why dont dies hold value?

[farmbif]

I tend to watch new and used pr ices for stuff and have always been baffled as to why reloading dies dont hold their value as well as other reloading gear.
back in the day I might have started will cheap lee dies then graduated into very expensive Redding dies and everything in between. ive never worn a die out but have buggered some up by not being as careful as I should have. mostly jamming up resizing dies by trying accidentally having a piece of berdan primed brass in the pile .
but I still cant figure why quality dies dont resell at nearly what they cost new. iv e bought used perfectly good die sets at gun shows and other places for low as $10 a set for dies that would easily cost $60 to $80 new.

[racepres]

Lee dies seem to!!!
We should believe that to be Quality, they Must be OverPriced???
FWIW most of my die sets are RCBS... Probably because I got em used...as I am Not one to Believe that Shiney new is somehow Better!!! Course... My Favorite Motorcycle is a 1984!!!!!

[MUSTANG]

Depends on ones timeline. All of my dies could be sold for what I paid for them or more. Of course many have been held fr 30 years.

[jaguarxk120]

With used dies there is no history of use. It is very hard to see
what the inside condition is.
I have bought used dies that left score marks on my brass.
then having to polish the inside with polishing compound to clean it up.
You pay your money and you take chances!

[Rockindaddy]

Farmbif: Dies wear out! Have an old Dillon RL 1000 that I have loaded over 15,000 rds of 30-06 The sizer die was showing some wear. I cut about .012 off the face of the die to basically small base the sized case as the headspace on Browning guns is adjustable. After a few thousand more loadings the old Lyman sizer was worn out. This is not the norm as I just threw that sizer into my junk die box. Could have taken the set to the gun show and sold the set for $15. Had another set of good unused dies. Easier to just install another sizer die. Will probably run out of components before I wear out this new 06 sizer die in the old Dillon. I have noticed used dies that get offered for sale. Often they are put away and stored without any preservative. Rusty dies do not bring any money. Usually its the outside of the dies. I look at the insides. I probably have 40 different sets of dies and try to take care of them. I buy gunshow dies when they are offered reasonable. Never know! Ya might have to take up loading that caliber.

[country gent]

The chance of a scratched or damaged die scares most people. Also with most of the popular calibers there are so many sets out there it drives prices down do to the numbers of them available. A set for an obsolete caliber or discontinued set bring more respectable prices.

[TNsailorman]

One of the reasons is that there are literally millions of dies out there that were produccced in the past. Another reason is that you rarely get to see the quality of the dies (condition?) until you have paid for them and have them in hand. I recently bought a set of RCBS 30-06 dies that were described as "excellent" and looked it when I got them. But, the sizing die was rough ( actually almost trying to stick the case in the die ) about 2/3rds of the way down the die. No problem. I put some red rouge from a Dremel kit on a piece of old t shirt. Put that onto a 3/8" piece of dowel and chucked the dowel into a hand drill. ran the die into and out of the die a few times and I now have a perfectly smooth sizinf die again. worked for me, james

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Rusty dies, dies with plier marks, dies with scratched interiors just aren't going to be worth what they were new and unused, any more than a used car. I've bought dies on this forum that were like new, but others that were rode hard and put away wet. Like all things, condition, condition...


DG

[Winger Ed.]

I've sold a few here on S&S that I knew were low mileage, and got a fair price.
About 75% of what they'd cost new, and like everything else I've sold here-
I told the buyer if it wasn't what they wanted---send it back for a full refund.
So far, nobody has.

But to just buy dies at a gun show or something, I wouldn't pay anything close to what they cost new.
You don't know if its scratched or the expander ball is worn out.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Thank God for low priced used reloading dies.
I think the Forster BR Seater die is a super great design, especially for cast boolits.
.
I have bought several Bonanza BR seater dies (the grandfather of the Forster BR Seater die) for $10 to $20.
Anyone price a New Forster BR dies? ($75 for just the seater die, $120 for the 2 die set)

[Kestrel4k]

I have found that used dies hold their value very well indeed. :-/
The fact that manufacturers continue to make common die sets while used sets are everywhere to be found;
because they typically don't wear out, the used market would be fully saturated by now.

With regards to a scored Lyman 223Rem die set from my fathers' estate; I tried it out & promptly got a stuck case.
I mailed it back to Lyman; they removed the case & polished up the die interior - no charge.
Performs as-new now - thx Lyman.

[Land Owner]

So many people. So many answers.

Trust is fleeting when the Market allows bad faith to take advantage. You're OK / I'm OK works until bad faith says you are not OK.

