Recently acquired Whelen police/emergency lightbars

[dontbreakthebank25]

Recently acquired a storage unit filled with dozens of light bars, Whelen label visible on one and others matching. My partner and I sell on eBay, which these obviously can’t be sold on. So here we are! If this isn’t the right section of the forum, I’d be happy to move it, as these technically aren’t “for sale” yet. We’ll be emptying out the unit tomorrow and wanted to get a head start.

We only have one picture of a stack of lightbars currently, but will of course post more pictures after going through everything and testing them.

We’re basically just looking for a little guidance on what a general selling price for these are (that are visible), which members here would be interested (I’m sure there’s other lighting parts in there as well), and pretty much the process for selling here. I’ve read through the rules and guidelines but just wanted to see if there was more needed for “verification” as we’re new here. As I mentioned previously, I’ve sold on eBay for a number of years, with over 12,000 items sold, so if a piece of paper with my eBay name and date written on it to include in pictures is sufficient, I can certainly do that.

But like I said, basically just looking for guidance from what you guys can see in just that one picture. And we’ll be posting a ton more pictures tomorrow! Thanks in advance!

Sean

 

[ur20v]

Wow, that's my kind of storage unit! I might be in for one to add to the collection, as I think they're Whelen Edge LFL bars.

You might have shipping costs working against you, since once they're packed up they're over the 48 inch "measurement of doom" all carriers have started hammering shippers on. The next issue you have is lens color... you may be able to make some all red and all blue and a couple amber bars with what you have, but the market for red bars and blue bars is pretty limited, and buying all amber lenses is a very expensive proposition in itself. The collector market for a bar this modern is really narrow as well. So you may be figuring out why these were stashed in storage to begin with!

As far as what they're worth, I only know what I as a seller would try to sell them for, especially with as many as you wound up with. Even at bargain prices, you might have a small initial rush and still wind up with a couple of piles of surplus lightbars taking up space! Ask me how I know...

But good luck, and I look forward to finding out what you come up with, and maybe I'll buy one.

 

[dontbreakthebank25]

Wow, that's my kind of storage unit! I might be in for one to add to the collection, as I think they're Whelen Edge LFL bars.

You might have shipping costs working against you, since once they're packed up they're over the 48 inch "measurement of doom" all carriers have started hammering shippers on. The next issue you have is lens color... you may be able to make some all red and all blue and a couple amber bars with what you have, but the market for red bars and blue bars is pretty limited, and buying all amber lenses is a very expensive proposition in itself. The collector market for a bar this modern is really narrow as well. So you may be figuring out why these were stashed in storage to begin with!

As far as what they're worth, I only know what I as a seller would try to sell them for, especially with as many as you wound up with. Even at bargain prices, you might have a small initial rush and still wind up with a couple of piles of surplus lightbars taking up space! Ask me how I know...

But good luck, and I look forward to finding out what you come up with, and maybe I'll buy one.

Thanks so much for your reply! Although, I’m not too worried about shipping costs or packaging them, we’re in Connecticut so our furthest zone is California at a rate of $45 for one of the bars. Not terrible. And if all red/all blue are more preferable, I would certainly mess around with swapping out lenses if it’s easy enough to do. But it’s a 10x20 unit that’s packed, so I’m excited to find out what else is in there besides just the lightbars. Will post more pictures and a list of inventory when we get to it!

 

[ur20v]

Well, if you happen to come across any Whelen or Austin (a division of Whelen) "Advantedge" model lightbars, I'm calling dibs now!

I really hope you find lots of goodies in there. I've been on a spending spree lately expanding my collection!

 

[EHFD_Tower_751]

My kind of storage unit

 

[Sparky_911]

Welcome to the site. That's a great find if you can unload them. If you ship in bulk or quantity and get discounts, that $45 per bar for shipping to CA sounds very low. It's been my experience that shipping from IL to CA is closer to $100 from various carriers (FedEx/ups/freight, post office won't even touch em for under 200).

