How to sell masses of excess test & radio equipment (UK) - Thoughts please

[Fraser]

OK, some who already follow my posts are aware that I have recently retired. I have been sorting through a careers worth of test equipment and RF related 'accumulation' . I am a hoarder so tended to buy newer or better kit and store the redundant kit instead of selling or binning it.

I began an odyssey into my various storage locations around the house and lab and have discovered masses of equipment that is anything but scrap and still has plenty of life left in it.

The challenge I now have is how best to rehome the excess equipment whilst recovering some of my investment in it. There is a lot to rehome !

I am a hardened eBay buyer and I am aware that eBay is full of less than honest buyers these days. eBay also take their 10% cut but that in itself is not a huge issue for me. I was favouring that disposal route but others have suggested the buy/sell area of this forum.

I am considering making up a long list of equipment I no longer need and placing it in a post in the buy/sell area if Dave does not object. How to value the equipment ? That is a problem for me as I believe in being fair and not trying to rip people off. Some of the equipment fetches high prices on eBay, but is that a good reference against which to discount an item for members of this forum ? I am tempted to list the items and request offers for any that is of interest. Sadly past experience has taught me that some buyers want an item that sells regularly for £1000 for just £100. That gets awkward as I cannot take such a loss. I am retired at 48 so no income at the moment. I would be mad to bin kit with residual value or let it sell for a song when my capital is limited. Realistic offers are great as I like working with forum members to ensure they are happy with their purchase and that we both get a good deal with which we are satisfied. I believe in Karma.

If I am honest, I am no businessman (unlike the most excellent Toploser) and I hate the whole sales negotiation thing. I buy a lot and sell Infrequently so it is all a bit foreign to me.

Then there is the issue of overseas sales..... Are they a good idea as items get lost in transit? Insurance covers that though.

Is there enough UK membership on this forum who would be interested in buying test equipment ? There seems little point in advertising here if there is little or no marketplace for such equipment.

So many questions and I welcome any comments from the forum and how YOU would handle disposal of a lot is excess, decent quality, test equipment.

Is eBay the best solution I wonder ?

Fraser

[tautech]

Toplosers Frankies Frasers Sales thread 

After your contribution here how could anybody be against such a proposal? 

As you've mulled, fair pricing is what you've got to get a handle on.....x% of reasonable eBay pricing? open to offers over xxx? and for new items that you can't offer any warranty ??
Would you want to hold a few of your goodies back in order to offer some form of cover from DOA or a Fraser warranty?
Maybe you could offer individual X Ray images of each item as an additional feature.

Just ideas for the melting pot. 

Good luck.

[tggzzz]

How to value the equipment ? That is a problem for me as I believe in being fair and not trying to rip people off.

As you realise, the fleabay selling price is a good guide as to what others are prepared to pay, but also take account of import/shipping costs. Whether or not you base your prices on those values is up to you.

Some of the equipment fetches high prices on eBay, but is that a good reference against which to discount an item for members of this forum ? I am tempted to list the items and request offers for any that is of interest. Sadly past experience has taught me that some buyers want an item that sells regularly for £1000 for just £100. That gets awkward as I cannot take such a loss.

Just accept people trying to buy something they can sell instantly at a profit; who doesn't like a bargain! Last week I spent £30 on an RF attenuator that the seller said had a list price of $2000 (current fleabay price £1400!). Both of us are happy, and I'm not going to sell it  - but have alerted my daughter to its price:)

Remember it is entirely your choice as to whether or not you sell something to them!

Realistic offers are great as I like working with forum members to ensure they are happy with their purchase and that we both get a good deal with which we are satisfied. I believe in Karma. If I am honest, I am no businessman (unlike the most excellent Toploser) and I hate the whole sales negotiation thing. I buy a lot and sell Infrequently so it is all a bit foreign to me.

It isn't a firesale, so take the time to make a deal that you like, and then enjoy it.

Then there is the issue of overseas sales..... Are they a good idea as items get lost in transit? Insurance covers that though.

Careful of what carriers will accept/insure: glass is often excluded. Anything with a CRT has to be packed "properly". Tek may have invented and patented packing peanuts, and while they may be necessary, they are not sufficient for packing. RTFTekManuals

Is there enough UK membership on this forum who would be interested in buying test equipment ? There seems little point in advertising here if there is little or no marketplace for such equipment.

What have you got to lose by "advertising" here?

Is eBay the best solution I wonder ?

Good question; to save unnecessary repetition I'll refer to https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/oh-crap-i-am-a-test-equipment-addict-look-what-i-found-in-the-lab-today-!/msg950546/#msg950546 It will be interesting to see other people's thoughts.

