Sell or sit on em for awhile?

[avalancher]

I have always liked the Husky 372XP old school, and after trying out the new 372 at the dealer, I just flat out did not like it even after running the saw for a half hour in the wood. Finally located last year a few of the old style from Madsens, and bought four of them figuring to leave em in the box and maybe one day when I am old and grey sell em off and make a few bucks on those guys that really thrive on the old saws.

How long would you sit on em before selling them off?Ten years, twenty? Reason I ask, I have had a few offers from a fellow tree guy who is dying to get his hands on one, and recently called me up and offered a grand for one. I paid $750 with freight, but I wondered. If a guy sat on them for a few more years, would you see some of the insane prices like you see on ebay for some of the old Stihl saws that are new in box but 20 years old?

 

[JustinM]

imho, really tough to say. chances are they wont go down in price from the $1000 he's offering, but there's no guarantees that they absolutely will go up.

a few things to consider:

- $1000 now is worth more that "maybe $1200" later.

- If you sit on them for 10-15 years there's no telling what inflation will be like - meaning $1000 now could be worth a lot more than $1000 in 15 years.

- Saw technology could possibly change substantially in the next little while & those once coveted saws may now become far less sought after.

- and most importantly: you're still going to need demand, in order to sell them. I would presume, based on everything we know now, that you will have buyers for NIB saws in 10 - 15 years, but there's no guarantees. you would absolutely have buyers for them today, 2012.


Of course there's no right or wrong answer here -ultimately you're going to have to make the decision one way or the other. If it was me, Id probably sell the one to the buyer you already have (make a little coin) and then sit on the others for a bit, keeping an eye on their value as time goes by.

 

[watsonr]

And hope your area doesn't go through a natural disaster!

$250 profit is pretty good...

 

[sunfish]

The future is a mystery, grasshopper...

 

[zogger]

20 years? Depends on the economy in 20 years which could be anyplace from jetsons wonderful to..bad news. It really just depends. "Collecting" becomes a super luxury during severe economic times. People will -and have-swapped over stuff like real valuable paintings for a sack of chow.

MY take on it, for the USA..we ain't seen nothin yet on how bad the economy will be in the near to mid term future of your 20 year time span.

If you can afford it, sure, sit on them! Don't wait to unload one or two if it is starting to really look dicey though, the "market" will be saturated with people selling off their precious in order to make ends meet.

As always, investing in the future, it will pay to have a highly diverse "portfolio"

 

[watsonr]

As always, investing in the future, it will pay to have a highly diverse "portfolio"

Does that mean "More Saws"?

 

[tolman_paul]

The question is can you take that $1000 and make a better return over the next 10-20 years in a different investment than the saw.

My gut tells me todays saws simply aren't going to garner the same sorts of big $ because the reason some saws are getting big money off of ebay has to do with nastalgia, not the superior design of the older saws. I just don't see the current generation looking back in 20 years and saying man I really loved that 372 I cut with when I was a young man, I'd pay anything to have a new in box one.

 

[s219]

It's a saw, not gold. I'd sell them any time I could make profit.

 

[zogger]

Does that mean "More Saws"?

some..but I would certainly not recommend someone invest in just saws for some future economic return. Unless that means you are a store and buy stock for your trade/business.

I think you could make a lot more money in saws over some years just by using them to cut and sell wood, if you are just talking about having a dozen or so saws (good practical day to day runners) kicking around. Any single 372 in good running shape being used for production cutting should have a total ROI within days or a week, some short time period like that. Not long at all. The pros can chime in here how much quantity of timber or firewood then can fell and process with one say in a week and what that might be worth. And that saw could most likely be resold right then after that short period for almost as much as it cost new.

I think having a personal stash of NIB saws is cool, but I wouldn't go nuts with it.

 

[nmurph]

Sell them. I bet if you look at virtually any saw, and adjust for inflation, the NIB price wouldn't be significantly more than purchase price. There might be a handful of exceptions, but a 372 was too mass produced to ever be considered an investment. The Solo Twin was introduced in 1965. If it sold for $500 then, that would only be ~$3500 today. If I remember correctly, a couple of never-run Twins sold a year or so ago. One was in the neighborhood of $2500 and the other was ~$3300.

 

[watsonr]

Sell them. I bet if you look at virtually any saw, and adjust for inflation, the NIB price wouldn't be significantly more than purchase price. There might be a handful of exceptions, but a 372 was too mass produced to ever be considered an investment. The Solo Twin was introduced in 1965. If it sold for $500 then, that would only be ~$3500 today. If I remember correctly, a couple of never-run Twins sold a year or so ago. One was in the neighborhood of $2500 and the other was ~$3300.

AND with that said... even the Stihl 090 has not significantly appreciated in value.

 

[T0RN4D0]

I would sell..

If you wait 20 years and get $1500 you're loosing money and taking a risk. I doubt they'll reach any serious value because new saws aren't that bad and they are by no means a rare saw.

 

[Trailtrimmer]

The 362 is looking like the nail in the coffin of the 365. The 550xp is getting rave reviews making it look like the 346xp reign at the top of the 50cc class may be coming to a quick close. All it's going to take is for a cool 70cc Autotune saw from Husky and the old 372 won't get near the attention it used to. Miss the timing on the market and you'll loose for sure.

 

[jus2fat]

If you have 4...I'd sell 2 for the $1000 and take the profit...absolutely..!!

Don't be greedy...it will bite you in the ass..!! - a 33% profit is a nice profit..!!

J2F

 

[zogger]

Had another thought..you could take apart a couple of them and sell the parts. Price them above used and below OEM and you should make some coin plus make a lot of guys happy with fixed saws.

 

[mikey517]

I made my money by selling too soon.

I never lost money by turning a profit.

Bernard Baruch




Think about it!

 

[mstang1988]

How else could you be investing that money and what kind of profits/ROI could be making there? If you would blow it on crap then this would be a better investment.

 

[Guido Salvage]

You bought them as an investment. Your 15 year window just got shortened and your risk eliminated. Sell 3, recoup your investment and do whatever you want with your free saw.

 

[mikefunaro]

I certainly wouldn't hesitate to roll one with that kind of profit.

It's unclear whether they will appreciate the way some older saws will.

Think about it like this: do you see anyone spending $40,000 for a mint honda civic 20 years from now?

I think some of the resale values of collectible items are heavily dependent on where they are in the overall development of that family of products. It's not clear that late 1990s saws and 2000s saws will get up there.

Another thing to consider is that the new husqvarnas have been getting gooood. Sure they have their bugs but they are not moving backwards, not by any stretch. If husqvarna comes out with a good new 70 cc saw, that's light and nimble but with good power and everything else that the latest customers have, you very well might start to lose the customers who have intentions of using it for actual work and instead be limited purely to collectors.

 

[rullywowr]

I agree. Sell. Once the 70cc version with AutoTune comes out people will be like... "What 372xp". My 550xp impresses the snot out of me everytime I use it...I am seriously like "WTF?!?" this thing has BALLS.