Selling Used Equipment - requests to buy mine

[Grant]

From time to time, someone who wants to start keeping bees asks me if it is expensive to get established keeping bees.

I tell them it takes about $150 per hive to get set up, plus $50 to $75 for a package or nuc of bees. Then they also need a smoker, veil, etc.

I hardly ever mention the extractor at this point. They usually have more curiosity than commitment, better intentions than honest diligence. It makes for good conversation on why I have to "charge so much" for my honey. I also have extra catalogs from various which I give out freely.

But then they ask me, "Maybe you have some used equipment you could sell me."

Past experience has been painfully frustrating. I've sold older, used equipment that worked just fine for my bees, and I charged little of nothing, sometimes giving a few boxes away free. Some of this older, dusty, weathered equipment needed a good cleaning (mice and moths) and fresh paint. All of my used frames needed new foundation, some of which I provided for free. But all I hear is complaints, usually third hand, on how I sold them some crappy equipment (never mentioning the low price).

I'm also expanding each year to the point where I don't have a lot of extra equipment for sale at any price, and any used equipment I give away has to be replaced with new (or with more used if I find them at sales/auctions).

So I've decided to just be polite and decline. But I feel bad because there are people who would like to start keeping bees but feel they cannot afford to buy new.

How do the rest of you handle these requests?

Grant
Jackson, MO

[geoffkb]

I bought used equipment when I started and with hindsight it was a bad idea, although it did get me into beekeeping.

I think to cope with secondhand equipment you need some experience to know what's required to make it serviceable. I've recently re-started beekeeping with almost no equipment and so have to buy new, but at least I now know what I need. I also know what I don't need.

What I did buy was a small DeWalt table saw and have made boxes from used lumber. I got several book shelf units left over from a garage sale which were great to recycle. It means if I get a swarm call, or need a super I can make one quite quickly at little or no cost. If you're not a little handy you probably shouldn't be keeping bees.

Someone recently asked me how much I'd charge to remove a colony from a woodpile and put it in a hive so they could keep them. I told him $400, (thinking, 'do I really want to do this?') $150 for the hive and $250 for my time and ongoing support. He said "someone told me a hive costs $30", I said "Great get them to do it!"

[shawnwri]

I haven't had to do this yet, but was asked about next year and said I could probably set them up with a cardboard nuc. Save them the price of the bees and is a good judge of how interested they really are. If people have money invested they are usally more committed. There are always exceptions and you can tell who really has an interest, but doesn't have two nickles to rub together. They are the ones that are checking all the books on beekeeping out of the library and asking to come watch. I would do what I could for them.

[stangardener]

i enthusiasticly mention that i started with top bar hives. i tell them they're a great way to start but you can't buy them, you build them yourself and they should research them and then maybe i could help them with bees.
no ones got back to me:)

[Grant]

Thanks for the insight so far.

I've done well with used equipment, but then I've known what to look for and what to avoid. I usually end up with the proposition to "buy the whole lot" from older, retired beekeepers who shoved the whole mess in the chicken coop long after the bees (and the chickens) were history.

I'm also good with a table saw and basic carpentry. I also understand the bees can take a hollow tree and make it home. And as many of my hives have mouse-gnawed edges that let in a little fresh air, the bees seem to be at home.

Grant
Jackson, MO

[Chef Isaac]

Geof said "If you're not a little handy you probably shouldn't be keeping bees"

I very much resint that statement. It is like saying "if you cant cook... dont ask to learn".

[tecumseh]

sounds like classical buyer regret to me...

with a bit of experience most beekeeper can make use equipment work, but it is frustrating for the beginner. so most newbees think they can acquire pristine equipment at a used or give away price.

[RonS]

Chef,

I am not handy with power tools or carpentry at all, and I keep bees; but then I do it as a hobby and can afford to buy new equipment. Many on this site cannot afford to buy new stuff. Goeff is probably right if you fall into the latter category. You may not need to know how to do dovetail or mitre joints, but you at least need to know how to do minor repairs and handle wood putty. If you're in it for a business, you'd best know how to repair your equipment. Learned that from my father-in-law, a farmer in southern Michigan, who knew how to keep everything on his farm running in servicable condition. I was amazed, being a city boy. He was amazed with me, too, but not in a favorable way.

Ron

[Bee Draggle]

The fact of the matter is that it costs money to get into beekeeping and there’s no point in trying to sugar coat it for people who are thinking of getting into it. It’s like any other hobby or business…..you either have the money to get into it or you don’t. Another fact that perspective beekeepers are rarely told is that you will most often spend more money than you will ever make….especially for the hobbyist. You have to love beekeeping for the sake of beekeeping and any money you make is just icing on the cake.

When someone indicates to me that their only interest in getting into beekeeping is solely to make honey and/or money, I know that in a year or two I may a good chance at picking up some nice equipment cheap. :-)

[ScadsOBees]

It is nice to help people out, but I just am honest about it. Advice is free, so I give out lots of that. Equipment isn't so I just say I don't have any extra (which I don't).

I am somewhat handy so I made most of it, boxes, frames, tops, bottoms. Some of it isn't the highest quality, so I feel a bit funny selling it.

I still have the crappy equipment that my mentor sold me, but it got me started, I am still using it, and I can replace it whenever I want.

Do what works for you. Don't worry about somebody who wants stuff on the cheap.

Rick