QUESTION about posting refurbished axes and hatchets on eBay

Is that head marked Snow & Nealley or just the handle? It would have had a large metal wedge instead of a wooden one. The little wedge you pulled out shows that someone rehandled it at some time. You may just have a great handle there and a so so head. Snow and Nealley stamps are often very light so you would have to clean that head up a bit to reveal it but it does not look like any old S&N head I have seen before.
 
Curt, have you tried selling your axes locally? I agree with those who've stated that shipping can render an Ebay purchase cost-ineffective, even if a potential buyer really likes what you have for sale. There must be a market in your area for nicely refurbished tools that are for sale at the right price point. Where I am, it's easy to buy a new, mass-produced axe for $30 or less, and there are a few options for nicer, quality axes at $100-plus. My suspicion/belief/hope is that there are some people who would be willing to purchase a refurbished axe if priced in that "grey area", if I may call it that. And those people surely can't all be a half-continent away from where you are!
 
grafton said:
Is that head marked Snow & Nealley or just the handle? It would have had a large metal wedge instead of a wooden one. The little wedge you pulled out shows that someone rehandled it at some time. You may just have a great handle there and a so so head. Snow and Nealley stamps are often very light so you would have to clean that head up a bit to reveal it but it does not look like any old S&N head I have seen before.
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This is kinda what I am suspecting, but just a hunch cause I don't know either. I have a S&N and the markings are indeed faint.
 
I don't think any of us are talking museum pieces here. We're taking broken rusty items on the way to the scrap heap and making them usable so that folks that might otherwise go buy something at a big box store pick something up that they want to take care of. I think you're looking at us as if we're making bobbers out of Vincent Black Shadows and Indian Chiefs while what we're doing is taking a 1976 Sportster and getting them back on the road. I mean I took a cruiser that was literally at the bottom of the barrel that was getting thrown out and I hung it. Turned out the thing was cast iron with steel bits. It had chips and marks on the side from being used as a hammer. Someone had pinned and peened the thing to keep it in the old broken haft. No antiques roadshow, more like sanford and son. If I picked up an old embossed axe head that might have some historical value I'll refrain from going at it with the grinder and the vinegar. I mean we're not philistines. ;-)

gben said:
Ebay is full of "refurbished" collectors items of all types and genres, and they certainly do not sell as well as untouched originals in price or frequency. Smart and knowledgeable collectors of anything always look for originality. All anyone has to do is watch a few episodes of Antiques Road Show or look at any finished auction lists to see that refurbished and re-manufactured collectibles are the bottom of the barrel.

I have been around old British motorcycles since the early 60s when they were new and competitive and I saw the collectors market for them begin and develop first-hand. In it's infancy a lot of people destroyed a lot of history and nice original old bikes and parts with bead-blasters, clear-coating and poor but shiny replacement parts. Now that the hobby has matured a bit the most valued vintage motorcycles are similar to the most valued antique furniture pieces, they are the ones that have never had a thing done to them since they were manufactured, aside from maybe some very conservative maintenance to keep them in operating condition. History and provenance is also paramount, so how many of you are recording the personal histories of your knives and axes if and when possible?, Probably close to zero-percent. In the end the over-restored collectibles are for the ignorant and the suckers to spend their money on, those with little knowledge of what they have just paid for and who will nail it to the wall of a restaurant or wealthy-mans den as a bit of kitsch......
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Let me know when you're up and running. There are a few people selling on Etsy that are really killing it that I've been watching. DTOM556 has kind of "branded" his items and he has sold about 20 or so axes and hammers since November, they're very clean and pure in there presentation, less bs than me even. I have to say though every time I throw an axe on Ebay though it gets a bid within the first 12 hours and I price about 80% of what I think is ideal. As much as I want to make something happen on Etsy that's hard to argue with. Etsy likes a 30-50 dollar price point I think but that is just my experience.

