I am of the other sort who buy to sell to buy more. So, yes, I do this as a business only 2nd to the primary reason of doing it for the love of doing it, cleaning up, finding original parts, & (hopefully) getting it as close to top, original condition as possible w/out effing w/ anything. Hence, I expect top dollar for the immense time & expense in doing so. For this reason I'd never offer a set on the forum since I'm sure I'd be blistered by doing so, tarred & feathered, etc etc.

W/ irritates me most @ any deal is when a seller contacts me, & I ask the usual list of questions (condition, etc), to arrive to a bed of fabrications. Equally annoying is the bs listings online - ebay & elsewhere - some discover & expect me to pay ridiculous $ after I explain I do this as a business & that I will not meet or exceed any ebay closed listing they have. Period. Just had an a$$whole do this after telling him a 100 ways that I would NOT pay more than any ebay listing. Of course, idiot found a way over$'d listing (not ebay) & expected me to swallow that. I about killed him - & I am not the violent type; it takes a lot for me to even bring something like this up, which I did, & he looked like he was going to cry. There's one Mpls cat on this site who was hands down the scariest dude I have ever dealt with. I see him pop up now & then & he was equally the shadiest prick I hope to never meet again. I feel sorry for the folks who have unknowingly bought his junk.

Back to the 1st PP. I do have an ebay acct & by FAR the most obscene ?'s I get are from drummers making insulting offers. This is a giant reason I would not give deals to people on this forum I DO NOT KNOW. If I knew people well enough here (I do a few, somewhat) I would not hesitate making a deal. Incidentally, part of the $ of dealing with me is you will GET PRECISELY WHAT YOU'RE EXPECTING TO GET W/ ZERO GAMES. None. You will also receive them in extremely fine packaging, unmolested because I only ship FedEx. & Even though you might be paying top dollar you will be so ecstatic that you didn't get screwed by some hack charlatan who thinks he knows what he's doing.

I'm sure I've started another maelstrom - Chris

Exactly my feelings, although I will buy drums if the proper parts are readily available, like bottom rims and a front hoop for my blackrome Slingerlands. When I buy a full kit, I have to take into consideration the $250 or so it will take to have them professionally detailed.

Price/distance to travel... which combined increases price.

Too much needed for restoration/condition. I feel these also are hand in hand.

When it comes to a set, I am leaning more in the direction of minimal restoration effort, and the upper range for condition. I weigh price based on those issues.

For snare drums, condition is paramount. Stupid crazy prices are just outside my circle of reality.

Well, I guess it's bare my soul time... I do a bit of both. I flip some and keep some. What I do came about fixing up a kid set for my grandson. I found a cheap kit that needed a bit of work on C/L, picked it up for thirty or forty bucks, cleaned it, fixed it, added bits and pieces like stands and cheap cymbals... you know, made it playable. It was red or wine red or something. Then he was with me one day and saw this black kit and said he liked black. Okay, he had no idea I was going to give him a kit (neither did my daughter and her husband, but that's another story :) ) So I grabbed a black one off C/L and did the same thing, and gave it to him. So now I had two cheap kits, so I sold one. After all was said and done, I made a bit less than fifty bucks. Well heck (I said to myself). That was kinda fun! So I did it again, and again and again... blah blah.

Here's my formula. Buy 'em right, clean 'em, make 'em sound decent (not much you can do about that) add enough bits and pieces that the folks or kid can take 'em home, set 'em up and play 'em without having to spend any more on 'em. Their parents love me. I sell the kits anywhere from about a hundred twenty to two hundred, depending on the drums. That's it... I've sold a bit over a hundred kits in the last four years, and put a couple bucks in my pocket while making some kids happy as a clams, and ruining their hearing.

Every so often, I run into 'real' drums. I mostly restore them with the intent on selling them, and do on occasion. But mostly I end up keeping 'em and playing them. Yeah, I got it bad.

Anyhoo, that's my story and I'm sticking too it.

----------------------------------------------

Shoes for industry! Shoes for the dead!

(see, I can do it too!)

So far the poll has revealed what I thought to be true..........

Majority of us guys are cheap bastards............LOL!!

The f.arthest I've traveled for drums is about 70-80 miles. I have made those "You're the first reply to my ad, drive like an idiot to get there" treks a few times. Both times, very well worth it.

I'd drive a distance for the good deal if I knew it was worth the time. Conditions is secondary, but most of my restorations have been nothing but cleaning and a few spots of glue, but I'd be willing to get a beat up kit if I knew it would be something I'd be proud of to own or a rare bird.

So far the most I've spent on a kit, complete, is $1150.00 and one cymbal in that kit is worth the price I paid or close to it. I paid for that cymbal, but got a nice kit and some cool hardware as a bonus.

Least paid was...............well let's leave that for another time.

Keep up your responses, they're great!!

I voted condition. It mostly has to do with expectations being met (or not) when I enter into a deal/transaction.

I won't even check out a drum if the price is too high or the distance to travel is too far. Also, if I'm expecting to check out a fixer-upper, I'm have the worst case scenario in mind when meeting with the seller. If the condition is "significantly not as described" when I arrive, THAT is the deal-breaker for me.

I am generally looking for moderate fixer-uppers. I really enjoy the cleaning process and even doing the occasional re-wrap to bring something back from the brink. Major wood repairs are a bit beyond my pay grade.

So for me it is generally price as I am looking for that cheaply priced item that needs some love to be brought back to usefulness. Distance is an issue as well. Of course, I would also agree that attitude plays a huge role. I don't like dealing with attitude. I don't mind capitalism. If somone is in this to make money that is fine with me as we all have to eat. The worker is worth his wage and just because this is a hobby to many of us, that doesn't mean it has to be for everyone. Just leave the attitude somewhere else as it is not professional.

Let me add this, my wife and I have had some really nice "drum road trips" to DesMoins, Chicago and Peoria, all within 180 miles. She likes wine so we try to find a winery along the way. We have lunch or dinner somewhere where we have never been, not always good but its an adventure. My point is she likes to go on these trips and so do I and its good quality time together. so I cant vote for distance so I guess price is a big factor, and Im not a cheep bastard, I will spend good money for good quality.

Jeff C

I have traveled long distances to buy drums one trip was almost 10 hours drive time,I have restored hundreds of drums, I buy and sell them as extra income, so all the above can and do come into play for me. I have a guy trying to sell me a real restro job now. Think i'm gonna pass, I've gotten to where I'm tired of performing professional restro jobs only to break even, Now I mostly buy only complete original drums, kits etc. a little restro is ok but I'm fairly done with the big restros. I have worked hard to have a great ebay DSR and on this and other forums. I only treat you as I would want to be treated.

Great thread. I really had to think hard to choose one. I've turned down kits for all of the above reasons at one time or another. Sometimes the feeling just isn't right and it just doesn't happen. I've paid a good buck for things I reeeeally like, driven silly distances (some would say), done the insane resoration (back from the dead style), and I've also taken in half complete drums (or half complete... depends on how you look at it. It's hard to explain, when it's right, it's right. When it's not, it's not.