As far as pricing...it varies. LED bars bring a bit more vs strobe or halogen bars. Showroom quality antique bars bring even more.

From your photo it looks like you've got a lot of whelen patriot or liberty bars. If they are serviceable then a rough average would be $50-$200 depending on how much work would be needed to get them up and running.

 

[Pete L.]

Come on, Guys & Gals. You have to admit that your heart would have skipped a beat or two when
the door went up at that storage unit auction. I would have spent crazy money on that one.
I'm betting there are some goodies buried in there

This was one of mine:

 

[Mattdecker]

Welcome to the site. That's a great find if you can unload them. If you ship in bulk or quantity and get discounts, that $45 per bar for shipping to CA sounds very low. It's been my experience that shipping from IL to CA is closer to $100 from various carriers (FedEx/ups/freight, post office won't even touch em for under 200).

As far as pricing...it varies. LED bars bring a bit more vs strobe or halogen bars. Showroom quality antique bars bring even more.

From your photo it looks like you've got a lot of whelen patriot or liberty bars. If they are serviceable then a rough average would be $50-$200 depending on how much work would be needed to get them up and running.

Idk. I guess it depends on who you go through. When I bought my Legacy from Justin Duke, shipping from Texas to Kentucky was only $60. If I recall right, it was around the same when I had bought a Liberty from him as well.

 

[tsquale]

Welcome to the site. That's a great find if you can unload them. If you ship in bulk or quantity and get discounts, that $45 per bar for shipping to CA sounds very low. It's been my experience that shipping from IL to CA is closer to $100 from various carriers (FedEx/ups/freight, post office won't even touch em for under 200).

I use pirateship.com for USPS and UPS and it will save you quite a bit on fullsize bars.

 

[ur20v]

I use pirateship.com for USPS and UPS and it will save you quite a bit on fullsize bars.

The first time I used Pirate Ship was when I sent you that RX2700 CC MC bar. Apparently I was a half inch off on length and UPS hit Pirate Ship with a $38 charge two weeks after it was delivered, and of course they went and charged my card for it. That was a nasty surprise...

 

[tsquale]

The first time I used Pirate Ship was when I sent you that RX2700 CC MC bar. Apparently I was a half inch off on length and UPS hit Pirate Ship with a $38 charge two weeks after it was delivered, and of course they went and charged my card for it. That was a nasty surprise...

As with any shipper, measure once, measure twice, and measure again!

 

[ur20v]

As with any shipper, measure once, measure twice, and measure again!

Trust me, I did. I used to work for UPS and watched the auditors do their thing for the first 90 minutes of my shift every day. They were all temps from a workforce agency and most if them could barely spell their own names, nevermind read a tape measure. I wanted to fight it, but Pirate Ship makes it pretty much impossible.

 

[tmkkdorris]

im in the same boat . please let me know if you find a bulk buyer. thanks

 

[ur20v]

im in the same boat . please let me know if you find a bulk buyer. thanks

Oof...

 

[tmkkdorris]

whats Oof... mean

 

[ur20v]

That means I feel for you. I don't have as many stacks as you, but I'm in a similar boat.

 

[dasher]

im in the same boat . please let me know if you find a bulk buyer. thanks

Can you let me know what you have in all blue make and model

 

[tmkkdorris]

i have 30 plus all blue liberty, most everything i have is rr/bb

 

[DefianceEngineCompany]

im in the same boat . please let me know if you find a bulk buyer. thanks

There’s 4 or 5 bars in there I’d like to have

 

[irishff]

im in the same boat . please let me know if you find a bulk buyer. thanks

Tracy, you could always try and work out a deal with me to satisfy the money you owe me from two years ago.

 

[Tony P]

Ok everyone... This is a new members thread that is quickly getting off topic. Irish and Tmk take it to PM or dispute resolution. Anyone trying to make a sale needs to go to their own sale ad or PM.

@dontbreakthebank25 you're free to continue your discussions here