The Deal That Wasn't

Al Launier

Member
Messages
1,683
Location
Bedford, NH
Yesterday I took a 50 mile RT to check out what was advertised on CL as 23 new PC router bits (http://nh.craigslist.org/tls/4036752653.html) for $90, plus another lot of 54 new Delta/Rockler router bits (http://nh.craigslist.org/tls/4036745074.html) for $135. As shown, these were claimed to be new & in their packages.

I called the seller to discuss. He is a contractor & just wanted to clean out his collection of new bits because he had too many & wouldn't use them. He also offered to sell them at ~50% of what he advertised on CL. OK, worth the trip.

Upon arrival, he pulls out a dusty cardboard box with a bunch of random bits, most of which were:

  • Loose in cardboard box,
  • Mostly ~3/16-1/4" dia.
  • All HSS, no carbides as previously stated on the phone,
  • Could not buy individual bits, only the whole lot - not as discussed on the phone as he agreed that I could pick out what I could use.
  • Mostly duplicates of sash copes, a few corner rounding - he decided to keep the straights,
  • Some in small plastic envelopes, but most out of envelopes & loose in the cardboard box
  • ALL of them had plastic coating on the blades which means they were all reground, NOT NEW, as advertised.
  • They all seemed to have been around for quite a while, thick coating of dust.

When I told him I was not interested, as they weren't as I expected, i.e. not new & all the same size, he starts to blow up ranting that he had wasted his time! Huh? I travel 50 miles to find something different than what was advertised? See ya!

Amazing what you can run into, even after confirming things over the phone. Oh well, another lesson learned: Trust, but Verify!
 
Sorry for your wasted trip. I used to think people like this were purposely acting dense. I have since realized that they do not have the context or capacity to realize that they are the jerk in most situations. He cold have at least admitted that they were HSS, not carbide. That alone would have saved you the trip.
 
I don't even consider anything on CL or ebay unless they have good pictures.

Too many delusional people out there that think something that is absolute trash is the 'same' as a brand new item.
 
From another perspective...some are not always sure of what they are even offering. Example> I just listed my old Delta 8 " tilting table saw. Fella stopped by and pointed out that it was not as I implied "solid cast iron", but in-fact almost half of it was cast aluminum...heck all I know about metal is that it's not my favorite type of music. He also found a crack in the cast iron that I had never seen before, at least he was cool about the whole thing.

Doesn't offer an alibi for the attitude you received, just a reminder that there is a lot of clueless-ness out there, not only in what they are trying to unload, but also in common courtesy.
From a buyers point of view, I always approach each seller with the notion that they simply want to get rid of whatever it is they're offering, and are not always willing to be up-front and are basically looking for any old sap to unload their 'great deal'!

Whew, that's a load of blubbering to type out using a on-screen keyboard...I know what I''m going to buy next LOL
 
having dealt a lot with cl, I can only say I would never purchase anything from a contractor.
nada, zip, everything they buy gets used generally, used a lot, all the time.
Second, 90% of the people on CL are full of horse cookies, liars, deceitful, so anything that might sound a bit too good, is usually bogus.
I never understand why someone would purchase a battery operated tool on CL. The battery could go bad in 3 days, and then youd have to go for a new battery which usually costs as much or near as much as a new tool with the battery.
Blades, bits, battery operated tools, all these things are no no's for me when it comes to used.
Unless you can sit and inspect each blade and bit, and then still probably needs a good sharpening, I don't feel its worth it.

you always have to wade through 100s of ads to find one legit one.

third, people think they have gold. They feel just because its old, its valuable, like, they don't make them like they used too., and all that jazz.
If its old, its generally junk, unless its a great brand that was maintained. And then if not, only if you get it at a great price and are mechanically talented that you can rebuild a machine.
 
One other thought. Not about the seller, but about what you were looking at. Lots of router bits. You will be lots happier if you purchase quality bits as you need them, not in bunches. You will also save bunches of money.

Do not underestimate what a poor bit will do to the machine, let alone the quality of cut. The machine I sent you spins at 23,000 RPM. A bad bit spinning out of balance won't do much good for the bearings. DAMHIKT.
 
One other thought. Not about the seller, but about what you were looking at. Lots of router bits. You will be lots happier if you purchase quality bits as you need them, not in bunches. You will also save bunches of money.

Do not underestimate what a poor bit will do to the machine, let alone the quality of cut. The machine I sent you spins at 23,000 RPM. A bad bit spinning out of balance won't do much good for the bearings. DAMHIKT.

Good advice Carol! Seems like both you & Glen share the same philosophy.

After this experience, Im now convinced that I should get what I need when I need it (them). Also, buying from a contractor may not be a good idea as noted above. What was I thinking?

Unfortunately(???), I've been a somewhat "compulsive" buyer when it comes to fishing, hunting, golf, tools, etc. in the sense that once I get "into" something, I like to get adequately equipped. Fortunately this has been a good year to equip my shop with decent woodworking tools. Almost there!
 
One other thought. Not about the seller, but about what you were looking at. Lots of router bits. You will be lots happier if you purchase quality bits as you need them, not in bunches. You will also save bunches of money.

This is such good advice you had to say it twice. :D I agree, although I have sometimes bought decent sets of things like socket tools, wrenches and router bits, and replaced the worn out or broken bits with better ones. Occasionally, I have found that I didn't have to replace a lot of the stuff as I used it, as it was adequate for the purpose, and I didn't use it enough to wear it out..
 
[*]ALL of them had plastic coating on the blades which means they were all reground, NOT NEW, as advertised.


Trust, but Verify!
Most all of my new router bits and shaper bits come with a plastic coating on them. Well at least my better ones do.:thumb:
 
...Unfortunately(???), I've been a somewhat "compulsive" buyer when it comes to fishing, hunting, golf, tools, etc. in the sense that once I get "into" something, I like to get adequately equipped...

Boy, I've seen that movie before. :doh: Scuba diving was a great example. Got my Open Water and Advanced certification, and promptly went out and bought the whole kit: Custom wet suit, dive computer, regulator, BC, tank, camera, and all the accessories in the book. Then about 6 months later I broke my back and haven't had the equipment wet since then. (The camera never even got used. And it's a point and shoot 35mm rig that nobody wants anymore.)

And I still have a fair number of shop gadgets that I bought when I first started doing woodworking that have had little to no use over the years. I suspect most of us do. ;)

Most all of my new router bits and shaper bits come with a plastic coating on them. Well at least my better ones do.:thumb:

That's been my limited experience, too.
 
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