[PSL]

As the title goes, with a heavy heart I’m parting with some workbenches and wondered if any of you kind souls might recommend how much to ask for them. I know there’s always a huge gap between what something is worth and what people are willing to pay, I just have no idea what a reasonable price would be.
I realize I’m setting myself up here for a potential barrage of, “I’ll give you $50” and perhaps I deserve that with a post like this but just thought I’d see if anyone had any insight.

Much appreciated and apologies if this post is in the wrong section or prohibited in some way.

Roubo 87”x24”x37”

T-Track workbench… 84x42x38.5

T-track hold down clamps and organizers would be included.

 

[RJweb]

Nice equipment but why are you selling, RJ

 

[builtinbkyn]

They're both really nice benches and I'm sure were a labor of love to produce them. However your market is limited to your locale and a reasonable drive for someone. No one is going to want to pay the freight to ship them. At least I don't think there are many that would. I know that doesn't help with "what to ask", but it's something to think about when you do get an offer from a legitimate buyer that is ready and able - meaning they're close enough to follow thru and pick it up.

 

[Lazyman]

It may depend upon where you live and how quickly you need or want to get rid of them. If you can wait for the right buyer to come along then you can definitely price them pretty high. I would start by calculating the current cost of the materials if someone was going to build one themselves. The Benchcrafted vises alone are not cheap pieces of hardware. Add to that the prices of wood and especially BB plywood for the second bench. I think that you can probably easily double or even triple the cost of materials and see how that feels to you. If that still feels low and you are not desperate to sell, add up to another $1000 each and see if you get any interest. Unless you need to sell quickly, you can always lower the price down the road but not raise it unless you get a bidding war.

 

[CaptainKlutz]

Nice benches. Parting with hand made tools is always hard.

Check out the professional benches from Sjobergs as a price reference of what a brand new commercial bench can cost. It would be a reasonable competitive price point for the Roubo, for anyone not wanting to build a work bench. Your high end vise hardware adds some value the commercial bench does not have. Regardless, like all used wood working tools, suggest a "fair" price to be around 50-60% of comparable new bench from a high end mfg like Sjobergs.

The T-track bench is little harder to find a commercial price reference. It was designed it for how you work and construction is only plywood. IME - a plywood box bench can be hard to sell for enough to cover the cost of materials; unless you have enough time to find the right buyer, one that is willing to pay for labor and materials.

Best Luck on bench selling.

 

[Peteybadboy]

Where is the bench located? That is beautiful.

I'm sorry you have to sell them.

 

[langski93]

Lie Neilsen sells a nicely made bench for $3500 plus $400 crating fee, plus LTL Shipping, plus taxes. When delivered the customer has to assemble. Depending on distance, I could easily see the LN going for high $4's if not breaking $5k. Yours is a much sexier beast and includes items that I think are additional options for LN

I think your location will dictate how to market it to the widest audience and that will be your biggest challenge. Wooden Boat Magazine, Downeast or other regional lifestyle mags may be a place to run small classifieds. Many people travel a fair distance if they have the means to purchase high ticket items, I'll use trailer boats as an example. I drove from NH to Maryland and back for my boat and I just sold another boat to a skipper who came up from Delaware. I can't speak to taxes, but if you need to charge for crating, I'd build it into the price, especially if its cash and carry.

IMO $4400 as a start. Negotiable: split cost of transport up to a certain $ point, firm or not on crating, no tax on a private sale. That's my opinion with one cup of coffee this AM

Is there the opportunity to use it as a donated auction item, with the tax deduction considerations that go along with it?

Good luck, lots of good advice above.

 

[ChefHDAN]

If you were closer to the east coast instead of out in LA, I'd be a very interested buyer for the roubo, time and money certainly have value, I'd be glad to get that bench in the $2k range.

 

[PSL]

Thanks everyone for the great advice, very much appreciated!

I’ll defiantly be looking for some places to post the Roubo for sale. But, based on some of the comments, you all got me to thinking on the assembly table… My main reason for selling that is, it just didn’t fit with my new garage layout. But the “labor of love” comments got me to thinking, that thing really is purpose built to my needs and I like the functionality of it. Soooo… with some creative surgery and a new top, I should be able to shorten that puppy up enough to fit in the new layout.

Thanks again for the comments and guidance. And if anyones ever curios, I can post pics after the table surgery and hopefully won’t need an AED after I’m done with the skill saw…