Don't forget the fleabay "make offer" selling option.

[CatalinaWOW]

First order of business is to remember your priorities.  It is tempting to try for max price, but you really don't care.  All of that gear is sunk cost and anything you bring in is like change found in the couch, a bonus.  You want to clear shop space, want to see kit not go to waste, want to spend as little time and effort as possible and possibly, to help some other tech person out.

I don't know the density of tech people in your area, but craigslist can often bring in some sales.  I don't know if craiglist dominates this kind of thing in the UK, but there are always some local online sales opportunities.  Here in the US classified ads in the newspaper have gone the way of the dodo, but many of the newspapers have set up free online classifieds.  Maybe it is the same in the UK.  These local markets are good for the large and heavy gear.

If there are hamfests or techfests in the area it is a great chance to move stuff.  Set up a table.  Price it to move (even the cheap multimeters and thermometers and the like).  Maybe even offer some stuff like the N-connectors for free (with some limit on quantity).  Then sit back and enjoy talking to people and collecting a bit of money.  The free bins will generate traffic to your table.  Let people talk you down in price as long as it is not ridiculous.  Stuff will find a good home, you will bring home a bit of cash, the landfills will be a bit roomier and your shop much emptier.  You might also make some new friends, which is seldom a bad thing.

[Nuno_pt]

Some of the fleabay prices are very inflated.
You can use the start bid minimum and the buy now price to give a range for what you're expecting to receive, also here you can add the make an offer.
Also some use the ''Make an offer'', witch for me it's a good step, but only take the offer that you fell comfortable about the price.
If you don't like the offers made, you can always realist the item again.
You can put on fleabay and then deal out of it.
You can also list it here nothing to loose.
It's nothing wrong in accepting halve the price, if the deal it's ok for both of you.
Careful about import duty tax, to outside EEC, and also shipping cost for large heavy gear.
In Portugal the VAT is 23%, on top of the pay price + shipment + 8€ for opening the package + some 4%, all this if the price is over 35€.
So here we try to buy inside EEC, or if outside we tend to buy some cheap opportunities.
This week I've bought one Marconi 2019 for 150€ shipped from France, both the seller and I where happy with the price.

I always have space for some connectors like N, SMA, etc, if they are good like Amphenol, Huber, etc, when I go to hamfest always look at this, and some other little stuff.

[KJDS]

I've now gone back to doing design work, but had a few years of mostly buying and selling test gear.

If you're going to ship anything then it needs packing well. This supplier of polystyrene sheets also sells reasonable double wall cardboard boxes.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EXPANDED-POLYSTYRENE-FOAM-PACKING-SHEETS-ALL-SIZES-/251006675975?var=&hash=item3a7129ec07:m:mue3FXUOy_x737JqqPnvtlA

Don't bother buying packing tape online, go to Staples and buy their six packs of clear 2" wide tape and get a tape gun. Wrap up equipment in pallet wrap to prevent bits of polystyrene getting into it.

UPS can be booked via interparcel, as can most of the other couriers, but UPS worked well enough for me.

Anything under 1kg can be shipped cheaply first class via the post office, and under 2kg second class. Above that then use UPS.

As far as pricing, put up a list with prices. Wait a while before agreeing to a price reduction, you're not in a rush to sell and trying to pack 20 items in a day gets hard work.

[Tandy]

Perhaps rather than try and do everything at once perhaps pick some of the bulkier items to clear some space and test the water so to speak and see what interest you get.

[tggzzz]

UPS can be booked via interparcel, as can most of the other couriers, but UPS worked well enough for me.

I was chatting to an ebay seller that is also gradually downsizing his garden shed with a lot of Tek/HP test equipment. He is satisfied with UPS, and they pick up the packaged goods from his door in a small country village.

He is very honest about the equipment's condition, and isn't afraid to mark it "for spares or repair", which would make it difficult for a buyer to return it as faulty!

[nowlan]

What about gumtree. I guess your not job lotting it, but would attrack local buyers perhaps?

[mikeselectricstuff]

I've never had buyer issues with eBay - spacecialist stuff doesn't seem to attract too many idiots

[nctnico]

@Fraser: Please make the items available for overseas buyers. I've bought/sold some things through this forum and that went just as well as using Ebay.

I always send parcels with track&trace and there is an occasional issue but so far none of the parcels I send/received to/from allover the world got lost.

IMHO the easiest thing to do is make a list and put (reasonable) fixed prices in there and then slowly reduce the price if it doesn't get sold after a while. That is also a form of auctioning things and doesn't involve haggling!

