Stanley pocket price guides
#11
I have found several of the pocket guides. I started buying them in 1996 the last one is by Clarence Blanchard the rest all by John Walters. The change in values is interesting. Blanchard in a preface talks about ebay and how it has influenced prices. And Blanchard comments regards  this this was over 10 years ago. I would like to hear his current opinion on the values and price guides. Is there a newer pocket guide out there? How do you discovered the values today. Has interest really peaked? What if any changes for the collector been observed by those here.
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#12
I've generally found those guides to be fairly useless.  Each market is different, be it live auction, on line auction, tool meet/swap, etc.  If of any value at all, it might be with regard to the truly rare examples of various planes that rarely trade except in major tool auctions.  Otherwise, searching "completed listings" on ebay gives you a much better idea of general value, and even there, condition is sometimes difficult to determine and condition is everything when assessing value.  Another is reading the auction results for the Avoca auction, CRAFTS auction in my neck of the woods, and other large tool auctions.

Pre 2009, prices could get pretty crazy, I remember $175 Stanley #4 1/2s that really weren't anything special, $400 #45s that again, were not pristine either and were not totally complete; then the bottom dropped out of the market with the "great recession" (read Depression) and only in the last three years have been starting to recover, but not to their apogee, likely from people selling off collections due to need.  If course, vintage tools in excellent condition are always the exception to the rule.  

Then again, I'm not your "squeeze the last dollar out of it" seller like some of my local "in the wild hunting" running buddies are, nor are most of the regular sellers here in the S&S who actually point out apologies for condition irregularities and such - you don't find that on ebay all that often, which is why I haven't bought anything there in 15 years or so.
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#13
When Rover was a pup and I started housekeeping, new wooden furniture was expensive. A clever lad could repair old stuff or make new items and stretch his housekeeping dollars. Woodcraft was taught in schools. Now wooden furniture is very affordable so the snowflakes and others play Minecraft and Facebook all day long. The schools teach--well, I don't know what in the heck they teach, but it is not woodworking. 

The tool market works according to the laws of supply and demand. It looks to me like the true collector's items--museum quality stuff--is slowly going up in price while the rest of it is slowly going down in price. I think the supply for the "rest of the stuff" is increasing as boomers pass on to another stage. The "rest of the stuff" seems to be collected by a shrinking group.

As for current prices, that process has been broken by the internet. Prices change too quickly for a printed book. Tools are seasonal--they go up in fall and winter and down in summer. They change from year to year--sometimes significantly. A case in point is router planes. A few years ago they could almost be purchased by the pound with an average price of $25. Now it is hard to find a good one for less than $50. Bedrocks are also an interesting study.

Price guidebooks, like the tools they list, are themselves relics of a time gone by.
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#14
(08-30-2017, 02:12 PM)JimReed@Tallahassee Wrote: When Rover was a pup and I started housekeeping, new wooden furniture was expensive. A clever lad could repair old stuff or make new items and stretch his housekeeping dollars. Woodcraft was taught in schools. Now wooden furniture is very affordable so the snowflakes and others play Minecraft and Facebook all day long. The schools teach--well, I don't know what in the heck they teach, but it is not woodworking. 

Thanks for that Jim!  It made my day......
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#15
Interest in hand tools have driven up prices in Stanley Bench planes in the past few years. I remember when I could buy a Stanley no 7 jointer on Ebay for $40.00. Now I can't touch one for under $100. Local markets will differ depending on what part of the country you reside, but I occasionally find Stanley No 4's and 3's for under $20. It has been harder for me to find tools in the wild. Seems like the only thing sellers have are old Fulton's. If they do have a Stanley, they usually whip out their smart phone and look on eBay what people want for them and price accordingly making them overpriced. With over 70,000 tools on eBay woodworking tools collectibles category, you would think that tool prices would plummet with the law of supply and demand, however, 80% of the sellers now use Buy it Now option keeping the prices inflated. 

When I sell my planes, I normally price under the market. However, that means I need to find my tools dirt cheap in order to do so. I almost always remove the rust and sharpen the blades to make them usable, that way the buyer at least knows they're getting a plane that functions well. 

IMO Blanchard's price guide is still relevant generally speaking. I always thought Walter's price guide was way over priced. In fact, even 20 years later, his prices are still too high. I heard he's coming out with a 3rd edition of the Stanley Collectible Tools Price Guide in 2020, but I've been hearing that rumor for years.

Bentley
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#16
(08-30-2017, 07:14 PM)Bentley Wrote: Interest in hand tools have driven up prices in Stanley Bench planes in the past few years. I remember when I could buy a Stanley no 7 jointer on Ebay for $40.00. Now I can't touch one for under $100. Local markets will differ depending on what part of the country you reside, but I occasionally find Stanley No 4's and 3's for under $20. It has been harder for me to find tools in the wild. Seems like the only thing sellers have are old Fulton's. If they do have a Stanley, they usually whip out their smart phone and look on eBay what people want for them and price accordingly making them overpriced. With over 70,000 tools on eBay woodworking tools collectibles category, you would think that tool prices would plummet with the law of supply and demand, however, 80% of the sellers now use Buy it Now option keeping the prices inflated. 

When I sell my planes, I normally price under the market. However, that means I need to find my tools dirt cheap in order to do so. I almost always remove the rust and sharpen the blades to make them usable, that way the buyer at least knows they're getting a plane that functions well. 

IMO Blanchard's price guide is still relevant generally speaking. I always thought Walter's price guide was way over priced. In fact, even 20 years later, his prices are still too high. I heard he's coming out with a 3rd edition of the Stanley Collectible Tools Price Guide in 2020, but I've been hearing that rumor for years.

Bentley

Walter has been comin out for years, he's likely having trouble getting it published, as publishers realize it's dead in the water once in print.
Credo Elvem ipsum etiam vivere
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#17
(08-30-2017, 07:22 PM)Admiral Wrote: Walter has been comin out for years, he's likely having trouble getting it published, as publishers realize it's dead in the water once in print.

That's a shame if that's the case since there are so many other price guides for things like Barbies to Pez Dispensers in book stores. I would buy his new edition, but the book would probably only sell a few thousand copies making not profitable for the publisher. Maybe he should self publish it on Amazon.
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#18
my only exposure to those guides was a guy that was trying to sell a #1 for $500 even though it was halfway rusted through.  "it's in the book"
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#19
(08-30-2017, 07:54 PM)Bentley Wrote: That's a shame if that's the case since there are so many other price guides for things like Barbies to Pez Dispensers in book stores. I would buy his new edition, but the book would probably only sell a few thousand copies making not profitable for the publisher. Maybe he should self publish it on Amazon.

Walter's previous book was self published. His wife was his secret weapon. She is not married to him now so I doubt he will get a book out. It took a lot of pages so it was not a huge moneymaker. Does he still maintain a used tool store?
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#20
No, the Ohio river flooded many years ago and he closed up his store in Marietta soon after. I don't think he even lives in Ohio anymore, but I could be wrong.
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