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?

 

[DJ54]

If piecing it out doesn't work out so well, or gets to be too much of a hassle, you could call Adam's Engines in Greenwich, OH. He has quite a lawnmower/garden tractor salvage yard. Used Mower Parts | Adams Small Engine I'm sure the NOS parts/attachments would pique his interest and take it all in one lump. You may not get the initial amount of money you were thinking, but then won't have the hassle of going through the motions either. Just some food for thought if it's more hassle than it's worth selling items individually.

 

[Tinhack]

I tried to sell my auction cache of mostly B&S parts (NIB) to a local dealer. He wanted an itemized list of part numbers. I said make one yourself and walked away. It would take me months to list individual part numbers. The volume equates to two long bed truck's worth of parts. I used a few carburetors and small parts out of it to get a few lawnmowers up and running. I sold the lawnmowers (8) but still have the rest of the parts taking up room in a 12x14 shed. The best I could do was keeping the first two digits of the part numbers boxed/grouped together. I know there's at least one crankshaft and a slew of valves in there. But who rebuilds lawnmowers anymore?

I guess my heirs will be handling the rest.

 

[sd455dan]

View attachment 821711

Cool! A shop full of energy drinks!

I love acronyms

The energy drink " borrowed" that from one of the original manufacturers of Nitrous kits in the 1980's
"Nitrous Oxide Systems" now owned by Holley

sure seems Close to the trademark.

 

[redgolfguy]

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?

A large amount of the larger items are Simplicity attachments (Blades, Snow Throwers, Grass Catchers, and all the hitches for the attachments). Then there is the boxes and boxes of oil filters and carb kits also.

 

[CH4Ohio]

A large amount of the larger items are Simplicity attachments (Blades, Snow Throwers, Grass Catchers, and all the hitches for the attachments). Then there is the boxes and boxes of oil filters and carb kits also.

I shop a LOT online. And search for hard-to-find parts online. I think ebay might be your best bet for exposure and search results. Just list big items as "local pickup only".

You can let stuff go as auction with a starting amount or put a price on it if you have an idea where to start. Can also accept "offers". Do you have an interested teenager in the family that you could turn this project over to? For a percentage cut of the sales, I could see the right young person really getting enthused with this.
The stuff you're describing can be discontinued and hard to find. I think you are definitely on the right track by posting these items online and getting them exposed to the largest possible audience. Good luck with it!

 

[paulsharvey]

Also, it might be worth posting on the For Sale part of this forum, as well as Yesterday's Tractors, and any Simplicity specific web page.

Pictures are your friend. I hate seeing for sale posts, on any site, where there are only two pictures, either in the dark, too far away, or so zoomed in, you can't see the entire attachment.

 

[massman]

Do you still have any of the Simplicity parts and attachments? I have an '03 Massey fergusson version of the Simplicity Legacy.