They collate, make up associated lots, about two months of cataloging and a whole day's auction dedicated solely to my late BIL's collection, advertised worldwide on the 'net.
We've used his auction house before so trust them.
Might be a great all round solution?

Meanwhile Tim has offered to visit, make an offer, and leave us alone to decide. He has friends locally so it's not a chore for him.
 
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David
Seems like a plan and takes away the stress of the process. If the models are in the region of £30k then there must be some really good models which you have not shared the photos of. (suspect english!). That said I would use the auction house, pay the fees and consider the process complete. Then take your SiL out for dinner!
Best of luck
Mike
 
Another approach I have seen is to hire some big blokes and move the stuff into the garage or ground floor room thus removing the "it's up the stairs" excuse for a lower price.
I had a large-ish lathe (WWII-made Colchester Master) arrive unexpectedly from my late FiL's estate. It was in the back of SiL's horse trailer, having been put there by the removal men who were moving her to a new house. I lived in a quiet village street, and had no idea how I was going to get it out and into my shed. I could hear music and jollity at my neighbours over the road, so I went over to investigate... Turned out the local rugby club (for whom the neighbour's son played) were having a barbecue in their garden. A short negotiation later, and a team of burly rugby players picked up the lathe, moved it to my shed and put it in place for me -- all in return for a crate of beer from the pub down the road.
 

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