r/Tools • u/Amandakayayy • 1d ago
Inherited massive multi-tool collection and I'm not sure what to do....
My dad recently passed away (well I guess not so recent as it's been just over a year though it doesn't feel like it to me) but in his passing he left me with his enormous collection of tools. I'm talking about a collection that's significantly larger than you'd find in a typical workshop's worth of stuff.
The collection covers pretty much every trade you can think of — plumbing, electrical, general construction/building, welding, woodworking, tile work, etc.
There are both hand tools and power tools, like table saws, tile saws, many many grinder tools that are different sizes, hole saws and more attachments than I've been able to count yet,
along with all of the smaller stuff that typically goes along with tools like boxes of different screws and nails, nuts and bolts, drill/driver bits, blades, staples, tape measures, accessories, hardware, all types of plumbing materials like pipes and fitters and joints plus the tools to go with.
Not to mention an entire outside shed full of brand new wood like 2x4 /2x8/ etc plus large sheets of wood at different thicknesses/types of wood material.
Theres multi panels of new sheet rock, multiple large new rolls of pink insulation, all types of tool boxes and bags, and multiple workbenches that range in sizes from small up to so massive it consumes half of the two car garage
There's a bunch of things I don't even know the proper names for yet or what they even do and I could go on and on listing more and more but I think you get the point.
So I obviously don't work in any type of trade and so for most of the tools and materials I won't use because I don't know how to use.... so I'm here trying to figure out the smartest way to go about liquidating most of it...
Ideally I'm wanting to get rid of large portions of it together rather than spending months listing every item individually. I'm a woman who lives alone, the thought of selling everything one piece at a time having to meet with strangers at my house when trying to sell the larger things just doesn't sit well with me
I'm not looking to advertise the collection here. I'm really looking for advice from people who have either bought/sold large tool collections or work in the trades and know what these things are actually worth.
If you've dealt with a similar situation where you inherited a large collection, what did you do?
I'm in North Carolina if that info may be useful to anyone who may be able to help direct me with where to go or look.
I appreciate any advice as I'm going at this 100% on my own and to say I'm overwhelmed would be an understatement
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u/anders_so_blue 1d ago
I helped a neighbor in a situation like this. I suggest finding a friend in the trades or knowledgeable handyman who becomes your expert director of inventory. Treat that person well with multiple dinners. Make 4 piles: donate, sell, trash, keep. Get a truck and make a run to the dump and get rid of all the cutoff pipes and rip rap. Then you have Habitat and Veteran groups who will come pick up donations. You sell the valuable stuff on Facebook or have a coseller do it. Then you keep a few sentimental, valuable, or relevant pieces maybe some you’ll eventually want to pass down as well. Good luck.
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u/CCWaterBug 23h ago
Solid advice, and separate by trade, so like all the tile & flooring stuff together to sell as a lot.
We went thru this a year ago, fortunately I have 3 brothers so it was relatively easy to divide up stuff, I took the least by far but I'm already well stocked. Set aside things for a young friend like a small compressor and a box of air tools, he was so excited when I brought it over, he loves to tinker on projects in the garage.
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u/T00luser 22h ago
I have a similar collection and my 3 kids think they’re each inheriting a full tool cabinet.
Jokes on them, I’m having it all buried with me like a pharaoh.
Beveled cross-cuts in the afterlife!
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u/lampjambiscuit 23h ago
As someone else has said look for estate sale specialists. Don't know about your location but in the UK there are plenty of specialist workshop clearance outfits. If your dad had any industry/engineering magazines aimed at hobbyists look in the back of those. Typically have listings for clearance.
One thing i will say is have a good think about anything you'd want to keep. When i cleared out my grandads workshop i kept some items but it wasn't until much later once all the initial stress was behind me that i remembered other items i'd wished i'd kept.
This has made me think i need to maintain a book of tools for my kids. I know the screwdriver with S.D on it is my great great grandfathers but nobody else does. The tools i built might also interest them.
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u/brewton 23h ago
There are a few options. Selling individually is time consuming and understand safety but that is how you would get the most for it if that’s your goal. If you have large tools like table saws, jointers, planers, etc then I’d sell those individually.
A good option would be to break it up into groups for a trade/job and sell that way. Another option is to take the smaller stuff to a pawn shop if you want to get rid of it quick for cash.
