[Saccharomyces]

I do not know what your market for used homebrewing gear is like, but selling used gear in my local market has become a challenge.  I have never had to go lower than 50% of the cost of new to move gear that has been keep in like-new condition.  I not talking about old, dusty gear.  I am talking about current gear.  I am trying to reduce the size of my gear to what I actually use in preparation for a long-distance move, but I am not giving away top-shelf gear.  I will move it to my new abode and hold on to it until the used market improves.  What has your experience been trying to sell homebrewing gear lately?

[fredthecat]

I do not know what your market for used homebrewing gear is like, but selling used gear in my local market has become a challenge.  I have never had to go lower than 50% of the cost of new to move gear that has been keep in like-new condition.  I not talking about old, dusty gear.  I am talking about current gear.  I am trying to reduce the size of my gear to what I actually use in preparation for a long-distance move, but I am not giving away top-shelf gear.  I will move it to my new abode and hold on to it until the used market improves.  What has your experience been trying to sell homebrewing gear lately?

not lately, but when i did an international move, i just figured that i had gotten my use/moneys worth out of my ~3 to 8 year old equipment collection and decided to give it away more to someone who would want to get into the hobby.

sadly, time was running out and no one was biting except one guy who wanted most of it for... kombucha making...

he had zero interest in homebrewing beer, i think he didn't drink alcohol. he didn't even really want to hear basic advice from someone with a lot more experience in home beverage making than him.

felt bad, i think i just asked for about 50 bucks for the whole setup.

so, i mean consider the idea of getting some young, honest seeming person into homebrewing as a positive factor connected to price (maybe?)

[Kevin]

It has been a couple of years when I sold anything but it didn't take long to get rid of and for no less than 60% of new prices. I've seen some of your classifieds and my only guess is that with the proliferation of all-in-one units new brewers may not be as in to cooler mash tuns and the like.

[KellerBrauer]

I spoke with the owner of our HB Supply several months ago as he was forced to shut his doors due to lack so sales.  He made it through the COVID rough spots, but as he emerged he didn’t have the same business.  He said the interest in home brewing — at least in our area —  has declined.  You may be struggling for the same reason??

[Saccharomyces]

It has been a couple of years when I sold anything but it didn't take long to get rid of and for no less than 60% of new prices. I've seen some of your classifieds and my only guess is that with the proliferation of all-in-one units new brewers may not be as in to cooler mash tuns and the like.

The mash/lauter tun is the least of my worries.  I can get more by selling it as parts than as a mash/lauter tun. What worries me is that quality gear is getting little to no bites.  Most of it is being sold at just over 50% of the cost of new and it is does not have a full brewing season on it.  I have sold a lot of gear in the past and never had to go below 60% of the cost of new.  This market is very different than markets in the past.  On the bright side, people who are selling houses are making a killing.

[BrewBama]

I’ve had stuff for sale forever. No offers.

[redrocker652002]

Speaking purely as a newbie, I will say that my wallet dictates my purchases.  LOL.  I have already put more into this than I had expected, and am thinking of adding a bigger boil kettle and making a immersion chiller.  I kinda dig the do it yourself stuff, so, for me, cost and need is a big thing.  I usually get by with what I have in most aspects of my life, so spending even 50% on home brew stuff just isn't in my cards.  But, I will also say, that I agree with the OP.  If the stuff is like new, you should expect to get a fair price for it, not half of what it cost you new.  Just my .02 worth.  RR

[fredthecat]

Speaking purely as a newbie, I will say that my wallet dictates my purchases.  LOL.  I have already put more into this than I had expected, and am thinking of adding a bigger boil kettle and making a immersion chiller.  I kinda dig the do it yourself stuff, so, for me, cost and need is a big thing.  I usually get by with what I have in most aspects of my life, so spending even 50% on home brew stuff just isn't in my cards.  But, I will also say, that I agree with the OP.  If the stuff is like new, you should expect to get a fair price for it, not half of what it cost you new.  Just my .02 worth.  RR

a lot of people here say/claim that they dont consider price as a factor at all, and they brew wholely for the love of homebrewing..

