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Missed Opportunity

2K views 18 replies 16 participants last post by  dbhost 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I've read tool gloats and read a post about most worthless purchases people have made. What was the worst deal you ever let slip through your fingers? The kind of thing you kept kicking yourself for weeks (or yrs) over?

I'll start. I was working a lot and couldn't get out to a craigslist posting. I let and RBI Hawk 220-3 scroll saw slip away at the low price of $150. It was in "very good" condition. Please someone, top me so I don't feel like the only fool. (-:
 
#4 ·
Here is mine:

After hurricane Katrina, for at least a year or more, every curb for miles around was lined with all sorts of beautiful but water-damaged furniture that could have either been refinished, or salvaged for lumber content. Unfortunately, my own house was a mess and I really had no place to store all the stuff I could have salvaged.

It kinda makes me cringe every time I think about it.
 
#5 ·
almost new condition shopsmith mark-V 500 for $250… and I was first "in line"! the guys said I have dibs. I'll beat myself up on that one for years, but after I thought it through, if I spent anything over $1.99 I would probably have to get a mattress for that shopsmith.
 
#6 · (Edited by Moderator)
I check craigslist all the time for free wood, firewood, logs, stumps, lumber, and trees (must check all local as well as greater LA to find things), and I end up stumbling on missed opportunities all the time, or things I really want that I either simply have no room for, or are just too far away to be worth it. I missed a really great kiln (ceramics/metal/etc) that goes for about $2k that was up for free. I think the caller before me got it. I missed a 20" olive tree burl to an artist who called right before me about a week ago. Today I see someone has 12 beautiful kitchen wall units (shelving, glass doors, deep reddish brown stain - very classy looking from a large, fancy home that's being remodeled in a different style), and they're just like the kind I've imagined in my head for around my dining room walls, but they're just so far away, and so large for putting in my truck, so I'm not going to bother fighting it, but I'll lament a bit about it. Oh, and someone was giving away literally a ROOM full of lumber a few days ago, but I missed out on it - just saw it this morning. It's a constant world of sadness. I feel for you.

Rustfever - Ouch! Rockler had a sale last week, cherry @ $3/BF, still 6x the deal you missed! Sorry, didn't mean to rub it in ;)
 
#8 ·
Mines not timber but i lost a ebay bid last month for 2500 brindle block pavers 49m2 for my driveway they went for £31 i put a stupid bid in should of keeped a better eye on the item i was gutted
 
#9 ·
A local millwork shop was replacing some older gear with new machines. The owner (a friend of mine) sent me an email while I was on vacation listing the tools he had for sale, and saying he needed the space so they were going at bargain basement prices. When I returned home, I read the email, beat it out to his shop, and saw a pickup pulling out of the shop with the Powermatic 14" band saw I intended to buy. Sale price? $115.00!
 
#10 ·
Gary if you are familiar with setting up RSS feeds you can use iGoogle to monitor every Craigslist feed you wanna watch…that way you dont have to clickaround so much and its all right there for you…I monitor 4 cl lists that way….

the igoogle gadget is called feeds in tabs if you are interested
 
#11 · (Edited by Moderator)
A person recently was selling a Rockwell Unisaw for 400.00. He said his Dad owned it and it was purchased in 1970s. He was also going to throw in a delta RAS. Said he was moving and had to unload things that were too heavy to move. He told me he thought the RAS itself was worth $500. I don't know but sure sounded like a sweet deal to me. I did not have the room for this equipment at this time and the timing was just bad.
 
#12 ·
My brother-in-law was the first caller on a nice Jet Table Saw, not sure what model and spoke the the widow who wanted her son to sell the saw. He wasn't home, they missed each other and within a couple of hours had missed the saw because someone else got directly to the son.
My personal best was 80 acres of land at 300 / acre. Went up for sale word of mouth, didn't get the word till a few years after it sold. It was only for sale for about 15 years. The ground was between my parents and where I built my house. Dad said, "I just didn't think you'd be interested in it so I didn't say anything." That was several years ago, still lamenting!!!
BTKS
 
#13 ·
The $19.95 Smartsharp 3000 that was mistakenly advertised at Sears this week. I only checked LJ's in the afternoon. Sears had taken the site down and contacted all the stores to put it at the regular price of 199.95. Lots of 'early bird get the worm LJ's' picked up one or two of them before the mistake was found. I've had one of these for a year and it's a very good sharpener.

Then there was the chick long ago that said "wanna screw" and I said "no thanks I've got a drawer full you keep it." Guess I'm a wood nerd.

Ah.. is this a family show?.. couldn't help myself.
 
#15 ·
This post will serve as my biggest mistake mixed in with my biggest bargain. About four years ago I was online giving advice to a friend about buying a mitersaw. While on the website I checked the prices on a Unisaw as that was the dream saw for me. I almost fell out of my chair when I saw the price for a 3HP left-tilt Unisaw with a 50in Biesemyer fence-$478 which included free shipping. I checked and rechecked the page, thought about how the wife would be mad at me for spending that kind of money and bought it anyway. While checking out, the website tells me that there are 4 more at the same price and would I like to buy them. I thought about it and decided my wife would really kill me if I spent $2K more even though I could probably sell them, make some money and buy more tools. The logic of the plan would have been difficult once she saw the $2,500 bill.
Every day until the saw arrived I was expecting said website to renege and when they did not I expected anything but a real Unisaw but it did come.
Sorry this is not quite what you were looking for but it ranks #1 for me on missed opportunities.
 
#17 ·
16" jointer with 96" bed and 1 phase on CL for $400 with demonstration available before purchase. I was new to woodworking and looking for a portable planer, not an ugly monster of a jointer. Sat on CL for 3 months before I finally realized what it was and that it was worth storing until I had room, it had sold the weekend before. He offered me a Delta Junior Unisaw for $150 that no one wanted because of the 8" blade, and again I did not know enough to pull the trigger until it was to late.
 
#19 · (Edited by Moderator)
A week after I got my Harbor Freight 14" band saw, a 2 year old Grizzly GO555X with riser block came up on Craigslist, literally down the street from me for $350.00. To say the least I am not happy I missed that one.

I got a decent deal on my Ryobi BT3100, however I did miss, about 6 months prior, a deal on a NOS BT3100 unopened, still with the plastic and bands, with the full accessory kit for $150.00

About a month ago, I simply didn't have the money, a Central Machinery 6" floor model jointer, with Sunhill carbide knife head and pre fitted with the dust port and mobile base for $150.00.
 
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