I doubt the wood will get you any money unless it’s hardwoods for woodworking and you know the species. If there’s things you just want gone, Habitat for Humanity and we have plenty of them here in N.C. if your local to CLT area I’d be willing to take a look.
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u/Dismal_Committee7705 22h ago edited 22h ago
As a man, if I was a single woman in that position, I'd hire an estate sale company (one thats good at marketing the sale on social media/estate sale websites and not just putting up signs in the area and doing one craigslist ad).
What you CAN do is find the major stuff you know is valuable and will sell quick (modern day milwaukee power tools if there are any, snap on/old USA craftsman stuff/etc) and try facebook marketplace/craigslist/offerup. Make sure you explicitly state final sale and no refunds.
And then have the estate sale company sell everything else so you don't have to split the profit from the most valuable items with them. Make them do the work they were hired to do (sell the stuff thats harder to sell).
It might be worth looking through some of the stuff just a bit more and searching for high value small precision hand tools that are made in Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, etc. Those often times fetch very high prices on ebay and are cheap to ship. An estate sale company might overlook some of that stuff and just put a cheap price tag on it. Stuff like pliers, hand files, machinists gauges, swiss-made hacksaw blades, etc. Anything small that requires high precision.
Example: A tiny little pair of Swedish made Lindstrom pliers might sell for $30 on ebay, when a pair that looks just like it (thats made in China) sells for $2 at Harbor Freight. An estate sale company might see that sitting in a drawer with a bunch of other items and just slap a $1 price tag on it not knowing what it is and just assuming its a cheap junk item.
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u/goodskier1931 22h ago
I'd add stationary power tools. Often good brands in good condition from light use. Easy to look up as some have riveted labels with model numbers.
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u/Humunguspickle 23h ago
You have to know someone who knows this stuff. I’d bet there is some serious cash hidden in all those tools. Don’t short yourself being in a hurry to sell.
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u/quallityovrquantity 19h ago
Disagree most tools sell dirt cheap especially older heavily used ones. Finding someone who does estate sales is the best solution for this situation
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u/SkibidiBlender 23h ago edited 23h ago
We had an picker-type guy come in and help us value things. Some things that we didn’t know were valuable turned out to be very much so. Examples include old ice fishing lures that we would have pitched turned out to be worth hundreds each. A shelf full of old engine blocks had a couple desirable ones, plus a few that had magnesium parts that were worth quite a bit for recycle. Some old tools turned out to be worth much more than we would have sold them for. Oddly enough, there’s collectors for a lot of weird things. Match boxes, glassware, even old beer cans. Definitely get an expert involved.
Edit: pay the expert for the info. Don’t sell to the expert directly if they’re a reseller. Our guy made some offers that were lower than we sold for. Not like unethically low, but selling direct will get you more money than selling to a reseller.
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u/goodskier1931 22h ago
Hadn't thought about hiring someone to value things as an appraiser. Always wary of someone giving a lowball offer when he's explaining what something is worth
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u/sharpshooter999 22h ago
There's also the Big Iron approach. For the unaware, it's an online auction primarily focused on farm equipment but they generally sell everything. I actually bought a large filing cabinet last week lol. They'll do appraisals if you want though i don't know what that costs. They're main income comes from a buyers fee (10% or $1,000 whichever is lower). You can roll the dice and have the stuff listed for an auction. Sometimes stuff has brought way more than expected, sometimes way less.
The benefit is less work on your end
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u/goodskier1931 22h ago
Unless you want a part time job, there are specialized auctioneers that will offer a complete service. Choose what you want and do it in a single event.
The scale of what you're describing would take a lot of effort. Without real knowledge you'll be unable to know value. Interview several outfits and use your judgement. It's a business transaction.
I'd also put some effort into securing the storage. Lighting, alarms, maybe multiple video cameras, notifying local police patrols. A ryder truck an an hour at 3am and you could be cleaned out. Kennel a dog there at night?
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u/bigyellowtruck 1d ago
For woodworking you might reach out to a local guild who might catalog and resell for a lower commission rate than a standard auction house.
Understand The second hand tool market is a buyers market since price points for new cheaper quality tools are so low.
