Posting this here instead of in the Marketplace forum because I’m not trying to conduct any business with this post.
Here’s my question: do you have a rough starting point for the fair value of used fixtures and jigs? Assuming things are modern and in good condition. If your answer is “there is no starting point, need more information” that is also helpful to me.
A friend of mine is moving out of the country and will be looking to sell all his framebuilding stuff (some of it might end up on here eventually…). We share a studio space, so it’s logistically easiest for me to buy the stuff and just keep it in the shop (shop is also shared by others, and is a teaching space, so the stuff will defs get used). I’m going to put together an offer for the things I have a use for (dummy axles, fork jig, stay mitering fixture, maybe even the big-ticket Alex Meade frame jig, though I already have a homebuilt jig that works well enough) and am not really sure about a good starting point for that offer. Poking around on the marketplace here, it seems like some bigger items (e.g. stay mitering jigs) have sold for around 70% or so of their original retail price. Does that seem about right to people? Or, have a different way you think about this?
I’ve bought every framebuilding-specific item in my shop used, so have some experience with this. For me, it’s basically always come down to how much I’m buying at a time. I got started by doing something similar to your situation here- a framebuilder was looking to unload everything at once, including a bunch of frame prep tools, brazing stuff, a box of braze-ons, even a fresh air respirator system etc. Adding it all up, I got it for less than 25% of retail, but a lot of it was old/outdated, or rusty, or stuff I didn’t need but had to buy and resell. I also had to drive to St. Louis (i live in North Carolina!) to get it all, as there was no way this guy was gonna pack and ship it all.
Later on, I’ve bought up quite a few of the current/modern stuff, like the Cobra Toob Bender or Stay Slayer- buying these one a time was way closer to the 70% mark you’re talking about.
My take is, if it’s something really hard to ship like a frame jig, it’s going to be inherently hard to get good money for it unless it’s already crated up in a box ready to go. If it’s the smaller tooling like a fork jig, mitering tools, etc, that stuff is both in super high demand and easy to resll, so you’ll get better money for it.
My rec would be to make a move on the frame jig if you think it’s a notable upgrade to what you have as I believe those are the hardest to unload, especially in New England where you are (IMO) and make a big bulk deal for anything else you want. I’d say 50% of retail is a reasonable starting point if you get up over say $1500 in value. Just my thoughts but hope this helps!