You sell a bad die, a worn out die, a rusty die, a scratched die, a "rehabilitated" die - without disclosure knowing it's bad - you deserve to be ostracized. That die should be THROWN OUT. "Rehabilitated" - what's that? "Merchantability" is a legal term meaning "fit for the purpose".

Your die is worth what you ask. As that value approaches NEW, and you are not it's maker, you don't guarantee the product, so you won't get top value. USED is synonymous with "merchantable". NEVER deal in bad faith. There are already too many mentally challenged Flea Marketers who could care less about you or me.

I have purchased estates with boogered and broken dies, which have been replaced with new by their Mfgs. So buy low when you can. The Mfgs still stand behind their products.

[Outer Rondacker]

I come across more dies that are brand new and only used a few times. In my area we get old or brand new for sale at the shows. I find the dealers are out of touch with pricing. Then I find dealers who have 150 sets of junk for 5 dollars a set. I have bought some of these. You ask why well I will tell you why. Swaging for poor folks. I make my own from time to time out of spent spanked brass.

I do not come across cheap dies that are worth a spit in my area. I am forced to buy new or from the forum where lets face it if you add shipping its the same price as new but helps a fellow forum member. I have been burnt and I have even made out better then I expected. All part of the game.

In this day and age with sales and specials with free shipping you can get some really good prices on quality dies. I recently picked up a brand new special four die set for 300BLK for under 20 bucks at a online purchase. I had to pay tax but no shipping. How do you expect to resell that for anything more than 10 bucks or even five and put shipping to it. Just contributing to the conversation. Not looking to upset anyone.

[super6]

I have a one gallon bag full of hollywood dies, Used but work as if new. I really do not know what they sold for new but I would bet I could get more for them now than when they where new!

[Martin Luber]

Some folks just can’t stand to throw something out. I picked up a parts estate where most of it was HIS fathers junk, brass, ball, dies, scrap…all carefully labeled and weighed.

These folks are out there…

[mdi]

I have purchased excellent (NIB condition) dies at close to retail. I have also purchased used dies sight unseen, from ebay, good price but huge mistake, I bought two RCBS die sets (different time, different vendor. I guess I don't learn). Both look like they had been used by Fred Flintstone and Bubba's inbred second cousin. The first had all the allen set screw sockets rounded off. The lock rings had been tightened so tight the 7/8-14 threads were distorted enough removing lock rings nearly impossible. It looked as if a pipe wrench had been used with a 36" extension. Having the knowledge and tools to repair all the threads, and I accepted the challenge and returned the die set to useable condition. The second set also had rounded set screws, plier marks on die bodies and a 25 year accumulation of dirt, grease, carbon, primer residue and a bit of rust. Soaked in my "bench solution" for two to three weeks and wire brushed then tumbled and replaces set screws and lock rings and was able to use the dies.

I won't buy used reloading dies, unless I can see them in my hand and pay an excellent, low price. Really!

[Sig]

During covid you could used dies for twice what they were new. I saw nothing special 9mm dies going for $200.00

[barnabus]

Lee dies seem to!!!
We should believe that to be Quality, they Must be OverPriced???
FWIW most of my die sets are RCBS... Probably because I got em used...as I am Not one to Believe that Shiney new is somehow Better!!! Course... My Favorite Motorcycle is a 1984!!!!!

the reason lees hold their value is because they aint worth a whole lot when new.

[elmacgyver0]

I generally give my stuff away that I have no use for anymore.
It seems every time I try to sell something I get jewed down, well not every time, but
I am usually much happier when I just give it away.

Case in point:
A friend of mine called and asked if I had metal lathe I wanted to sell.
I said, why? are you wanting to get into metal working?
He said no, but I have a friend looking for one.
I got back to him a couple weeks later after thinking about it.
I said, I have an old Craftsman/Atlas I could let go, but I need to get $400 out of it.
I only paid $100 for it, but built a bench with leveling feet for it and replaced the old 1/6hp motor with a 1/2hp DC motor with speed control to make it possible to easily thread with it.
The friend looked it over and offered $300, I said ok even though I have more in it than that.
It has been more than three weeks and have not heard back.
This lathe has all the change gears and 4 jaw chuck and 3 jaw and some other tooling.
The cheapest little China lathe goes for a lot more than that.
I just don't know anymore; I would have been ecstatic for a deal like that when I first wanted a lathe.

[zymguy]

Because they are dangerous! Well , at least for a guys budget.
If I find , let's say 6.5 Grendel dies and hypothetically half price of used I'm in a precarious position! Now I need brass , sometimes a gun or at least an upper or barell . In this example I'll need small rifle primers . Used gunparts are similarly dangerous, but I'll save the story of when I got a good deal on a recoil pad for another thread

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