I try to update the list weekly, usually on Sunday nights, but lately it seems that I've been averaging closer to once a month.
There's usually a backlog of tools here at Akbar 'n' Jeff's Tool Hut
which haven't made it onto the list, so if you don't
see it here, please do ask. See also notes on "Large, Heavy Objects"
below.
I'm happy to keep an eye out for particular things you may be having
a hard time finding. I can often put my hands on things within a
relatively short period
of time. Unusual items take longer, of course, and as we all
know tools hide once they know you're looking for them.
I work by the OLDTOOLS Standard Method: You ask, I send you the tool. If you like the tool, you keep it and send me the price plus the shipping amount. If you don't like it, you ship it back, no questions asked; the object of the exercise is for you to be happy with the tool.
The shipping charge I pass on to you is the shipping charge I get from UPS or the Post Office, and it rarely runs to more than $10, unless you order a lot of stuff (feel free!) or something especially weighty, or you live in the Aleutian Islands. It's also handy if you send back word by e-mail at the time you receive it; I get nervous when I think UPS or the mails have lost something.
BTW, it's also helpful if you include the number of the tool when you
order or ask questions, especially if it's an item of which I have a few
in different condition.
I ship as quickly as I can after we do the usual exchange of details via e-mail and you confirm the order. A word of warning: the first-Monday-of-the-month flea market day on the OLDTOOLS list swamps me with orders, and it can take up to a week to get them all out. Sorry, there's only one of me here. Midmonth orders are therefore encouraged...
I generally ship via US Post at the best rate (it's a nickel difference
for Parcel vs. Priority to most places west of Cleveland) if the package
is under 10 lbs. or so; other things go UPS because the rates are better.
There are occasional exceptions to this rule, simply because it's more
convenient for me to ship UPS if I'm very tight for time. If you have strong
preferences (like if you don't want UPS dropping stuff at your house when
you're not there) just say so and we'll do it your way.
I use the system put forward in Fine Tool Journal. I've noticed that it has a tendency to cluster stuff in the good and good+ categories, in part because that (or better) is the grade of stuff I sell and in part because the grading categories are broad and really have too many variables affecting them. As a result, I list even the most minor flaws just to let you know exactly what you'll be getting. I sometimes think this has a kind of 'reverse halo' effect, in which the tools sound worse than they are, but better not to disappoint. And I'm always happy to answer questions about any tool by e-mail or phone, so if you're not sure what I mean, please ask.
I send tools out clean but not sharpened. For the most part I do as
little cleaning as possible; people are fussy about overcleaning, and I
prefer to let them make their own decisions. Sometimes, of course, the
decision has already been made for both of us by a former owner who overcleaned.
From time to time I've handled some things which might ordinarily be
considered a little impractical for mail order,
like anvils and tool chests. An experiment with a customer in
Utah who was kind enough to be the guinea pig has shown that it's possible
to ship this stuff at reasonable (well, almost reasonable) rates through
a freight broker in Syracuse, a larger city about 50 miles from here. So
here's the deal: on the really heavy stuff, the best arrangement would
be for you to pick it up if you can, or arrange for me to drop it off (not
so farfetched a notion as you might think, if you live in New York, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania, or Maryland -- these are all places
I get to with some regularity).
Otherwise, there's a $30 add-on fee on top of the shipping charge which
covers the expense of packaging the stuff (usually significant materials
involved) and of the 100 mile round trip to drop it with the freight agent.
Note, too, that it's a lot less expensive to have this stuff delivered
to a business address, if you can persuade your employer to receive it.