Looking for Opinions on NOS

[redgolfguy]

Hello from Northern Ohio. As stated I am looking for input on where to start with a shop full of NOS. Due to the passing of a family member there is now a shop full of NOS that needs gone through and preferably sold. This consist mostly of Simplicity, Lawn-Boy, Steiner, Ventrac, Tecumseh, Toro, Wheel Horse, Pasquali, Power King, Onan, and Kohler. Where would be a good place to start selling whether it be this forum or outside websites? Thanks.

 

[2manyrocks]

Look for collector associations if you have things that appeal to them.

 

[Val Padana]

Depends on whether the NOS consists of slow moving items your relative couldn't sell during the time the shop was operating, or if he/she was a shrewd trader who had hoarded hard-to-find in-demand items and was waiting til their prices skyrocketed.

Problem with old NOS stock is there may not be any of the machines which could use those parts still being used, or even existing.

Best to get someone in the business to have a look and make an offer for the lot, otherwise in a few years one of your family might be facing the same situation as you are now.

 

[paulsharvey]

Don't know the value of individual items; but I would look at listing anything worth say, $50+ on ebay. Make sure to include the model number, and a picture of the box. Less valuable items, I dont know that it's worth the time to list, then ship.

 

[etpm]

A little bit ago I helped a friend by taking a bunch of NOS bearings off of his hands. He needed to move and had no where to store them so I just took them home. I started looking on ebay for the bearing numbers that I had and ended up selling eight of them for 12 hundred dollars. I still have several hundred bearing numbers to go through and maybe they will be worth something too. I suggest you start looking on ebay and other online places for the stuff you have to find out what the stuff might be worth. Then offer your stuff cheaper so you can get rid of it faster.
Eric

 

[RandyT]

Depends on whether the NOS consists of slow moving items your relative couldn't sell during the time the shop was operating, or if he/she was a shrewd trader who had hoarded hard-to-find in-demand items and was waiting til their prices skyrocketed.

Problem with old NOS stock is there may not be any of the machines which could use those parts still being used, or even existing.

Best to get someone in the business to have a look and make an offer for the lot, otherwise in a few years one of your family might be facing the same situation as you are now.

I totally agree. As somebody that has been in the OPE repair business for over 25 years 75-80% of the inventory is dumpster material. The small equipment manufacturers were bad at pushing what they call level 1 fast moving parts that in the end rotted on the shelf.

 

[koshari]

Depends on whether the NOS consists of slow moving items your relative couldn't sell during the time the shop was operating, or if he/she was a shrewd trader who had hoarded hard-to-find in-demand items and was waiting til their prices skyrocketed.

Problem with old NOS stock is there may not be any of the machines which could use those parts still being used, or even existing.

Best to get someone in the business to have a look and make an offer for the lot, otherwise in a few years one of your family might be facing the same situation as you are now.

good advice, you also have to take into account the time it will take you to catalog them, field questions, etc.... after handling you may be making something like a dollar an hour for some items, not the hourly rate thats going to pay any bills.

 

[mikester]

Cool! A shop full of energy drinks!

I love acronyms

 

[redgolfguy]

Appreciate the replies everyone. I’ll start with some attachments and see what happens from there.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Appreciate the replies everyone. I’ll start with some attachments and see what happens from there.

What kind of "stuff" do you have?

I agree with the suggestions about ebay for parts and stuff you can ship. In fact, ebay is easy for both buyer and seller and gets you exposed to anyone that puts a part number or description into a Google search.

If it's "attachments" and equipment, you can still list it on ebay but often people will search "closer to home" for those big items. Priced right, you could probably sell those on Craigslist, Marketplace, or TractorHouse pretty easily.

Are we talking about carburetor kits and oil filters or 3-point equipment?