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BAILEY No7 value? Advice sought.

C

Chris152

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Edit - on reflection, should this be in the Hand Toolery section? Apologies if so.

I need to sell this as it gets no use these days - I bought it when trying to learn to make tables about seven years ago for £100. Looking at Stanley/ Bailey No7 on ebay they seem to vary a lot from about £50 to £150+, and I don't know where mine sits on that spectrum. Maybe it's not easy to tell just from photos, but it's old, in decent condition, and is marked:

BAILEY
No7
U.S.PAT APR-19-10

Any thoughts much appreciated,
Chris

_MG_2098.jpg_MG_2099.jpg_MG_2104.jpg_MG_2105.jpg
 
Patrick Leach's tool list is asking $195 (plus postage) this month for what is described as a "quality worker" #7

If you put yours on ebay with good photos, a reasonably long auction time and a low starting price you will find the current market value.
You must post to be able to reach all potential buyers, collection only items don't attract as much attention.
 
Chris, the other thing to do when checking on Ebay is to select "completed items" in the "show only" filter on the left of the search results page. That removes unsold items from the list, and gives you a better clue as to what they actually sell for. I am seeing two no. 7s at about £135, one at about £85, with damaged ones coming in around £50 or £60, and that's in the last few weeks.
 
Mike G said:
Chris, the other thing to do when checking on Ebay is to select "completed items" in the "show only" filter on the left of the search results page. That removes unsold items from the list, and gives you a better clue as to what they actually sell for. I am seeing two no. 7s at about £135, one at about £85, with damaged ones coming in around £50 or £60, and that's in the last few weeks.
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Just a clarification, there's a box called "Sold Items" as well as the "Completed Items" one. As I understand it, the difference is that if someone lists a #7 on an auction with a £5000 starting price the auction will complete and show a final price of £5000 but no-one bid on it so it doesn't really tell you anything about a realistic selling price. Sold items only show things that were priced such that people actually wanted to buy them.

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Thanks all.

On balance, I think the £100 I paid for it may still be about right based on the prices listed, as you say Mike.

I did wonder such things as - are woodworking tools the same kind of value now as several years ago? I remember talking to the chaps in Axi in Cardiff before they closed down, they were saying there were far fewer people coming in to buy tools compared to the past. And I wondered about the date/ possible rarity of the plane - there's nothing I can see to suggest that's the case, but you never know.

Does the US Patent mean it was manufactured in the US, or did ones made here carry the same patent? It has no 'MADE IN...' stamp.

Anyway, all that's fairly idle thinking I guess. I'll try locally on FB marketplace first and then on to ebay if it doesn't sell, with pics and postage an option as you suggest Jim.

Many thanks

Chris
 
Unless you are really in need of cash, I'd suggest you hold on to it. You might need to make a door or a bookcase or just a long shelf, where the extra length really does make a difference.

If you got rid of it then wanted to buy one again, you'd be back with the problems of unknown faults and high postage costs. With your own plane, you know exactly how good it is.
 
AndyT said:
Unless you are really in need of cash, I'd suggest you hold on to it. You might need to make a door or a bookcase or just a long shelf, where the extra length really does make a difference.

If you got rid of it then wanted to buy one again, you'd be back with the problems of unknown faults and high postage costs. With your own plane, you know exactly how good it is.
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Agreed. If it's decent user and you're used to it, I'd keep hold of it as well as you never know when you're going to need a longer plane. When I do any veneering f'example, a long shooter is perfick for jointing two bits together - Rob
 
AndyT said:
Unless you are really in need of cash, I'd suggest you hold on to it. You might need to make a door or a bookcase or just a long shelf, where the extra length really does make a difference.

If you got rid of it then wanted to buy one again, you'd be back with the problems of unknown faults and high postage costs. With your own plane, you know exactly how good it is.
Click to expand...

That's the kind of line I spin my missus. She just shrugs her shoulders and rolls her eyes but that's a win isn't it? :)
 
I forget where I read this, but apparently the ones with grooved soles are significantly more desirable. Unless you really need the money, keep it. They are great planes and on a big shooting board are superb as they have plenty of heft.
 
Just an addendum to the conversation about the price of no. 7s.......I've just picked one up from Facebook Marketplace for £40. It needs quite a lot of work, including a new handle, but the fundamentals are all good. I was offered a no. 6 for £20 at the same time, and bought it for my SIL. They'd been up for sale for a long time, so I suspect that the market for planes is cooling off.
 
Mike G said:
.... so I suspect that the market for planes is cooling off.
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I beg to differ Mike. Have a look at the Classic Hand Tools 'Old Tools and Clearance Page' Prices paid for really good quality stuff is still very strong, however yours truly recently purchased a pair of mint 'old skool' green Cliftons with the hand forged O1 steel blade:

IMG_5851.jpeg

...for a very respectable price, which didn't dent the wallet too much - Rob
 
Woodbloke said:
I beg to differ Mike. Have a look at the Classic Hand Tools 'Old Tools and Clearance Page' Prices paid for really good quality stuff is still very strong, however yours truly recently purchased a pair of mint 'old skool' green Cliftons with the hand forged O1 steel blade:

View attachment 36655

...for a very respectable price, which didn't dent the wallet too much - Rob
Click to expand...
But that suggests the market isn't that strong....
 
During & for a good while after covid second hand tool prices went ridiculously high, I think the market has settled back down now & tools can definitely be purchased at more reasonable prices
 
Itdsefinitely seems to have quietened down though some of that might be just that in general people are feeling the pinch and probably concerned about what Rachael Theives is preparing to unleash on us this month.
There are a lot more planes around on faceluke at the minute and although at more sensible prices they don't seem to be moving.
 
JamesHow said:
But that suggests the market isn't that strong....
Click to expand...
If you follow that CHT page, some of the prices for second hand tools (inc planes) are eye watering. For some obscure reason both of those Cliffies were reasonable and even when I spoke to Alex at CHT on the dog n'bone, he admitted that the price asked for the 4.5 was very acceptable - Rob
 
I'd keep it, no7 is my favourite plane for most jobs, it's worth at least £100 probably a bit more, you have the pre WW1 era one, it has rosewood handles, they're much nicer than later ones imo.
 
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