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Epic deals that fall through

bolophonic

bolophonic

Supporting Member
Dec 10, 2009
9,731
18,461
Durham, NC
www.brendanlove.com
#1
Yesterday, my family and I were meandering through the country on the way back from a camping trip. We stopped at an estate sale that was wrapping up. There was a bunch of normal stuff around, but the garage turned out to be a mechanical shop of some sort. I put together a good crate of random tools and junk for $15 and then made arrangements to come meet one of the folks this afternoon with a truck to make an offer on the whole thing.

Of course, they just canceled. Nothing nefarious, I think they are just too overwhelmed with selling the house to make any rational decisions. I told them to keep my number, in case they decided they wanted the shop cleared out, but I suspect they will dither until they lose my number and everything winds up in a dumpster. I am kind of grieving the potential lost deal right now.
 
#7
bolophonic said:
If I could go back in time, it would be like: 1) kill Hitler, 2) throw more weird wrenches into the crate.
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I recently watched 11/22/63 on Hulu. It's about a guy who can go back in time and his goal is to stop an assassination. He succeeds, but the results aren't at all what he imagined.

As hard as it is to reconcile, the world needs Hitler(s).*:woot:


* smiley makes it OK
 
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#9
This is what I'm talking about. This was like, 5 minutes of semi-carefully grabbing things out of one corner. Antique tractor lights, brackets, some type of pressure fitting tool, a rear view mirror, long funnel. The crate is durable, the nozzle box -- incredible. Imagine loading a pickup full with this. There were hundreds of pounds of nuts and bolts, perfectly sorted.

image_zpsfdz5hmnl.jpg
 
#11
Back when most private sales were done through the classifieds I spotted an ad for a full home woodworking shop for sale. I was in need of a band saw and they had one so I called and made arrangement to go by that afternoon and look at it. When I got there a guy was loading a really nice old Delta table saw with a cast iron top and all manner of other really nice hardly used tools, including a massive old Craftsman 24" planer and an 8" Leblond lathe. I notice the band saw sitting outside and as I'm walking up the guy and his helper load it on the truck. I ask him if that's the only band saw and he says yes. About that time the guy who owned the tools came out and introduced himself and I told him I called that morning about he band saw. He apologized and went on to explain the guy loading up his truck had made an offer on the whole shop and he accepted. He gave $1200 for everything. It was the seller's dad's stuff and when his dad passed he just wanted it gone so he could put the property up for sale and go back to Michigan. The guy who bought the stuff was a real nice guy. He offered me the band saw for $500.
 
#14
The most epic deal I was ever involved with had a number of components among four or five people. I don't remember. My part was reroofing a garage. I got a Norton motorcycle, or most of one, in return. There was another basket case Norton, a pink 1962 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, and a gray market 400cc Honda sportbike involved as well. There were a few more things, too, but I don't remember them all. It was an amusing deal. I probably got less than the roofing work was worth, but it was OK just to be part of such an epic trade.
 
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#17
bolophonic said:
Update: the family kept my number and made an arrangement to meet with me this morning. I picked up a truck filled to the brim with crates of hand tools, cast metal punches, buckets of chains, boxes of hinges, springs, latches, hasps, a large metal shelving unit, an air compressor, an anvil, massive soldering irons. All for $200.
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You also probably did them a big favor too by hauling all that heavy stuff away.
 
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#18
Stewie26 said:
You also probably did them a big favor too by hauling all that heavy stuff away.
Click to expand...

After we negotiated the big stuff, they started throwing more and more things into the deal, just to get it out of the way. They were grateful to see it go to someone who would use it. There are a few things I kind of regret not taking with me (massive, but heavily used masonry bits, ancient tape measures) but I just did a little bit of research and determined that the bench metal punch retails new for $650 and the smaller one for almost $400.
 
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