jblyttle said:
That's cool, I actually saw that store a few days ago while looking around to see what others were doing and charging. What you are doing is what I'm going for. I'm not out to make the next boutique axe (not that I could), my goals are to find and refurbish good honest vintage tools that may have some history, find them new homes with people who will respect them, and make some money on the side. As 300Six said, it's a labor of love- if it was all about the money I would be selling Beanie Babies or whatever cheap thing is popular now. I'm finding that I just love a piece of wood in one hand and a sharp knife in the other and making it find it's correct form. If all I could do is create a pile of newly handled hammers and axes and never sell one, I'd probably still do it.
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Liberatus1 said:
I don't think any of us are talking museum pieces here. We're taking broken rusty items on the way to the scrap heap and making them usable so that folks that might otherwise go buy something at a big box store pick something up that they want to take care of. I think you're looking at us as if we're making bobbers out of Vincent Black Shadows and Indian Chiefs while what we're doing is taking a 1976 Sportster and getting them back on the road. I mean I took a cruiser that was literally at the bottom of the barrel that was getting thrown out and I hung it. Turned out the thing was cast iron with steel bits. It had chips and marks on the side from being used as a hammer. Someone had pinned and peened the thing to keep it in the old broken haft. No antiques roadshow, more like sanford and son. If I picked up an old embossed axe head that might have some historical value I'll refrain from going at it with the grinder and the vinegar. I mean we're not philistines. ;-)
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This sums it up for me. I never scrub off a nice patina, only rust. I never sand an original painted handle, and only refresh the surface and oil unpainted ones. Basically the upkeep and maintenance that should be done to any good user anyway.
 
Liberatus1 said:
Let me know when you're up and running. There are a few people selling on Etsy that are really killing it that I've been watching. DTOM556 has kind of "branded" his items and he has sold about 20 or so axes and hammers since November, they're very clean and pure in there presentation, less bs than me even. I have to say though every time I throw an axe on Ebay though it gets a bid within the first 12 hours and I price about 80% of what I think is ideal. As much as I want to make something happen on Etsy that's hard to argue with. Etsy likes a 30-50 dollar price point I think but that is just my experience.
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It's up now, just two hammers listed. I don't even know why I'm testing the waters, as you said- eBay has been just fine. I think that I may put %95 of things on eBay, and save Etsy for the less common really nice items or ones that I do myself and put some real effort into. I need to work on taking better pictures though.
 
Good pictures are key to presentation. Too many heads and hung axes are shown inside with dark/shadowed takes.

I've never sold anything on any of the sites but I have bought-heads at least. Always seem to hesitate or skip those that don't "show well".

Thinking that a contrasting background and natural light goes a long way.

Maybe finding a presentation background that is readily identifiable as "yours" can help "brand" your sales? Like something that tells a buyer across platforms that it is your item? For example, I'm looking through a site and see your axe, then look through another and see an item with the same background- "ah, it's that same guy(girl?)". Builds presence.

These are just early morning ramblings and my 2cents is just that... (Won't cover shipping by far)
 
cityofthesouth said:
This is kinda what I am suspecting, but just a hunch cause I don't know either. I have a S&N and the markings are indeed faint.
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After scrubbing the head enought to satisfy myself that there are no markings, I can say that it actually looks like a quality if indistinct head, but there is nothing here to suggest that it is a Snow&Nealley product.

I'm thinking that I will not rejoin them. The head will be good for $15. The handle I can save for a matching head or perhaps there is a market for the handle by itself. Not as good as I hoped, but still good stuff.
 
So this is an art not a science. I just listed a Kelly Perfect beveled Jersey. It was a good head that needed edge touch up on a good handle but not seated correctly. A very good axe that needed some corrections. I thought that I priced it correctly given the above info and it sold for the Buy It Now of $45 in 22 minutes after listing. Obviously I left money on the table, but someone got a good axe and is very pleased right now. I'm OK with that. Always learning!
 
Square_peg said:
Perfects are super hot right now.
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Remember that thread that I started about "What should I keep?"
This was the Kelly, and I chose the Collins. It was a very nice axe but not without flaws. I will remember this lesson.

However, I still made a very nice profit and someone is thrilled with their purchase. Two winners here in my book.
 
Ebay is a mixed bag. Depends a lot on time of year - as you were trying to sell axes at a terrible time when most money has gone to Christmas gifts. Best time to sell axes in in late February and early March when people have tax return money burning a hole in their pocket.