true or not, i believe that after 72 brews, using 3 different sets of equipment (first 2 were cheap and barebones) ive definitely saved a lot of money if i had bought the equivalent amount of beer from the store.

you can do the math on things like buying your own roller mill (potential increase in efficiency from better milling + slightly reduced cost per lb of grain usually vs. initial cost of roller mill + time/effort of using it) i quickly did the math on that this year and figured that there are some non-cost benefits to it, i just don't brew enough to actually save money on buying this / small amount saved per lb of grain.

whats your gear setup btw? im also KISS

[reverseapachemaster]

There's definitely a different market out there these days. The all-in-one systems have made older setups less desirable no matter the quality. With the hobby in a decline the people who want to spend a small fortune on quality equipment is smaller than it has been in a long time. Homebrewing always follows craft brewing trends which currently do not favor high quality and dialing in recipes. If you brew hazy IPA you don't necessarily want a ten or fifteen gallon brewhouse if you sit on a five gallon keg for several weeks.

Locally I've seen people try to unload really nice systems at fair prices but extremely expensive against a $400 all-in-one and usually brewing much larger volumes. Oddly I also see cooler type setups which are always for sale at much higher prices than usual. None seem to sell particularly well.

[BrewBama]

… thinking of adding … a immersion chiller.  …

I have a Hydra for sale.  Shoot me a PM if interested.

[Slowbrew]

Speaking purely as a newbie, I will say that my wallet dictates my purchases.  LOL.  I have already put more into this than I had expected, and am thinking of adding a bigger boil kettle and making a immersion chiller.  I kinda dig the do it yourself stuff, so, for me, cost and need is a big thing.  I usually get by with what I have in most aspects of my life, so spending even 50% on home brew stuff just isn't in my cards.  But, I will also say, that I agree with the OP.  If the stuff is like new, you should expect to get a fair price for it, not half of what it cost you new.  Just my .02 worth.  RR

a lot of people here say/claim that they dont consider price as a factor at all, and they brew wholely for the love of homebrewing..

true or not, i believe that after 72 brews, using 3 different sets of equipment (first 2 were cheap and barebones) ive definitely saved a lot of money if i had bought the equivalent amount of beer from the store.

you can do the math on things like buying your own roller mill (potential increase in efficiency from better milling + slightly reduced cost per lb of grain usually vs. initial cost of roller mill + time/effort of using it) i quickly did the math on that this year and figured that there are some non-cost benefits to it, i just don't brew enough to actually save money on buying this / small amount saved per lb of grain.

whats your gear setup btw? im also KISS

Your comments on buying a mill ring true to why I bought my fist mill.  Buying grain in bulk did save some money.  Likely not the cost of the mill, much less the second mill after I wore out the first one.  Where having my own mill is a life saver is when our last LHBS closed and supplies now get sourced from at least 2 hours in any direction at 75MPH.  Without bulk grain and my own mill I probably wouldn't still be brewing.

My son has gotten some amazing deals on brewing gear over the past 2 years.  He drove up into Minnesota for a demijohn, which bought.  By the time he finally got out of the seller's driveway he had 8 or 10 carboys, both glass and plastic, a kettle, a mash tun, cappers,  hydrometers and test columns, 2 or 3 cony kegs, regulator and whatever else fit in his car.  All he paid for was the demijohn, the guy just did seem to be able sell any of it.

Very odd market right now.

Paul

[fredthecat]

Your comments on buying a mill ring true to why I bought my fist mill.  Buying grain in bulk did save some money.  Likely not the cost of the mill, much less the second mill after I wore out the first one.  Where having my own mill is a life saver is when our last LHBS closed and supplies now get sourced from at least 2 hours in any direction at 75MPH.  Without bulk grain and my own mill I probably wouldn't still be brewing.

