Buying or Selling?

I have been doing a little of both when it comes to tractors & farm equipment, but I must say, it sure seems easier to buy than to sell at times. How's your buying & selling ventures been going?

I agree. Have always said that it is easier to buy than to sell. I quit buying a few years ago unless I plan on keeping the item. I used to buy used tractors at auctions and fix them up,but found that to be a looseing thing so I quit,and it seems that other guys had more money than me for what I thought the tractor was worth in order to make any money at it.

I've haven't been able to bring myself to sell anything tractor related so far.

I'm going to look at (and possibly buy) another Allis today.

I've never been on any big buying quests,but if something I like crosses my path for the right price,like always,I'd grab it.

I think its a buyers market out there. One because of the economy and the other reason---listen--is that theres not nearly as many people looking for the old tractors like there were 20 years ago. Like any think else there comes a time when some thing old just starts going away. Location plays a big part of that due to the amount of people around. I don't buy a tractor to make money with unless I know its really cheap. I remember 6/7 years ago I looked at an 8n . They wanted 3500 for it. I thought well that's just to much for me. Everyone else wanted that much. They are a fairly popular small tractor but how many have you seen lately that you can buy for 1/2 that. Im sure other makers are the same. Course some tractors that are rarer will always bring a premium. I guess we are just getting older with our toys/tractors but times has surely changed. The younger generation is internet trained now. No time for tractors. I buy an old tractor just to work to keep me busy and get me out of the house. I will guarantee you its not to make money. Better economy would help but I don't think you will ever see it come back to the levels of 3/4 years ago. Sad but true. Just my 3 cents worth.

It's getting hard to find tractors locally to buy. Used to be when a tractor sold on an auction. It didn't leave the county,just went down the road to the neighbors.

Now, The tractor gets loaded on a truck and leaves the state. The last auction I went to that had old tractors was 2014.There was eight Farmall M's.They were bringing $600 ea. There were three Ford 8's they brought 2200-2800. That is the average price here for Ford's.

Auctioneers have stopped having yearly consignment auctions because of the lack of large items for sale.

From what I have seen over the years;

Seems to really depend on location and of course the time of year.
Some areas have more grain farmers others have more cattlemen.
Often I see an item sell at a sale for half of what the identical item sold for at a sale 60 miles away the week before.
I see this so often that when I am shopping for a certain item I will decide what sales to attend based largely on what is the prominent land use is of the area the sale is being held at.

Buy snowplows, blowers etc in the summer.
Buy hay rakes, boats etc in the winter when demand is low.

Late fall early winter sales often a waste of time if you are looking for a deal as many producers who have had a good year have funds on hand and are looking for tax write-off items before year end.
In a bad year some good deals to be had, not as much cash floating around and some selling things off to keep the bank happy.

Smaller items- lawn tractors, rototillers etc can be had for a fair price when being sold at a sale far from town.
The same items sell at sales close to populated areas for ridiculous money as there is a large number of Citidiots trying to find equipment for there 2.2 acres.

Though not much of a buyer/seller, I do follow the antique and utility tractor markets and occassionally buy/sell something.

My experience has taught me that the antique tractor hobby/market is pretty much dead, aside from a few exceptions.

Late model, low hour, Tier 3 equipment is in demand right now due to meddling by the federales. Indeed, it is sometimes possible to sell such late model non Tier 4 equipment, if low hour and well maintained, for as much or perhaps more than one paid for it new a few years ago.

Dean

Well depends on where and how you try and sell . Back when the big sales were happening and i did a lot of running to sales you had to learn the market and buy for the market , what might sell at one may not sell at another. Sometimes you hit a homerun and sometimes you just made trucking and some times you took a hard hit and ate your mistake and smiled about it and moved on . You can not buy at a sale in your back yard and expect to sell in your back yard and make out . Myself and my two closest friends would go no less then three hours away from home to do our shopping. Most times it was eight to ten hours drive , also working with auctioneers that knew you and knew that you were there to BUY helped . You did not just go for one pieces you went for a truck load if not more . If there was more then one sale the same day we would split up and each of us would take one sale with a list of each of us and do the buying for the other two .

I agree, times are changing. Manufacturers and dealerships offer such good incentives and financing, that oftentimes one can buy new for less money down than buying used.

Do you or anyone else use Proxibid.com? It's amazing how internet technology allows you to buy just about anything at live auction from the comfort of your home or office. Everyday there are live auctions going on from around the country....

Bought and sold a David Brown 885g. Was a pain. Made a little money, but not what I thought I would and was for sale for a while.

Bought a claas rotary rake very reasonable and that was for sale for a while before I bought it.

Also bought a deere 4430. Had to pay good money for that, but it's not every day you come across a 1 owner 77 model with 5500hrs in it. I did pay less for that than a 4320 with twice as many hours I wanted to buy at an auction sold for a few weeks before that though.

Seems the 70's-80's era 100hpish good shape tractors are still holding their value here, or even going up a little.

