Want to see what $2826.25 in wrenches looks like?

[mrshaun]

XB3234A BOXOCKET $80.75 $2,826.25
Double box end 1inch x 1 1/16th
guy had 35 of them and didnt know how to sell them and didnt know what they were worth. he also had the drill bits I was talking about earlier.
<a href="http://s677.photobucket.com/albums/vv137/shaunnull/?action=view&current=xb3234a1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/vv137/shaunnull/xb3234a1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[mkirkpatrick]

Shaun,
He had that many of the same wrench? Why?

 

[billymade]

So, whats the backstory on this stuff.... what did you give for them and can you return this NOS back to Snap-On for credit?

 

[mrshaun]

I can't stop buying those $1 Snap-On 1/2 wrenches!" Don't Worry Its OK, your NOT alone; tool addicts of the world UNITE!
not that good of a deal but something that I could not refuse.
35 of the things. I like chrome and I like tools.
originally I only wanted a couple of them but like i said the offer was too good to pass up.

 

[fordbroncodave]

i ran into a deal like that on ebay once. someone was selling boxes of the same exact wrench 25-50 of them at a time. i bought one box of 25 for so low i couldn't pass it up either. i ended up getting $350 in credit from the mac tools guy for a $80 box of 19mm short combination wrenches

 

[mrshaun]

I was in the tool room at one of my shops and the guy opened a cabinet and it has about 1000 snap on new sockets in it he said the company would just buy tons of stuff when they thought they would need it. Now he wants to do some trading. but who need 25 19mm 3/8 drive chrome sockets at once. this will be a fun day when we sort all of those sockets out.....

 

[fordbroncodave]

what do you do if you suspect tools are stolen or come in huge lots like this, especially since they are new? i am willing to bet the tools i got off ebay were probably stolen but i turned them back into their company and got credit so i am out of the deal

 

[mrshaun]

well stuff without serial numbers is a pain in the **** to track down. when one of my shops got hit hard ( cleaned out ) the found some of the tools, but the police wouldnt help because they could not prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that they were theirs

No serial number no deal. thats why most guys mark their tools now.

 

[fordbroncodave]

how did this guy get all those wrenches? are they stolen from the manufacturing plant?

 

[mrshaun]

not sure where he got them, but they were in a shipping box, so he may have bought them offline. he also had a lot of pipe re-threaders that were HUGE they looked like something for use in the oil field. one ebay seller locally has these by the barrel and he said he got his from a company that went out of business.
so who knows where these come from. I asked the government rep and he said there have only been one or two of these purchased by the army every now and then. these are all 2004 part numbers.

 

[Art From De Leon]

Well, you could always do a Gearwrench like keychain promotion.

 

[BWright]

Yea thats what I'm thinking. A GJ special including a wrench and a 19mm socket when you get them. Not free but greatly reduced price of course.

 

[fordbroncodave]

shaun what are you going to do with the wrenches? sell them half price on your truck? turn them in? sell them here? ebay them?

 

[mrshaun]

may do some horse trading with one of my friends. he has stuff that goes BANG and I like stuff that goes bang.........

 

[ironheadtom]

I used to do a lot of field work on Edison bucket trucks (manlift) . Each truck seemed to be outfitted with the same tools, and were obviously very specific sizes. I wonder if these came from a similar situation. Maybe railroad or water dept. or something.

 

[mrshaun]

thats what I am thinking. since the aviation guys on post haven't bought any from me over the years and the govt rep cant see hardly any transactions theres no telling where they came from...

 

[nate379]

For $2,826.25 I would sell you those wrenches all day and run to the bank laughing!

I just looked it up and they are ~$42 ea my cost. I would think as a Snappy dealer you would get a better price than that even?

 

[Packard V8]

Chances are, you and I paid for them. Many government contracts are paid for up front and then never fully used. The equipment gets superseded, becomes obsolete and millions in new parts and tools go at auction.

Another dirty little secret, billions of dollars worth of US equipment, tools and parts get sold overseas. After the WWII surplus sales depressed many retail markets, the retailers got together and paid for legislation which prohibits military equipment and tools used overseas from being returned and sold here in the US. I've seen literally millions of dollars worth shoved over the side of aircraft carriers and other ships or blown up/burned or given away rather than bring it back on already available US trucks and ships.

thnx, jack vines

thnx, jack vines

 

[fordbroncodave]

what a waste of money. why not bring everything back that still is usefull and decide who to donate it to or sell it to. many countries are not as fortunate as ours and could use some of that stuff

 

[mrshaun]

yeah the army will literally throw their stuff in the dumpster and all you see are my customers going in head first and dragging out complete sets of snap on armstrong kd(usa kd stuff) and a little sk and maybe some matco..... But they literally use a forklift and dump a pallet in the dumpster...

