Planning for our Estate Sale

kb58 said:
I saw a 30-ton horizontal milling machine for sale, "Free, you transport." Imagine what the company paid for it, but that doesn't matter, it's only worth what someone's willing to pay.
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You are so right. I got my 4 head Fosdick 24" drill press off ebay, for what I thought was a steal. When I picked it up, I got to talking to the assistant manager, Who said they had been trying to get a new home for it, without it being a boat headed to china, for about a year. They had several people come look at it from a Craigs list add, and all said it was too big for them. I'm sure the time the Manager, and two workers spent helping me load, and tie it all down had to cost them more then I paid. Even though I knew what I was doing in tying down the load, the Asst Manager wanted to be sure I would make it home (And Chat A lot).
 
Some great comments, ideas, experiences with loved ones. matthewsx, reminds us of the relatives that suddenly have a keen interest in our stuff when we are gone. Boy, isn't that the truth. It can get ugly.

Aaron, I dealt with the same thing with my dad and his dementia. It's a tough road. Dealing with his online brokerage firm almost drove me crazy.

I was thinking how to identify tools and machine tools to be marked for a description and value range.
When you sell a business, auditors come around and put a sticker on everything. File cabinets, garbage cans, computers etc.
The number corresponds to a ledger that includes the item and value.
I think this may be the easiest way to identify the items.
Maybe not a sticker but some other way of marking the item.
 
Great topic everyone!
I'm 60 and was just pondering this....

You really can't beat an auction for fast liquidation and relatively painless "disposal" of your "stuff". About a year before my dad passed with dementia/Alzheimer my mom wanted to move to a small ranch house and simplify. My dad had TWO 60 x 100 barns with compete woodworking and machine shop/metal fabrication equipment. You name it, he had it! My brother and I discussed it with mom and decided on a auction. Auctioned the house too. We kept some machinery and some tools.( Mostly stuff passed down from both grandfathers tool and die makers. ) My brother and I didn't have garage/shops big enough to keep it all. lol. Auction went from 9am to 6pm on a Saturday. You really get an idea of what your stuff is worth to other people that don't have sentimental value to it. My poor dad thought we were having a party! Didn't phase him a bit. By Sunday afternoon everything was gone and my mom was happier than she was for a long time. Two weeks later we bought her a nice 10 year old ranch with all new furniture (with cash from auction). My brother and I were just grateful that we did not have to deal with any of the "stuff".
 
I have been selling things and even though they're great deal to the buyers, I think it helps me a lot also, because I have time to sell. If something bad happens to me, my wife wouldn't have any strength or patient, or knowledge to sell them at the price I am now selling. Also, I also get rid of things I don't really need, and I shouldn't keep them for fun either.

We have time to type these, we can create a facebook listing or craigslist or others to sell them. Give them enough time so they have a fair price vs 1 day kind of things.

I just wanted to share. Also, yesterday I sold something listed for a month. The person didn't lower the price. It was good price. But I gave him some discount anyway and also threw in some more things.
It is a good transaction that counts sometimes.
 
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I made some 'baby steps' on this project. I ordered some permanent adhesive labels to stick on the higher value tools and equipment, serving the dual purpose of identifying it in case of theft and as a data point for eventual dispersion. The custom labels cost about a dime apiece.

Very official looking, barcoded and all that stuff. Now to figure out what the spreadsheet needs to include to link the label to the item and its value.

Probably include Our Asset #, Purchase Date, Purchase Cost, New/Used, Brand, Description, UPC, $ Estimated Resale

What else?

Stu

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gr8legs said:
I made some 'baby steps' on this project. I ordered some permanent adhesive labels to stick on the higher value tools and equipment, serving the dual purpose of identifying it in case of theft and as a data point for eventual dispersion. The custom labels cost about a dime apiece.

Very official looking, barcoded and all that stuff. Now to figure out what the spreadsheet needs to include to link the label to the item and its value.

Probably include Our Asset #, Purchase Date, Purchase Cost, New/Used, Brand, Description, UPC, $ Estimated Resale

What else?

Stu

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Very nice.

Not sure what in your description but I would write some info as in for sale description. Any problem with it, history if relevant.
Also maybe hint on how easy or hard each item maybe sold. List various alternative names people may call them.
For lathe and mill, tell them don't put them in the rain for any time at all :)
 
I am more worried about my stuff going to a good home and good use than I am about getting top dollar for these things. I sincerely hope some members here would swoop in and try to get as much stuff as possible! I don't think someone should feel guilty about tool rescue! I cannot stand to think about some of my things going into a dumpster. I'm sure you all share that fear.
Robert
 
My experience is more related to getting rid of everything in the house not just tools and machining stuff. My dad's father was the second to go and after his funeral we all gathered at the house. On the refrigerator there was a few sheets of paper where each person at the house would write down things in the house that they would like to have. At the end of the weekend we gather the list and went through each item and if you were the only one that wanted that item then you got it. If more than one person wanted the item then you had to negotiate and figure out who got that item. With very few exceptions there was no bickering about who got what. Anything remaining after that went to an estate sale.
 
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