Of course it is easier to buy because if you really want something you are willing to pay a premium. It is harder to sell because even if you try to give something away people will think there is something wrong with it. I've only sold a little equipment because it's just as easy to keep it for parts.

The easy deals to buy and resell is real estate. You can be the successful bidder at a land auction and have people offer you a 10% premium right at the sale to resell. Maybe they were shy to bid, or weren't sure they could get financing. While you can't go crazy, I have never failed at buying land at auction and reselling. Often I have doubled my money by financing the sale. I find I can sell houses not fixed up or with minimal repairs.

I used to do a little buying and selling. Found that IH tractors were cheap about 150 miles south of me, and I made some decent money on them by bringing them home and selling them here. Largely because the local IH dealer was well liked, and that strengthened the market for them here. Could never make a nickel on a JD- they were high everywhere. Have quit doing it- can make more money just working a little harder in my profession. Oh, and that its a little harder physically than it used to be. Funny how that works. . .

(quoted from post at 07:47:23 01/16/16) I have been doing a little of both when it comes to tractors & farm equipment, but I must say, it sure seems easier to buy than to sell at times. How's your buying & selling ventures been going?

Click to expand...

Made some good money last year doing both. Every time I think the market is dried up a good deal comes along....I sure made a lot more than if my $$$ was in the bank or stock market!

Seems like items are a lot harder to sell ? I'm guessing from a lack of spare money to spend.
As far as buying I don't see much for sale at a decent price. I keep seeing the same stuff popping up on craigslist and even at a local tractor jockey.

NO . Now i have at times called a TRUSTED auctioneer and left a max bid on ONE piece or two for the simple reason that (1) it was the only item at the sale of any interest to me and (2) it was way to far of a drive to make just for that item . (3) it was to be SOLD under the ride and drive . So if i was the one that did infact end up with it when i did get out there to pick it up as usually i was out in the area picking stuff up at another sale yard and did not have a full load , when i got there i could check it out and if i found that it was NOT AS STATED I did not own it and no hard feelings . The only thing i lots was some time and a little fuel. I am the type of buyer that i have to touchy feely what i am buying and look over . I do not mind buying something that needs repair as long as what i pay for it and the cost of said repair and trucking will still net a profit . I would rather make a little on more pieces and MOVE the items then set on something waiting to make a killing on one . You do not BUY what you want but what people will want and when you tell someone that it will go to the field and work it had best WORK as you stated . If i retailed a tractor at the shop when it left my hands it left with a warranty for 90 days. and as long as it was not used in competition or totally abused if it broke i fixed it as fast as i could or we would swap out . Only sold two tractors in the as is where is and so marked on both copys of the bill of sale with both of us signing . Did i get rich NO but i made a decent living . I enjoyed the HUNT and really enjoyed the people i meet . Did a lot of driving lost lots of sleep . Nothing like getting up and hitting the road at 3 Am after getting to bed at midnight then driving hard to make a sale that starts at 9 two states away then spend 10-12 hours at the sale load up the junk you bought get it chained down and make the drive home and get home at 3 Am get four or five hours sleep and unload your prises and start fixing them so you can load them back up and haul them to the next sale in a couple days or a week down the road . The fun of reblading a wore out disc and replacing a couple bad bearings wire brushing the frame and putting on a fresh coat of paint then putting th gangs back up under it and painting them black and putting on a couple new decals by your self is a fun job . Taking and old six bottom plow with a couple wore out bottoms and making it a four bottom with good iron and able to go to the field and plow wright and move it to a market area that wants four bottom steerables . If you do a good job on the cut down and not make it look like a hack job and they work the ones you set in at a given sale will bring more then that hack job one . How did i learn this , i learned from my two friends . It only takes money to make money . And i started off with buying small stuff and being happy with making fifty to a hundred bucks on each pieces , Sell enough pieces making fifty bucks it adds up faster then setting on one for a couple months waiting to make a grand . Never be greedy and never pay tomuch , never get caught up in the bidding war , set a price in your head and NEVER stray from that price. Learn how to read the one bidding against you and if he makes you mad then he is the one that will end up paying to much .

Pinball is exactly right, different generation now and they have little use for a old tractor. When I get ready to sell one occasionally seems i get way less than I have in it. For me these old tractors are a hobby and I get enjoyment out of working and useing them some so to me that has value.

I been buying 2-9-8n fords for 250-500.00 each past few months, hauling them straight to the scrap yard, don't make much, but I keep busy. Picked up 3 out of a barn last week been there over 20 years. Old gal told me what she wanted to do and how much for them. Got a couple of mowers and a couple of other pieces along with them.

(quoted from post at 15:00:03 01/16/16) I been buying 2-9-8n fords for 250-500.00 each past few months, hauling them straight to the scrap yard, don't make much, but I keep busy. Picked up 3 out of a barn last week been there over 20 years. Old gal told me what she wanted to do and how much for them. Got a couple of mowers and a couple of other pieces along with them.

Click to expand...

I don't think so, if you were selling 3,000# tractors you'd be getting $300 at best and $75 around here. Good try, though. You don't have any close relatives in Nigeria, do you?