Machine Shop Retirement

Ebay is full of such things. It's a cheap way to dispose of unwanted items which will usually achieve a decent price. But you've usually got to be prepared to arrange for delivery of some sort.

It's also quite fun following the action on an item you've got up for sale

- many never get any worthwhile bids until the very last second.

eBay is the best way I know of to dispose of surplus items Heavy things can attract high postage charges but often enthusiasts are willing to collect of pass on through a network of like minded people. You could try joining uk.rec.models.engineering and the yahoo modeleng group. hth

Bob

Charles,

This is obviously a HUGE problem for you, but I am prepared to solve it for you - just send it all to me !

Andrew Mawson

You might like to identify the types of people who might be interested in these tools, and then search for them on the Internet in your locality. If I'm anything like an average person I wouldn't have a problem if someone cold-called me to enquire whether I'd be interested in a secondhand gungle-pin bending machine in good order, if I was into bending gungle-pins in my day to day job.

As a general handyman I invest quite a lot in new tools and equipment and there are still some things on my Christmas present list (which Santa won't bring next week). For example I'd really, really, really like to own a decent slide/mitre saw - I can get by without at the moment but in due course would expect to buy one - if someone made me aware of a potential bargain purchase I might be tempted to get it earlier.

As someone else commented, ebay is a worthwhile place to offer items you want to get rid of. But be wary - don't let anything out of your sight until you've got the cash in the bank.

PoP

Replying to the email address given by my news reader will result in your own email address being instantly added to my anti-spam database! If you really want to contact me try changing the prefix in the given email address to my newsgroup posting name.....

Well, yes. But is it any different from giving your car, etc, to someone who wants to pay by cheque if it's advertised by 'normal' means?

FWIW, I think the average Ebay punter is rather more honest than the average for the country.

To follow up:-

Post a list of those things on here - I for one might be interested.

-- cheers,

witchy/binarydinosaurs

EBAY.

Probably - I've done lots of deals on ebay and to date got stung just once. The value of the item I purchased was £2.50 so no hardship.

PoP

Replying to the email address given by my news reader will result in your own email address being instantly added to my anti-spam database! If you really want to contact me try changing the prefix in the given email address to my newsgroup posting name.....

My only occasion was somewhat different - the guy I 'won' an item of old test gear from wouldn't set a postage figure, so I couldn't pay - he obviously decided it went for too little. He re-auctioned it and I didn't bid, and it went for much less. He did complete that deal, though, as I checked with the winner.

He said he hadn't had any of the e-mails I sent him asking for the total, and had sent a total to me. But I had all the copies of mine since I'd sent several to him through Ebay, and they send you a copy.

It's one thing to look out for - the carriage charge being upped to compensate for what they think is a low winning bid. I much prefer the carriage cost to be stated on the item page.

AOL to that - we *need* that list!

Actually the ebay rules allow you to back out of a winning bid if the postage is exagerated beyond what is reasonable. If you send an email to ebay they will look into this situation and ensure that your account isn't badly marked from having retracted your bid.

PoP

Replying to the email address given by my news reader will result in your own email address being instantly added to my anti-spam database! If you really want to contact me try changing the prefix in the given email address to my newsgroup posting name.....

Actually, consumer law allows you seven days to *unconditionally* back out of a purchase on the net.

The trouble is knowing what's reasonable. If someone has to buy all new packing materials, and has a fair drive to a PO etc, you can't expect them to bear the cost. So saying, by far the majority are fine.

Whilst i know about the rule for distance selling, does that also cover online auctions ? Never really thought about it to be honest.

But isn't the fact that it's an auction the relevant bit?

Does that apply to private transactions as well as commercial ones? Thinking about it, does consumer law differentiate between the two at all?

AFAIK, yes. But IANAL.