Even $500 could be high. Some of those sets could be cheap '60's Japanese knockoffs. and of course many drum manufacturers have lower level lines. Unless he gave you an inventory I would be skeptical. The WMP bass drum with the Sonorish looking lugs appears to only use 6 per side, for example. Its a mishmash of stuff. You have no idea of the quality of the shells and lugs or whether that pile of hardware has anything really usable. There was zero care taken to store/preserve any of it. While there could be a vintage A, K or Paiste 602, or some other treasure in that dump it may not be worth all the effort based on a whim. Of course I can't say for sure. Its just a guess. But after perusing the enlarged photo I didn't see anything really exciting. If there was one obvious gem in the photo then the whole effort might be worth it. As it stands, is there a single thing you see there that makes you salivate?

Why can't you just ask the guy to tell you all he specifics about what he has? Nonchalantly

I agree with boslover, dont see anything too exciting and renting a van, gas a and time to boot dont seem worth it. Could you pick out some stuff in that pic that could be valuable and have the guy send you better pics of those items?

If there was ONE complete American set in that pile the $500 offer would be OK. Even a few American snares. I see a lot of MIJ/MIT which nowadays would probably move,too. It's a better bet than scratch tickets.

Only thing I really saw that made me a little excited was what looks like a Slingerland Tom & Bass. They are the blue drums, kinda dead center. Looks a lot like a chocolate milk interior on the tom. Yea $500 was gonna be my high for this unknown where I still felt comfortable. But after hearing some of your thoughts I may send out the feelers at $200 along with reasons for that offer ( travel time,van rental,etc.. ) and see what he says. Worse case the pile sits a little longer.

As you said, "looks like a Slingerland Tom & Bass.". It may or may not be. And stuck in the middle of a pile of junk, I would wonder about their condition even if they are the real deal. Perhaps the seller can send you a few more photos from different points of view with some closeups. Its not a lot of effort and no cost to him except for a little time. But if he wants to get rid of everything ...

Frankly, if it were me, I would pass. I don't see anything exciting, the general condition of everything may be poor. The drums he has may be mostly MIJ, the hardware may be entry level stuff, Its basically a drum graveyard unless he can provide pictures and an inventory that adds more clarity. Additionally, I assume he's expecting you to take it all. Even if there is something of value there, its going to be your job to hall the rest of the crap away and dispose of it.

I think I see at least one Ludwig tom (silver sparkle drum) and possibly another Ludwig concert tom (either SS or champagne). so there could be some gems lurking in there. I agree that most of it looks like crappy MIJ stuff. I wonder about that green satin flame set. Probably NOT Gretsch but it would eat at me until I knew for sure.

I like an adventure so if it were reasonably close to me and I could get it for a reasonable price I'd at least consider it. Just one particular snare or cymbal might be worth the $500 if you got lucky...then again it might just all be a big pile o' crap.

The green satin flames look a lot like a mij Kent set i have. Not gretsch. And the blue sparkle tom bracket doesnt look like slingerland.

Yes, I saw the silver sparkle tom. I think that may be the matching bass drum just to the left of the card board box. The two rods you can see on the BD are very close together so it could be a ten lug model. Just to the right of the metal snare I see the edge of what might be the matching floor tom. If they are indeed Ludwig I suppose the three drums could be part of a '60's-70's Super Classic set, which would be a nice find and make the trip worthwhile. However, when I view the image at 300%, the lugs on the small tom, which at that resolution are admittedly blurry, didn't look quite right. I think the whole situation is something of a crap shoot. Its up to ARCHxANGEL if he's willing to accept the possibility that after investing his time and money he may come up short. I'm not sure why the seller wouldn't be willing to give him some additional feedback on some of the items in the picture. If that is a Super Classic set buried in there, it certainly would be worth the effort. The hard cases in the back may also be in good shape. and maybe there are additional drums in them. There also looks like there are at least 3 BD pedals.