[Milsurplus] Estate sales

[Ralph Cameron]

I've handled several estate sales for widows ove the years and find it very rewarding - getting a reasonable return for the estate. 

It helps to have sold professional test equipment for a living and to have an interest in the going market rates as well as collecting a few items yourself ( ask my wife - who no longer objects). 

Storing equipment can be a problem.  Take your time and don't stop at the first offer. Research previous sales of similar equipment and  if offering equipment for sale, build in the " what's your best offer" price. That way you have some margin for manouevering. 

I've held some equipment for two years between flea markets to get what I figure is a good deal for the owner. Swap net postings and flea markets are good approaches and auctions a last resort. 

Recently a friend at a flea market sold a ham transceiver 90% working for $75  and the buyer went and stuck it on his table for $300. I tell buyers I won't sell for resale and some get very hostile but I agree with the sentiments of many on this list that these type would rob their grandmother. 

We had guys wanting to buy all the hard to get audio tubes in our vintage radio club until we saw them turning on on ebay with very inflated prices. 

If it were my own equipment and I knew someone who really wanted it to preserve it, I'd give it to him/her. 

There's nothing quite like the feel of getting a piece of dilapidated junk, of no use to anyone but the owner and sitting imagining who used it before and how it ever came into being and where it had been.   A little piece of the past. 

Ralph 
VE3BBM 
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