So I have a habit of doing a search for "anvil" and "blacksmith" on Craigslist and yesterday I got a real hit.  The poster was asking for the barter of yard statuary for a 149 pound Hay Budden, a hardy tool and a hardy stake anvil (tin smith's I think).  I put out every feeler I could to find a gargoyle statue but couldn't find one so I emailed and asked if they would take cash.  Got a response that they would take cash but weren't sure what they could get for the anvil.  I had a huge moral dilemma.  The anvil is in amazing condition and it felt wrong to lowball so I offered $350 for the whole package tonight and I'm waiting for a reply now.  I think my offer is more than fair.  Debate...

If you get that anvil for $350 its a heck of a deal! I would assume that it would go for AT LEAST $450 given the prices we're seeing out west.

Best of luck I hope you score.

Lou L, collector of anvils with clean, sharp edges.

That Hay Budden blows away my Isaac Hill.  It seems like it has never been used!  I'm hoping for a reply today.  My wife is allowing it as a Christmas present...

13 minutes ago, Lou L said:

My wife is allowing it as a Christmas present...

Give that woman a Russian rose!

That's a beauty Lou. Yeah that would be a great price for one so clean. 

Note that the tin smith stake is not designed for use in a hardy hole but rather in a stake plate.  Hammering wedges into a hole tends to have an effect you DON'T want in an anvil!

3 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Note that the tin smith stake is not designed for use in a hardy hole but rather in a stake plate.  Hammering wedges into a hole tends to have an effect you DON'T want in an anvil!

On the other hand, if you had a couple of these, you could put them up in the rafters of your shop. That way, the stakes would be high.

Tinner's stakes of Damocles 

That is indeed a nice anvil. Worth $350 and a tad more. Best of luck with that deal. Moral dilemma? I give you a moral dilemma, it is probably worth twice as much ... ha ha

 

So nice!!! It's perfect! Where I live, a Hay Budden in that condition would easily sell for twice that.

but they were ready to trade for garden statiuary. seems to me you can get a pretty good statue for about the same amount. so i wouldnt  worry to much on the moral dilemma. after all, all they can say is yes or no.

I was thinking the same.  If they were willing to trade yard art for the anvil then they won't be particularly picky and would maybe do a counter offer.  But today the person took down the post on Craigslist and hasn't responded to me.  I'm thinking someone else offered more.  Hope I didn't just share it here and lose my chance to someone else on IFI.  Do we have a moral code for anvil purchasing  

Well as a friend once said---"if you have scruples, then someone is missing theirs!"

I don't track stuff down mentioned here but I am pretty well anviled up...

Clearly if you are willing to buy, then you must buy and then tell.

Buy and tell ... or buy and don't tell ... but don't buy and tell? seems that one is counterproductive

13 hours ago, Lou L said:

Do we have a moral code for anvil purchasing  

If the cynic's Golden Rule is "Whoever has the gold makes the rules", then the cynic's Iron Law must be "Whoever has the iron makes the laws"!

hmm. i guess that would make me a cynic.

1 hour ago, Tubalcain2 said:

hmm. i guess that would make me a cynic.

“Cynic, n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.” ― Ambrose Bierce, The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary

yup, that sounds like me.

Well, the day I made my offer the person took own the ad on Craigslist and stopped responding to me...not even to say no thanks.  I sent an email requesting a counter offer but all'S quiet.  It doesn't look too good and I'm bummed.  It's sad how the internet is leading to the dissolution of basic social skills.

That's too bad but as I said in the beginning of this thread $350 would be a heck of a deal. Unfortunately excellent anvils come along very rarely and tho folks on here will tell you to hold out for a better deal, they may come along, but almost never with an anvil in that condition. If you see one that calls to you just go for it. if you make money using it then it will be cheap in the long run.

Best of luck in the future.

Why I tell folks that they need the money to hand as a good anvil at a great price advertised in a public venue has a halflife of hours and many folks won't honour a prior offer if a better one comes in before you can get there.

You may have killed the deal by offering what you did. They may have thought it wasn't worth anything near that price, and you piqued their curiosity. The other thing that I do is make the offer in person with the ca$h in hand,  not over the phone.

Personally I start with my standard offer of $1 a pound. Sometimes they take it, sometimes they don't and I walk because that is what I pay. It isn't like I NEED another anvil, but if I can get one in my price range I get it. I use some as loaners for others who are getting started. I am not going to participate in the driving up of prices due to the current craze. 

Anvils listed on CraigsList are open for sale to the world.  There are people who use programs that alert them to certain key phrases in every listing in this country.  And from the wording on the ad, it might have just been someone fishing to see what their items were worth?  There is no public accounting as to whether this was actually sold or not.

Yeah, things are pretty fishy when it comes to anvils on Craigslist, especially these days.  I have run into all kinds of weird situations and should probably know better.  One ad I responded to was quite a ways away, but I was driving down south and figured I would get it when I was there.  A lady answered the phone and said that the anvil was already gone, but she was curious if I was a real blacksmith.  She asked all kinds of questions like how did it start, do you get burned, is it lucrative, etc., etc.  Eventually, about half an hour into the conversation, she told me that she had something to admit.  She just put up the ad in hopes that she would get some calls from blacksmiths who were interesting to talk to.  She said that she wasn't disappointed, and the calls just kept pouring in.  The ad stayed up for some time.  Guess I should have known better.  This is the second time this sort of thing happened to me.  And, I don't like just sitting around chatting on the phone; there are a lot of more pressing things to do.