Stihl Advice

[bowtechmadman]

Ran into a large amount of Stihl saws today...purchased a few and could probably purchase as many as 100. Everything from S10's, 025's, 260's, 044's, 038's, 056, lightening, 090 and everything in btw. Conditions from poor to very good and everything in btw along with boxes of parts. I'm not even close to thinkin I want to deal in this type of inventory nor would I have a clue how to make the personal a reasonable offer. Looks like a case of the guy's hobby got out of hand, his interests have changed and his wife wants the garage back...2.5 car garage with a narrow walk way...the rest is saws. Guess the question I have is there some reasonable money to be made on ebay if I wanted to go through the effort? I have the means to buy him out but also don't want a new full time job trying to piece together runners and parting out the remains.

 

[H 2 H]

Finding that many saws would be fantastic for me

All it takes is time

I've been doing pretty good flipping saws

I'm not make a ton of money but it sure does help the bottom line

 

[Rookie1]

Oh my! If I was there Id try to buy it.I wouldnt know a price either but would let him start with an asking price then knock him down some. Then I would have to deal with my wife wanting it out of my garage!:msp_wink:

 

[Stihlofadeal64]

I imagine there are several of us salivating on the keyboard about now. If you have concerns or fears allow me to alleviate them. Send me a pm with a phone number and we can work it out :hmm3grin2orange:. It looks like you have landed in the 'promised land' of all cad addicts!

 

[justtools]

Sounds like you could make a bunch of your money back selling saws and parts here. It does take time to part out and list with prices every piece. But parts saws bring good money. Good luck with your decision.

 

[imagineero]

You don't need to work on the saws, just be realistic about what they're worth, as they are. With such a large number of saws, you can't assess them one by one.... which is how you'd normally go about buying saws. You've got to take a rough inventory on paper, and tick a box for each saw based on a few seconds visual assesment - complete and running, complete and unknown, or incomplete. You could sort the whole thing out in a few hours. Try to pull the complete saws over, if they start they're runners. If they don't then assume they're not. Many of those saws may indeed be runners and need a bit of sorting, but if you're not interested in getting them going then you've got to assume you're going to get 'non runner' money for them.

you want a sheet with columns like this

model | visual condition | running | sell price | buy price

066 | rough | no | 250 | 100
021 | clean | yes | 150 | 70
028 | fair | parts | 50 | 20


You get the idea. The guy probably wants to just flip the lot, and can't face up to doing it one by one which would make him a lot more money. Very few people would have the cash to purchase a collection like this, so you stand to do quite well out of it and get a few nice items yourself at no cost but you need to be brutal, know your saws, and don't offer much. Make your offer based on the lot, not one by one. You don't want him seeing any of that information. As a general rule I wouldn't be buying saws at any more than 50c on the dollar for what I thought I could sell them for, and even then I'd be estimating low on what I thought I could sell them for. You'll end up making more money on the low end saws which might surprise you. You can buy them for cheap, and double the price and sell them fast because the money involved isn't much, but it adds up quick. Takes a lot more time to send a higher value saw, and buyers are going to be fussier. Even consider purchasing all 70% of the collection, all the low end stuff, for very little money, say, $30~$50/saw for runners, and leaving the high ticket stuff behind. You could clear all those low priced saws in a week no worries.

Shaun

 

[bowtechmadman]

I tried to get a price from him for 2 hours while going through the mass. I couldn't get one for a single saw or for a group of saws. Finally I made an offer for 2 saws and it was low...got the "well I see these go for X amount on ebay etc.." Hey Jack it's much easier selling to me than Ebay...how happy do you want your wife? So I made an offer for 6 saws and he immediately said yes no hesitation. (so now I'm like crap I could have went less or put another saw in the deal etc..., worst case he figured out I was serious and not a tire kicker). It's definately not a gold mine just for the fact he's pretty knowledgeable about what they are worth...ie your not gonna get them for dirt cheap. I'm thinkin I could make 20-30% since the majority are Stihl but may take couple years to recoup the investment.

 

[bowtechmadman]

Thanks Shawn I did sort of what your saying for what I bought yesterday on a small scale...left with just 6 saws. I've built a bit of a relationship with him now and he knows I'm serious.