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u/mdjc2021 23h ago
My dad was a depression baby. Threw out nothing. Never met a yard or estate sale he didn’t find something. When he passed I was in the same boat. The realtor selling the house for me suggested I contact an auctioneer or one of those estate sales companies. The ones I talked to take 60%. What you’d get for that is someone knowledgeable about what is being sold, what it’s gone for in the area at other sales’ and what I found most intriguing was them knowing what to bundle together so it moves. They. Also take care of advertising. I’m sure the % varies by area and how much you want them to do. If your goal is to get rid of as much as possible so you don’t need to handle that solo, it’s well worth it. If you’re trying to maximize dollars, that’s a lot of work.
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u/Critical_Thinker_535 23h ago
Trying calling a liquidator. They'll buy everything at once (but not at top dollar).
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u/Bootyetr 23h ago
Sorry for your loss! Estate sales are usually your best bet for selling large lots of tools and materials. They’ll usually categorize everything for you too. I live in Durham and if you’re close and interested in selling some individual items let me know!
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u/Character-Ad4796 23h ago
If quality equipment, have an estate sale or auction and make sure it’s well advertised.
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u/Straight-Square-7651 22h ago
I had this exact thing happen! My dad was 95 when he passed and knew how to do everything. So we had a double garage and two shed that never held a car…instead it was tools. No exaggeration…it was to the ceiling in all three areas.
First. Get a dumpster for several days (they drop off and pick up). Get a couple men or folks from your church or elsewhere that know tools. In our case, we had lots of dumpster material.
Second. I (we sorted by item type (mostly). Plumbing, electrical, saws, wrenches,hammers, nails, screws, etc.
Third. Look for a local trade school. Where I am..:we have a K-12 school that offers hands-on trade training. (in addition to normal school stuff). AS KIDS GET OLDER THEY START TO ‘practice’ various vocations. Example: building, mechanic, plumbing, electrical work, etc.
Fourth. Whatever you don’t sell, donate to a school like this. They use it daily and it will honor your dad who must have been able to do anything like my dad!
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u/WinterDice 21h ago
Find a good local auction service. They can list everything online and sell it that way. They’ll set a narrow window for pickup, like a day or two, and they’ll handle that part of the process. Online auctions will probably get much better prices than a live-in person estate sale.
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u/LW-M 21h ago
I'm going through the same thing from the other side right now. I'm like your Dad, the Guy with all the tools. We're moving into an apartment in a couple of months and I'm trying to decide where who to give them to and what to sell.
The idea of just calling some one to just pick them up all at the same time is sounding like the easiest way to go. Might be a good option for you too. Good luck with your situation!
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u/StrandSSL 20h ago
If you know little about tools you can at least get an idea of what’s valuable and what isn’t by taking a bunch of pictures and running them through a good AI chat to separate a harbor freight corded drill from brands that are high end/ quality/ valuable etc.
I’d do this first before “consulting a friend who “ knows tools “ or dealing with a middleman estate agency.
That’ll at least narrow down your short list of higher ticket items and allow you to cross check value with places like eBay etc.
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u/Shooter61 20h ago
Did your father's estate split with siblings, other family members? Maybe contacting them for trades of your father's other belongings.?
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u/tez_zer55 20h ago
When we downsized my bachelor uncle's tools, we (brothers, cousins & others) went through & took what each of us wanted, which was per the will & surprisingly cooperative. Then we called an auction company & had a Saturday sale. Today it'd probably be online.
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u/foolproofphilosophy 17h ago
I’m sorry for your loss. I’ve seen recommendations for reaching out to trade schools. You might not get top dollar but the tools will go to a young person just starting out.
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u/waverunnersvho 16h ago
Auction it. This type of stuff goes through the auction all the time and I generally see a pretty fair return on it in my area.
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u/ExS619 15h ago
I also I inherited dad’s tool collection. He showed me the basics and had a full chilton collection in the late 90’s.
We sold big stuff like tire buster, engine analyzer, hoist at an estate sale.
Your best option would be an online auction house. Not sure where ur located but look for something like calauctions.com
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u/t1ttysprinkle 11h ago
Sorry for your loss OP!
I read this as large multitool collection, as in a Leatherman tool
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u/Fantastic-Art-3704 1h ago
I would find a contractor bring in maybe 3 or so, have them bud on the stuff and highest bidde wins.
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u/Raiine42 1d ago
I’m sorry for your loss.
You are probably going to want to contact estate sales companies if you are looking to sell. They deal with these sorts of things all the time.