 

[nate379]

I am Air Force and there have been times where stuff needs to "disappear"

The correct way is to turn it into DRMO, but it is such a hassle with a ton of paperwork and red tape... I'm talking 3-4 months or even longer to turn something in.
Much easier to make it gone a few hours going to people that can use it. Obviously somethings no one would have a use for... and high dollar stuff of course, but stuff like a set of wrenches, beat up toolbox, filing cabinet, etc.

 

[Paladin]

yeah the army will literally throw their stuff in the dumpster and all you see are my customers going in head first and dragging out complete sets of snap on armstrong kd(usa kd stuff) and a little sk and maybe some matco..... But they literally use a forklift and dump a pallet in the dumpster...

Wow! That's crazy! The Air Force either redistributes the tools or if surplus, they go to DRMO auctions. The Army is subject to the same DoD regulations, so if you ever want to see someone in the DoD go to jail call the Fraud, Waste and Abuse hotline at Ft Hood. That sh!t pisses me off cause thats our tax dollars being thrown in the trash, literally...

 

[Paladin]

I am Air Force and there have been times where stuff needs to "disappear"

The correct way is to turn it into DRMO, but it is such a hassle with a ton of paperwork and red tape... I'm talking 3-4 months or even longer to turn something in.
Much easier to make it gone a few hours going to people that can use it. Obviously somethings no one would have a use for... and high dollar stuff of course, but stuff like a set of wrenches, beat up toolbox, filing cabinet, etc.

Yeah, even that is better than throwing it in the trash...

 

[chadster1]

There is so much waste, fraud and abuse that goes on in the military and with the civilian contractors it is not even funny. The bad part about it is that it is ingrained in the culture of these places so deep that it is considered normal and accpeted.

 

[arkangel06]

So I heard your giving them away cheap on GJ?

 

[fordbroncodave]

i hope the army knows what they put in the dump is gonna take many years to deteriorate and everyone that knows of the stuff will probably take it all and sell it

 

[Mickey O]

I'd make a wrench suit and wear it around town.

 

[mrshaun]

the drmo yard does take a while. and they have to label each piece and it does take 3-4 months and hours of paper work........
sometimes the unit will trade with the government rep old stock for new stuff just so they do not have to do the paperwork.

 

[jride200]

Another dirty little secret, billions of dollars worth of US equipment, tools and parts get sold overseas. After the WWII surplus sales depressed many retail markets, the retailers got together and paid for legislation which prohibits military equipment and tools used overseas from being returned and sold here in the US. I've seen literally millions of dollars worth shoved over the side of aircraft carriers and other ships or blown up/burned or given away rather than bring it back on already available US trucks and ships.

Interesting... I've heard the same thing, about aircraft pushed off the side of carriers, from my A&P instructor. Lots and lots of helicopters underwater off the coast of SE Asia.

 

[nate379]

I tried doing that a few years ago and no way it was happening. See I was the tool crib guy, but I had no say in the $$. I would make a purchase order and send it to the guy with the governmental purchase card. He would approve/disapprove it.

I had put in a purchase order like 7-8 months prior. I didn't know he still had it even and one day we get a ton of Snap On tools, and about 95% of them we don't need anymore, but we DID need some other things.

Talked to the Snap On rep and he was fine with trading in and paying for the difference.

The money holder would have NOTHING to do with this. No way at all... NO NO NO.

Alright then. Put in an order for the stuff we did need, and the brand new stuff maybe went home with a people.

Outright disgusted me that someone could not understand such a simple thing!


DRMO is very slow. I had pallets and pallets of 20mm cans. I'm talking the back of the building was a sea of them, probably 70-75 pallets each with 20 cans on them. Probably 4-5 years worth of cans since no one knew what to do with them. WE also had tons of other "Waste" streams like brass, aluminum, steel, etc. All of that just stacked up in crates.

I got put in charge of the DRMO program for our section and was told the boss man wanted it all gone.

DRMO was being stupid because the cans had ammo in them before and they wanted a lengthy process for us to certify that they were empty. First it was to put a surveyors ribbon across and letter in EACH can. I was about to turn in a full 40 trailer tractor worth of cans that way.

Next go around, can't do that and they want the cans stacked a special way. That would have required cutting all the banding, restacking and rebanding all the pallets

I put an ad on C List for whoever could get on base to come get them. FREE! Ran forklift out to the parking lot a few times a day with a fresh pallet. After about 2 weeks they were all gone.

Also had plenty of hookups on base after that... gave a bunch to the cops, motor pool, metals tech, etc. I pretty much went through the base phone book and called everyone to let them know.

the drmo yard does take a while. and they have to label each piece and it does take 3-4 months and hours of paper work........
sometimes the unit will trade with the government rep old stock for new stuff just so they do not have to do the paperwork.