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Reasonable price for a Peter Wright


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maybe $200  edge damage is a bit more than expected; I'd certainly want to test the rebound on it

That size and location it may have been used for shoeing and even cold shoeing .(which counts as abuse).  I've seen extra edge damage on anvils used for a lot of shoeing

 

The "good price" in the ad means it's a good price for the seller!

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Last year I bought  a 272 lb Peter Wright with similar edge damage for $300. The seller wanted $450

For what the time was to fix it I thought that was a fair price. Peter Wrights Are a good anvil and the one in the ad seemed to have completely fixable damage.

I did think the price was high for the size and damage shown.

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The edges are mushroomed over, says abuse like Thomas describes. The add also says it has a "mouse hole", the seller hasn't a clue what "good" is as far as an anvil goes. Mousehole was a maker, not an anvil feature. This seller doesn't know a hardy hole from a brand name. Think you can use THAT to your advantage?

 

I'd use it all as bargaining chips and put my wallet back in my pocket if s/he wanted to stand on more than $200. Seeing $200 in cash walking out speaks darned loud, especially if you've pointed out all the damage and silly "features" the seller thinks are valuable. It's just OLD, not an antique. Damaged old is NOT a valuable feature. Get your head around OLD, not valuable antique and it's just an old damaged tool, not a must have. NEVER let the seller know you really want a thing unless you have more money to spend than necessary.

 

Geeze I LOVE to dicker, I just won't waste my time over a couple bucks. Dad would bargain for days over a couple dollars on a thousand dollar deal, drove me nuts. He thought I was some kind of magician, I walked out on a 62 Vette when the guy wouldn't budge off his $2,500 asking price, put my 15, $100 bills in my pocket and drove away. My sister took the message with the $1,100 counter so Mother and I drove back and bought my 62 Vette for $1,000, cost him another C note for wasting my time. Dad was still dickering over $50.00 on his 58 vette and ended up spending $2,850 when it was over.

 

You have to be ready to walk away and not be coy about it. Some sellers will let you so you may have to make the hard decision on their terms. NOTHING always works.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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Back in Ohio when folks at the fleamarket kept harping that something was *old* and so worth a lot I would bend over and pick up a rock with a fossil in it and tell them that it was a *Million* *TIMES* older than their item; but I was willing to trade it even for their item.

 

Or to the "But it's an antique!"  "Yes Yes I already took off it's age from the price as I'm buying tools to use not collect"

 

Not being in a hurry to get stuff really helped and after a while certain dealers would actively hunt stuff for me as they knew that if the price was decent I would not try to haggle them down and I always paid cash.  (My basic method would be to look at an item and decide what I would be willing to pay for it.  Then ask the price.  If the asking price was below my set point I'd buy it.  If it was above my set point I would offer my set point as the most I would pay.  (and had many conversations about what "the most I would pay" meant.)  In a good fleamarket the time speant in a long haggle could be better spent finding another item.  If it was something I really liked I would sometimes stop by on my way to the truck to see if they re-considered as sometimes when they start thinking of loading up and having to deal with the stuff till the next fleamarket it became cheaper---my best fleamarket was a drive in movie theater that was still active!  So they had to load and unload every time---drove the prices way down!

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Unfortunately what I've seen here in Central Texas is it's a sellers market and blacksmith related things on CL typically sell fast here even when they're overpriced.  I'll be curious as to how long this one lasts. 

 

Something to consider doing is looking out of state in other areas on craigslist where you maybe have relatives or friends who would be willing to check it out for you and somehow transport it.  I lucked out because when a friend was moving his family down from Pittsburgh he offered to bring down an anvil for me if I found one.  I ended up getting a 200 lb PW for $300, it was listed for $250 but I offered him a little extra if he held it until my friend could bring it down.  Just for kicks search the Pittsburgh CL right now for anvil and you'll see what I mean.  There's a beautiful 300# that looks practically mint for $500.

 

Have you joined your local ABANA group?  And while searching for your ideal anvil have you found a suitable chunk of steel that likely would work just as well?

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Greetings Marcus,

 

I think what the boys are trying to tell you is that PW is wooped..  Keep looking and find a better anvil..  Always consider resale..   Patience will yield a good anvil for you...  Keep 350 dollars In your wallet and be ready when your time comes ..  Until look at pictures on this thread of anvils that are in good condition..   Just my 2c

 

Forge on and make beautiful things

Jim

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Dan,

 

I'm from Ohio originally and have family scattered all over the state keeping an eye out for me so hopefully they can get a hold of something because I agree completely that the market down here is very dry.  Currently I would for a valve automation business and managed to get ahold of a 1.5" thick piece of stainless that's weighs about 100lbs for free that I use now that works ok.

 

Jim,

 

I lowballed them pretty good and theres no way I would pay any more than the $200 mentioned above.

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Give some thought to going back to Ohio in late September for Quad-State Blacksmiths Round Up.  I know a New Mexico fellow who went to his first Q-S and came home with 30 anvils---had to go and buy a trailer to haul them home.  There were several times that left too.

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