Whether you’re jumping into a major DIY project or you just have some yard work to do or a picture frame to hang, the cost of buying new, high quality tools can add up quickly—so skip the hardware store and start shopping estate sales instead.
Estate sales are a great place to look for tools because they tend to be priced right and if you know what to look for, you can get some really great finds for a fraction of what you would pay at the hardware store. If you’re looking for something specific, social media resale groups or yard sale apps are a better bet because you’ll be able to count on getting one item in particular, but if you need more than one thing or if you don’t mind doing some digging and devoting some time to the hunt, estate sales are your best bet. (Also, you will get to handle the tools and test them out before you decide to buy, which you can’t do when ordering online.)
Why are tools so cheap at estate sales?
While estate sales are usually priced by experienced professionals, tools don’t tend to bring in as much money for the seller as art, furniture, and electronics. Tools are also heavy, and harder to pack and ship, so it can be more trouble than it’s worth to price them high than to price them low and have someone else carry them away.
Tools are often priced to move, and you can score a deal, provided you know what you’re looking for.
Look for quality hand tools
Photo: Becca Lewis
One of the best things to look out for at estate sales is hand tools, whether those you would use indoors or tools for gardening or yard work. Spotting a quality hand tool is pretty simple. If the tools are more modern, you can look for a manufacturer’s label and check current prices and reviews online before making a decision. When in doubt, go with brands you’re familiar with, since experience is often the best product tester.
Look for hand tools that have solid shaft handles instead of ones where the handles are a separate piece entirely and affixed to the shaft of the tool with low quality fasteners. Hammers, shears, screwdrivers, digging tools, saws, knives, and other tools that require a grip should all have a single piece of metal that goes all the way through the handle, with the grip for your hand attached directly to that.
How to spot quality cutting tools
If the tool has a cutting edge, it should be possible to sharpen it, either with a sharpening stone or with a specialized sharpening tool for scissors, or the blade should be removable to allow for replacement or professional sharpening. Blades that are serrated will need to be sharpened with specialty equipment, so if it can’t easily be removed for sharpening, it’s probably not a good buy, since it will eventually get dull. The best serrated blades, like those for saws, will be obviously removable and replaceable, or will have a product number or other information about sharpening printed on the label.
What to look for when buying used power tools
When considering power tools, look for ones from recognizable name brands, with modern wiring (unless you’re good at rewiring things), and all their original parts, or at least enough of them to allow you to turn the tool on and make sure it works. While quality power tools can be a little more difficult to recognize than their manual counterparts, you’ll still want to be checking labels and asking to test them out if possible. Some vintage power tools work fine and can even be of better quality than newer tools—but others, like table saws, can be dangerous if they’re not working properly.
Save on measuring tools
The other great score you can find at an estate sale are measuring tools. Straight edge rulers, tape measures, angle finders, and squares are all worth keeping an eye out for when you’re hunting for bargains. If you plan to buy any of these things, it’s a good idea to bring along tape measure to compare to any measuring tools you might come across, in case you find a tape measure that’s missing a part and no longer measures the correct distance or a square that’s been dropped from a ladder and is no longer square.
The tools you should never buy at an estate sale
Avoid buying any tool at an estate sale that might be unsafe. Rope that you plan to use for towing or hanging anything overhead shouldn’t be an estate sale find, as you have no way of knowing how it was maintained before you came across it, for example.
The other major category of tools you shouldn’t buy secondhand (unless sealed in its original packaging) is personal protective equipment like safety glasses, masks, or fall arrest harnesses. If you don’t know how it’s been used prior to your purchase, you won’t know if it’s been damaged, so it might not work the way you think it will.
Ladders can also be risky to buy used, especially if they’re older, as dents and damage can make them unsafe.
