Total workshop clearance

I heard today that our landlord is considering selling her property in the next six months, so I have to decide whether I can relocate my workshop contents to another property or bite the bullet and sell up completely. A heart condition means that the latter is the most likely option so I was wondering if anyone has experience of using "workshop clearance" companies? I know I'll not get the full market price for any or all of the kit, but it might be the only alternative. I haven't approached any companies, yet, as I am still a bit in shock at the news.

I had hoped that this wasn't going to be my problem and my executors would have all the aggro!

The major kit comprises a 9 x 20 Asian lathe with a selection of chucks and a whole heap of tooling, a Warco VMC mill (2 years old) with 3-axis DRO, power drive to x-axis, two vices and another mound of R8 tooling and ER-25 and -32 collet systems, boring heads, etc, etc. Not to mention the Perfecto motorised shaper I've just bought and not picked up yet! Oh, and a Worden T & C grinder, recently completed. I could go on, but you get the drift.......

Anybody got any recommendations/experience with these companies, please?

John

(feeling pretty pee'd off )

Sad news!

Could you not advertise each item on the Classifieds, on here?

Howard

Thanks, Howard. I could, and that will be my first line of attack, but I think time constraints will conspire against me. I'll only get two months notice to quit and what with packing up and trying to find somewhere to live, time is something that will be in short supply!

John

Try Ebay with say a timeline of 1 week, maybe collection only for your convenience then contact the workshop clearance companies who will obviously give you bottom $.

Tony

There is the other option - hope they sell to investors and they want to keep you as a tenant , you should have a talk to the owner and agent that is selling the premises .

I have just been through this after a year of thinking the old owner was going to take half my yard for a granny flat , he thougth it was a matter that of just pull the garage down and take half the driveway off me but once i showed him my workshop and boat it soon became apparent if the garage goes so do i so he sold the house .

I'm hoping the new owner buggers off and leaves me alone , for the moment it seems he will although the real estate agent tried to whack the rent up which is typical - didn't happen though !

Ian

As you realise the clearance types will be used to fleecing widows and hoping to make £50 an hour for their time. One possibility is contacting your local club about the small stuff as there will be lots of guys who want a few small bits but not a whole lathe and they will not be after making a fat profit, just something for club funds. My club often buys a deceased member's small tools and materials to sort out and sell at our club show, or at regular meetings.
Some selected items might also be of interest to aeromodellers, car, radio ham etc clubs.

When you sell each machine advise the buyer you will have other relevant small stuff available when they call as they can save the postage. For example nobody wants to pay £1 for a single MT drill when the postage is another £2.50, but may pay £1.50 when they are there already.

Sorry to hear that.

If you do decide to sell to a dealer, post it here, and I will PM you the names of at least two of the shysters that sell on eBay and elsewhere, that from personal experience I wouldn't now touch with a bargepole.

Sorry to hear about your predicament.

There are a couple of "workshop clearout" companies that advertise in the back of MEW. You might be best to call them with a list of the major items you have and see what kind of price they are willing to offer and see how that compares with your expectations.

I've been through similar situations when moving from one country to another, several times. It's always going to be a trade-off between price and convenience in a situation like yours. Dealers have to make their living out of it so are not going to give you full retail market value. If you're lucky, you'll get half of that. Sometimes less. So it depends on which is most important to you, the money or the time it would take to sell it all off separately at market value.

When negotiating a price with a dealer, don't let them know you have a deadline to move out etc or they know they have you by the short and curlies and the price drops accordingly. Just say you are considering  your options, getting older etc etc.

I would definitely enquire at your local club as suggested already too. Sounds like you have good kit and surely there must be plenty of interest in it at the right price. Just make it clear the price includes them doing all the grunt work loading etc!

Edited By Hopper on 03/08/2017 13:47:47

A bit of left-field thinking here - bear with me...

Apart from Axminster there is a dearth of accessible courses available to me, and following on from Bazyle's excellent suggestion, my local club don't have a workshop or the means to impart skills to myself, timings just don't work amongst other things

I've noticed a few new members since I joined recently, some in my situation of wanting to acquire both skills and machinery, so I am thinking that an offer of training on your equipment with purchase at the end might be an attractive option. If I am prepared to pay £600+ for training, it might as well be on my "own" equipment...

Just a thought

No kids that you could clutter up their garage for a few weeks?

Perhaps a short let on a local lockup garage? or cheap rent a Box storage.

Be a shame (and very annoying) to sell up if it turns out you don't need to after all.

Thanks, everyone, for your sympathy and suggestions. All noted. The steam has stopped issuing from my ears and we are now thinking of perhaps buying a property in an affordable area, rather than near to family, so possibly my knee-jerk reaction was a little premature! I still see a chink of light at the end of the tunnel (no, not THAT tunnel ).

Panic over, for the moment, then.........

Regards to all,

John

All good John!

I've had a look at properties in the Sheffield / Chesterfield area recently and it is surprising what can be had for modest outlay

I hope your search is fruitful

Properties in the Mansfield/Alfreton areas are cheap and especially so now that HS2 is coming ( or maybe not but even if it does it is many years away).

Cheapest and best of all, where I live , North-east Lincolnshire.

Super ME club too.

Glad that things are looking a bit better John.

Can the landlord really give you just 2 months notice as a sitting tenant? Perhaps the law has changed since I left the U.K. You can always just stay put and tell her that you'll move when you are ready.

Russell

Hello John,

That's a bit of a roller coaster ride, I hope you find a suitable home to move into without too much hassle.

Neil

Thanks, again, everyone. Yes, looking in a 30 mile radius of Nottingham. Fingers crossed.

John

Hi John.

Sorry to hear about you misfortunes I only came across your post because I did a search for "Warco VMC" as I am considering buying one.

How about temporary self-storage until you find a new place? Not the cheapest option but surely cheaper than selling kit you've spent time modifying and setting up at a loss and starting all over again. There are plenty of self storage places here in Nottingham, or even rent a garage for a few months.

Hope you manage to get it all sorted.

Steve.

What a pity that you are thinking along the lines off finishing with our great hobby, another option depending on what part of the country is for a group off us to help you pack and help the removal of your Machineary to your new home there must be people on this forum who would gladly help

David Standing - If anything happens to me I am sure my good lady would appreciate knowing which "shysters" NOT to approach.

If you have the time could you PM me with their details - much appreciated. Thank you.

Rik

Edited By Rik Shaw on 04/08/2017 09:33:46