Pricing of used equipment?

[jrs]

Sorry if this is the wrong place.

I recently sold a couple of machines, but ended up getting less than I had hoped.

I find myself in a situation where I am contemplating replacing my current table saw, and moving to a combo machine. I figured that it would be better to consider this now, before I perform a bunch of upgrades on the saw (upgraded splitter is at the top of the list )

Anyway-- ebay doesn't help, because of the nature of the equipment (not many cabinet saws on there!), and you never really know what things go for on CL. I don't want this to sound like an ad-- since I haven't decided to part with it yet (nor has approval been given by LOML on the combo!), so please don't take it as such.

Anyway, it is a jet, left-tilt, (JTAS-10XL), with a 54" Xacta fence with micro-adjuster. It also has the jet-branded JessEm router lift, the cabinet, and a mobile base. New, it was ~ $2300. I have babied it, so it certainly isn't a "fixer-upper".

Is there a reasonable rule-of-thumb for higher-level machine used machine pricing? I understand that things are worth "what someone is willing to pay for them", but, if I decide to sell, I would like to start out in the right neighborhood.

A similar saw on woodcraft's site (without the micro-adjust fence, router lift, mobile base, or cabinet) is $1800.

Thanks for any info

[Travis Porter]

This is just my opinion (which is subject to change), not fact, so it is worth what you paid for it.

With the exception of high-end equipment, I guesstimate you can expect 50 to 60 percent of retail after it has a couple of years of age on it. More if it is in excellent condition, less if it has paint chips, rub marks,etc. As for the accessories and upgrades you do to it, you are better off removing those and selling them separately as most prospective buyers are going to look at them as free extras more so than anything. DAMHIKT.

Some tools hold their value much better, normally, these are the ones that are high dollar or "special" in some way. Examples of this include Festool which is high dollar stuff, and another that comes to mind are some of the higher end lathes like the Oneway's and PM3520's. At least with the PM3520's I have seen for sale, they are normally 2/3's of retail. Sawstop tablesaws are in demand, so their price is much higher as well. Newer saws coming out are now riving knife equipped so that is going to be a downside going forward of selling older saws.

As for a combo machine, they too get their prices cut drastically. Some go for 2/3's retail, and others for less than 1/2. Depends on the age, condition, and general demand as combo's are not something that everyone can handle. I think I paid about 40 percent of new for my Felder to give perspective. They take a good deal of space, are not easily moveable, and the upfront cash investment is not insignificant. Strangely enough, and this applies to me as well, it seems less painful to buy a bunch of smaller stuff over time than buying one big thing at once even though they equal out.

So what you can get for it may not be what you want as I know from personal experience. My other piece of wisdom is if you do decide to sell it, don't get in a rush, be patient. Listing it for a week here, Craigslist, etc and not getting a bite does not mean you are overpriced. With the exception of 1, every major tool I have sold has take 3 to 4 weeks for someone to come up and buy it.

[Douglas Robinson]

I agree with Travis. That has been may experience price wise. The one exception was my old Delta Model 10 Radial Arm saw. I bought it used, didn't care for it, took it apart and left it in a corner for a couple of years. I needed the space, so I cleaned it up (really well) took some pics and posted it on ebay. 3 days into a 7 day auction some bidders got into a bidding war. The darn thing sold for more than I paid! Go figure.

I prefer to sell here or other free sites. Some products work better on ebay. It depends on size of the item and market. Sometimes there is someone willing to overpay, and ebay provides that option.

Doug

[SteveHall]

Just my $0.02, but as a regular CL purchaser I feel like the best deals are older pieces of equipment that still function as they were intended. Then I don't pay a premium for pieces that are "like new" that wouldn't serve me any better than something 15 years or more old. Those of us who need to buy used because of price are looking to get the discount of "not looking like new".

Almost new equipment appeals to a certain subset of CL buyers. In one or two cases I've bought something nearly new because it's price overrode the risk of having no warranty. But it is a pretty big risk, especially on something like high end wood working equipment. I generally don't consider anything higher than 50% of new. Any more and I might as well consider buying the actual new item in the box, complete with manuals, wrenches, store support, and manufacturer warranty.

There are mostly honest CL posters out there that I've found, but the risk of bumping into the dishonest or unknowledgeable one tends to trend pricing downwards on used items.

[jrs]

As far as the accessories, well, they came with it. The router lift & cabinet have to go with it, otherwise it would look incomplete.

I still have some serious contemplation ahead of me.

Thanks!