[richard.cs]

Just wanted to say that I'm in the UK and if you put a list with some prices up on this forum I plan to spend some time looking through it. :-)

[mikeselectricstuff]

I  would :
First off, put a list here with suggested prices, as it's a no-cost, quick way of shifting some stuff, and also to get feedback on whether prices are realistic.
Look at sold item prices on ebay for a guide to value.
List on Ebay anything with significant value (say, £100), with a starting price of the minimum you'd accept. For bigger stuff do some research into carriers to see what is sensible to offer internationally. Add some extra "hassle" margin to quoted international shipping cost as there is increased risk.
Be totally honest about condition,. faults etc. and explicitly say that everything is sold as-is with no warranty - any slight reduction in bid price is worth it to avoid hassle later.
Do the listing in batches ending at a similar time so you can do packing/shipping in one session. Don't pre-pack as you may get people buying multiple items.
Make sure you include in your listing a note that you have other similar items, and a link to your items for sale.

If you have low seller feedback, start with cheap/easily sold stuff to build it up a bit.
 
Take a table at a radio rally for all the lower value/heavy stuff, and stuff that you would otherwise be binning. You just missed Dunstable Downs but I think Newbury is one of the few remaining ones that are reasonably attended.   
Of course let people here know if you're doing this - maybe team up with others to share a spot - doing a rally single-handed is not much fun.

Consider whether some larger items might be worth stripping of useful parts & binning the big/heavy cases etc.
If there is a lot of metal, keep a pile of any ali and copper/brass to take to your local scrappie. They will usually take steel but often won't give anything for it.

Decide whether the priority is clearing everything or getting the best price, bearing in mind values will fall over time, so selling now may be better than hanging on for the chance of a better price later. 

[mikeselectricstuff]

Another advantage of listing here is people know you, so will generally be happy to use lower-cost payment methods like BACS instead of Paypal, and of course no Ebay fees. So you can sell cheaper, and make more, and everyone's happy!

Also, for RF stuff in particular, see if there is a ham radio club anywhere near you & send them a list.

[veryevil]

Hey, there is a good number of UK members so a listing on here wouldnt go a miss and its free and you wouldn't have to deal with ebay fees and general population.

Its all specialist equipment so it should be less of an issue on ebay as most people wouldn't be interested.

Would be good to know what you have got?

Steven

[deephaven]

Fraser, I am sure that you do very well selling your stuff by advertising it on this forum. I am sure there wan't be any issues regarding being allowed to do that as you have an excellent track record with all your useful posts you have made. Also many people (including me) know that you are a trustworthy guy and any purchase made from you would from a trusted source. If you are in no particular hurry to get rid of lots of stuff in one go, you could test the waters and list a few items and see how that goes. If it goes well, you could 'drip feed' other stuff into the for sale section and hopefully your stock would gradually reduce. Price wise, Top Loser seems to list stuff which appear to be in as new condition at roughly half the brand new price which I think is why his sales stuff generally doesn't hang around for long. I live in Newbury, so a visit to the Newbury Boot fair would be welcome, but it could be dangerous for my wallet!

[joseph nicholas]

You may give some thought to the fact that in some countries, if you plan to sell overseas, that banks will only pay out but not honor credit or debit card charge backs if something goes wrong.  If the insurance pays you money for a lost item, you many not be able to get Paypal or Mercado Libre to  get your customer his money for the lost item.  In my case I know Banco Azteca is shit for being fair so I am looking for another bank.

[woodchips]

The first question is, why do you think anyone actually wants to buy it? Obviously be easier to judge when you post the list up but if it isn't plastic with a colour LCD screen then it is probably dead. I list some 20MHz analogue scope FOC except postage, been at least two "I want a cheap scope" posts since, neither has contacted me.

I am clearing dozens of Tek 7000 mainframes and plug ins, can't even get rid of the current probes so far. As for the actual scope, forget it. Likewise function generators, if not digital then no much interest, I like the old Feedback units, work well.

I have Nixie tube based counters, DVMs etc but unsaleable, even for the tubes. Even old original Mullard audio valves seem only to be worth £2 each. Logic analysers, forget it, RF sig gens likewise. Anything decent like precision R and C boxes, no one wants them. The secret seems to be size, no one has any room for a decent 7000 scope, they want something the size of a lunch box which is unreadable more than 12" away.

What I would suggest, and what I have used, is a local INDUSTRIAL auctioneer, NOT NOT NOT a fine art one!!!! They will list anything, don't have to get it working, the buyer collects so no postage, all for a selling cost of 15.5% plus VAT. My auctioneer has just put a £3 listing fee on, and that would have doubled my last sale costs. Of course you won't get much, HP 8561 analysers for £300 or so, AVO 8, 2 for £12, but it does get rid of it.