I am not a fan of Etsy as it is way way way over priced for whats on there. Now, there must be around 50 "axe and tool" companies, restorers, etc on sites like that or have their own sites. Makes me sick as no one even thought about axes 3-4 years ago, but now its the cool thing to do.

NOS axes will post on there occasionally, but the number has dropped significantly since just 2 years ago. I find all mine now in private collections that I absorb, and actually pay a better price that way then Jim Bob and all his brothers getting to look at it too.

Be wary of the Kellys on Ebay as you can do better elsewhere.
 
Operator1975 said:
I am not a fan of Etsy as it is way way way over priced for whats on there. Now, there must be around 50 "axe and tool" companies, restorers, etc on sites like that or have their own sites. Makes me sick as no one even thought about axes 3-4 years ago, but now its the cool thing to do.
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I have compulsive addiction for treasure hunting, and an affinity for old tools. The strange thing is, this is all within maybe the last 6-7 months. It's funny that you say that axes are hot right now, but I don't doubt you as I have heard the same from a few antique dealers. I wonder why most got into selling them. Was it because they were hot and jumped onto the train? I don't know.

For me, I found this new love and this site by chance and accident. I'm a computer guy who hikes and camps for fun, I love the outdoors. One day I decided that I needed a hatchet and started to look at reviews on Amazon etc. My searches frequently turned up results on this site and bushcraftusa. I learned that many endorse finding a vintage piece to make their own, and I did. The unintended consequence is that I accidentally found the new love of hunting for treasures, and now I have to dig where others don't look and turn up all kinds of stuff. It's funny how one thing leads to another. In any case, I'm not here trying to cash in, I have a true previously undiscovered love that coincides by chance with a current boom. I have no carpentry background, skills, experience or training of any kind, and certainly no antiquing experience or background.

I do know this, I am meeting many interesting people in the estate sale/antique trade that I love to talk to as well as some great people here that I would never have otherwise had the chance to know, and I am learning many new things about history, people and tools of all sorts that I never knew that I cared about. I am learning about myself. I couldn't build a cabinet to save my life and my knowledge of tools was such that if I pounded a nail straight with a $3 hammer I was doing well. Now I am carving admittedly short straight handles with a knife by hand. Basic skills to be sure but it's a journey.
 
jblyttle said:
I have compulsive addiction for treasure hunting, and an affinity for old tools. The strange thing is, this is all within maybe the last 6-7 months. It's funny that you say that axes are hot right now, but I don't doubt you as I have heard the same from a few antique dealers. I wonder why most got into selling them. Was it because they were hot and jumped onto the train? I don't know.

For me, I found this new love and this site by chance and accident. I'm a computer guy who hikes and camps for fun, I love the outdoors. One day I decided that I needed a hatchet and started to look at reviews on Amazon etc. My searches frequently turned up results on this site and bushcraftusa. I learned that many endorse finding a vintage piece to make their own, and I did. The unintended consequence is that I accidentally found the new love of hunting for treasures, and now I have to dig where others don't look and turn up all kinds of stuff. It's funny how one thing leads to another. In any case, I'm not here trying to cash in, I have a true previously undiscovered love that coincides by chance with a current boom. I have no carpentry background, skills, experience or training of any kind, and certainly no antiquing experience or background.

I do know this, I am meeting many interesting people in the estate sale/antique trade that I love to talk to as well as some great people here that I would never have otherwise had the chance to know, and I am learning many new things about history, people and tools of all sorts that I never knew that I cared about. I am learning about myself. I couldn't build a cabinet to save my life and my knowledge of tools was such that if I pounded a nail straight with a $3 hammer I was doing well. Now I am carving admittedly short straight handles with a knife by hand. Basic skills to be sure but it's a journey.
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I think you might benefit from joining the Mid-West Tool Collectors Association. $25 a year gets you 4 magazines and a reprinted old catalog every year plus access to their tool meets. Lots of antique tool selling and trading at the meets. With the access you have to old tools, you could do well. I've learned a lot from being a member about old tools in general and axes in particular, not to mention some nice old axes and other tools added to my stash.
 
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