My son has gotten some amazing deals on brewing gear over the past 2 years.  He drove up into Minnesota for a demijohn, which bought.  By the time he finally got out of the seller's driveway he had 8 or 10 carboys, both glass and plastic, a kettle, a mash tun, cappers,  hydrometers and test columns, 2 or 3 cony kegs, regulator and whatever else fit in his car.  All he paid for was the demijohn, the guy just did seem to be able sell any of it.

Very odd market right now.

Paul

in general the whole online selling/meet up in person thing has changed a lot since the early 2000s. i was doing a huge move and was basically giving away things like whole collections of good quality childrens clothes, household items etc just for 5 or 10 bucks and to ensure they werent simply wasted. but on two occasions i was just no-showed by the person, i messaged them and they said "oh can you wait for me. im at ____(45 minutes away location)" and i just dumped the stuff in the trash. another person just no-showed entirely.

its often just not viable to sell stuff online. 

[redrocker652002]

Speaking purely as a newbie, I will say that my wallet dictates my purchases.  LOL.  I have already put more into this than I had expected, and am thinking of adding a bigger boil kettle and making a immersion chiller.  I kinda dig the do it yourself stuff, so, for me, cost and need is a big thing.  I usually get by with what I have in most aspects of my life, so spending even 50% on home brew stuff just isn't in my cards.  But, I will also say, that I agree with the OP.  If the stuff is like new, you should expect to get a fair price for it, not half of what it cost you new.  Just my .02 worth.  RR

a lot of people here say/claim that they dont consider price as a factor at all, and they brew wholely for the love of homebrewing..

true or not, i believe that after 72 brews, using 3 different sets of equipment (first 2 were cheap and barebones) ive definitely saved a lot of money if i had bought the equivalent amount of beer from the store.

you can do the math on things like buying your own roller mill (potential increase in efficiency from better milling + slightly reduced cost per lb of grain usually vs. initial cost of roller mill + time/effort of using it) i quickly did the math on that this year and figured that there are some non-cost benefits to it, i just don't brew enough to actually save money on buying this / small amount saved per lb of grain.

whats your gear setup btw? im also KISS

I will agree with the brewing for the love of doing it.  I am still new, but have a blast doing it.  I bought a Blind Pig clone recipe for about 60 bucks.  I will get 5 gallons of beer.  To go to Wines and more, Blind Pig cost me roughly 7 bucks a bottle.  So, maybe I am saving some cash, but I do it cause I enjoy the process.  Once I move to all grain I think it will be even more fun.  But, in my world, the almighty dollar dictates a lot of what I do.  Sure, I would love to have top of the line stuff, but to me part of the fun is getting dirty and doing it, not just plugging in a machine and letting it go.  That's just me, no offense to anybody who is of the machine way of doing things.  I have toyed with the idea of getting a Igloo cooler, calling up my local beer distributor and seeing if I can get a couple of their used kegs.  Cut the top of the keg to fit a large lid and make it my boil kettle  Buy some flexible copper pipe and make a chiller and go with that for a while.  The DIY stuff is kinda cool.  But that is me.  The process is as much fun as the end result. 

My end game is to create a few beers for family and friends that maybe they cannot get in the markets.  Make something that I like that does not taste like all the others.  But to start, I have to get the process down, and that is where the kits come into play. 

Just my .02 worth, and believe me, that is about all it is worth.  LOL.

RR

[nateo]

He said the interest in home brewing — at least in our area —  has declined.  You may be struggling for the same reason??

I think this is the right answer. I can't find any statistics on homebrewing from the AHA after 2017. I suspect if the numbers were good they would publicize them. I know craft beer has been declining since then and I also assume homebrewing has followed a similar trend.

[narvin]

He said the interest in home brewing — at least in our area —  has declined.  You may be struggling for the same reason??

I think this is the right answer. I can't find any statistics on homebrewing from the AHA after 2017. I suspect if the numbers were good they would publicize them. I know craft beer has been declining since then and I also assume homebrewing has followed a similar trend.

Perhaps call it a hard seltzer making system?