If all you have is stored inside a house then I doubt you have that much, is is when the sheds, garage and everything else is bulging, THEN you have a pile of test equipment!

[nctnico]

@woodchips: I wouldn't mind a boat anchor and some decent current probes but if it is equipment from the 70's or even 60's then it is of very little use due to the age and inherent problems. HP 8561 sell for US $2500 on Ebay so you must be doing something terribly wrong.

[apelly]

FWIW, I'd like the opportunity to make offers on things I find interesting. I'd rather deal with you on here than ebay. You have to make a list and descriptions for ebay anyway, so it's little extra effort to post here.

[apelly]

can't even get rid of the current probes so far.

I have not seen a message about these on the forum. I'm sure you'd get interest here.

[tggzzz]

I am clearing dozens of Tek 7000 mainframes and plug ins, can't even get rid of the current probes so far. As for the actual scope, forget it. Likewise function generators, if not digital then no much interest, I like the old Feedback units, work well.

Have you told people on the TekScopes forum?

[Gyro]

Likewise function generators, if not digital then no much interest, I like the old Feedback units, work well.
...
Anything decent like precision R and C boxes, no one wants them.

I like them too... and have a distinct fondness for Precision R and C boxes! 
What I don't like is things with SMPS, CPU and Flash inside!

[Nuno_pt]

HP 8561 analysers for £300 or so, AVO 8, 2 for £12, but it does get rid of it.

At that price I think you can sell many here or on fleabay.

The Tek 7000 mainframe go to the HP Yahoo group, many over there looking for those units.
Current probes should sell, depending on the price.

Like nctnico said at £300 the SA you sure are doing something wrong, if one appear at the time I have some cash, I sure buy one of them.

[Fraser]

Thank you everyone for your helpful comments. They have given me plenty of food for thought.

For those wondering, no the test equipment is not Boat Anchor type, they all went to the tip a couple of months ago. The excess kit I have varies between the consumer grade stuff like the UNI-T meters to more professional kit like the Marconi gear I previously showed. Examples would be:

Advantest R4131 spectrum analyzer
Advantest R3261A spectrum analyzer
Promax Ae-476 spectrum analyzer
Aaronia spectran HF 4060 spectrum analyzer with LPA
Agilent 4420B RF signal generator
R&S SMG RF signal generator
R&S APN62 signal generator
Anritsu MF1601A frequency counter
Advantest R3132 spectrum analyzer
Advantest R6871E precision multimeter
Advantest TR5825 frequency counter
Hameg HM2005 200MHz oscilloscope
Hameg HM1004-3 100MHz oscilloscope
Hameg HM8134 RF signal generator
Hameg HM8130 Function Generator
Hameg HM8030-3 function generator & HM8021-3 frequency counter in HM8001 modular chassis
GW Instek GDS 1022 DSO
AOR AR5000A professional monitoring receiver
AOR SDU5500 panoramic display adapter for AR5000A and other receivers
ICOM IC-R9000 professional monitoring receiver
ICOM IC-R7000 professional monitoring receiver
ICOM IC-R7100 professional monitoring receiver
ICOM IC-R72 HF receiver
ICOM PCR-1000 PC controlled receiver with DSP module fitted
ICOM PCR-2500 PC controlled dual receiver with DSP module fitted
ICOM IC-R1 mini wide band receiver
TenTec RX320 PC controlled HF receiver
Polar Toneohm short tracers - various models
Huntron Tracker 1005 component tester
HP oscilloscope probes -various
HP LogicDart logic analyser with leads
HP active oscilloscope probes - various
FLUKE 8840A bench multimeters
Tektronix 220 DSO
Tektronix THS730 portable DSO
Tektronix THM550 multimeter and DSO
Tektronix THM565 multimeter and DSO
Advantest bench multimeters - various
FLUKE PM97 Scopemeter, as new in box with all parts
FLUKE 2635A Hydra Data Bucket data acquisition unit
FLUKE DSP2000 network cable analyzer kit in deluxe hard case
Lots of Marconi kit as previously detailed in another thread
IFR 1200SR professional monitoring receiver with Panoramic display and oscilloscope modes.
Lots of mains safety test kit including Seaward PAT tester
Atlantic Panoramic display adapter for 10.7MHz IF receivers

And that is all just from memory ! There is a lot more to rehome.

One person asked if I thought anyone would want my excess equipment..... I think the above will be of interest to fellow techs as it is not too large or too heavy, and still has plenty of life in it all.

Note, this list is just an example of what I may produce. This is not a sales ad as that would appear in the appropriate area of the forum. This list just gives a good idea of the quality of the kit I am talking about. UNI-T it is not.


Fraser