 

[imagineero]

Nobody can put a value on the collection without seeing the inventory and figuring what each is worth based on model, condition, and running or not.... but honestly I don't care what the saws are. I wouldn't be putting a couple years into getting 30% back no matter what. If it's a big collection, and you've got the money to front it, then expect to double your money in a short time frame (no more than a month) without doing any work, or just don't bother. As I already said, you'll do better by buying up the whole lot of the low end of the collection for a lump sum and be able to quickly flip those saws for a tidy profit. Leave the 'gems' for him to suffer over, all you get with those saws are fussy tyre kickers, time wasters and low ballers, before finally settling for 10% more than what you paid for them yourself, after spending all your time tidying them up.

Shaun

 

[imagineero]

Thanks Shawn I did sort of what your saying for what I bought yesterday on a small scale...left with just 6 saws. I've built a bit of a relationship with him now and he knows I'm serious.

I think you showed your hand too early. He's got some cash in his pocket which came easy now. If it were me I would have showed up with a truck and a poker face, looked at every saw and made no comment, then pulled out a large wad of cash and left with everything I want. The amount of money would probably have seemed like a lot, but would actually not be much compared to the value of the saws. It's got to be an all or nothing deal, he would have been sweating that, and you wouldn't have. You've lost a bit of your leverage.

Shaun

 

[blsnelling]

For me, I'd take the cream of the crop and leave the rest. Otherwise, it would just burn me out on something that's supposed to be enjoyable. I'm not into parts saws, or junkers that can't be fixed up for a reasonable profit. But, that's just me.

 

[watsonr]

My last big score was very similar, close to 80 saws total. I sorted out only Husky and Stihl and came out with 43. Placed complete saws in one pile, parts saws in another. Guess-timated cost of repairs to the complete saw pile in general terms... fuel lines, filters and carb kit minimum for each of the complete saws. Then took a guess at the complete running saw profit after cost of purchase and repair parts and my labor. Some may need top-ends and also factored that 1/2 will probably need a complete re-build or they wouldn't be sitting in a pile... something is wrong with them was my assumption.

Parts saws are just that, should be less than 1/3 cost of the complete saw price I was willing to pay.

Over-all I paid $13.50 a saw. Seller was happy to unload and I made a good profit on fixable saws. A bunch turned out to be just junk and added to my parts pile.

Take into consideration the desirability of the model also.. wild-things and Stihl 030s just don't sell for much and no-bodys looking to load up on them, something to think about.

Good luck

 

[Trailtrimmer]

For me, I'd take the cream of the crop and leave the rest. Otherwise, it would just burn me out on something that's supposed to be enjoyable. I'm not into parts saws, or junkers that can't be fixed up for a reasonable profit. But, that's just me.

Yeah, I'd be all about the big bores, a 200 with a tail and the gear drives. I could care less about the run of the mill ones and the basket cases that aren't rare. The common ones are all over and unless I could make some profit on them there is no point.

 

[watsonr]

I tried to get a price from him for 2 hours while going through the mass. I couldn't get one for a single saw or for a group of saws. Finally I made an offer for 2 saws and it was low...got the "well I see these go for X amount on ebay etc.." Hey Jack it's much easier selling to me than Ebay...how happy do you want your wife? So I made an offer for 6 saws and he immediately said yes no hesitation. (so now I'm like crap I could have went less or put another saw in the deal etc..., worst case he figured out I was serious and not a tire kicker). It's definately not a gold mine just for the fact he's pretty knowledgeable about what they are worth...ie your not gonna get them for dirt cheap. I'm thinkin I could make 20-30% since the majority are Stihl but may take couple years to recoup the investment.

Your not eBay and don't pay eBay prices! Tell him that, if he wants eBay prices... tell him to sell them on eBay himself and turn away. My guy did the same thing and when I told him that, he said I was right. A local sale is quick and easy, pays cash with no fee's and relieves him of his trouble almost instantly with no extra work on his part....

 

[tex]

If you need a salesman, I can find homes for a few saws. Might even want to buy for myself. Let us know what you decide to do.

 

[bowtechmadman]

Majority of what he has are Stihl's...I'm gonna give it some thought and go see him again with a better game plan. I had no idea the kind of inventory he had. I'm not a big Stihl guy thankfully he didn't have all husky's or I'd have been in real trouble. I did pick up an 026 Pro, 036Pro, 044 all in running condition, as well as two modern echo's that were nearly new, and a Pioneer p60. I'll get some pictures posted soon...also got a FS44 trimmer tossed in.
You have a pretty good point Brad...I get worried that the same might happen to me that did to him...makes something that is enjoyable into work and burn out on it in short order.

 

[struggle]

A post like this has the boys circling the wagons and getting their war paint one

I hope it works out for you. Sounds like you are getting close to score of the year award if you can make it happen and if you do then you get an atomic you suck added to your name.