The market for these cabinets is very local. People will want to come look at them before they buy and to be sure, it will be a lot cheaper if they can pick them up rather than having to arrange for a moving company. But, “local” actually means “within driving distance” for someone who wants to buy a set of steel kitchen cabinets. So your marketing and outreach should really extend…3 or 4 hours in a circle around where you live. Here are the sources:

1. Craigslist is probably the most common source for cabinet listings when you take into account the entire U.S.  I think they will only let you list in one city, and if that is their rule, you should abide by it. What a great service they are providing for free, after all! But, it’s my experience that avid craigslist users really on the hunt for a specific item also set up google alerts so that they will see what comes up around the country. So, make sure that you use good keywords in your listing.

2. My Postwar Steel forum — http://retrorenovation.com/forum — was created in December 2007 to connect buyers and sellers of vintage steel cabinets. It’s also free. I do insist, though, that you include your LOCATION and PHOTOS as these are always requested. And if you are wise, you will also include your EMAIL. Note, after you have sold your cabinets you may come back and delete your listing and email. (And I am beginning to delete all posts after 6 months unless they include groovy photos which we like to ogle forever.) The forum requires registration. Remember your password!

3. eBay — I see lots of listing come up, and only 1 in 10 seems to sell. However, there may be after-market bidding going on (at a lower price). eBay may work for you if you are in a larger market where there are more potential buyers.

If you cannot sell your cabinets, they don’t have to go to the dump! You can take them to Habitat for Humanity / Re-Store, where they can be stored until their next owner finds them. And what a great cause. Remember, though: Condition matters.

Finally, if your cabinets are in really bad shape — with tons of rust, for example — take a look at the hardware. There is a market for vintage cabinet pulls — in particular old Youngstown handles. And, people with the old Geneva’s are always eager to connect with the white plastic concave piece behind the chrome pull. And, folks want the knife hinges that connect the doors to the base and wall cabinets. If you have parts, I’d recommend eBay — as they are not expensive to ship.

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Read on for more, plus some pricing guidelines. And also see my post on how and where to seel your cabinets.

I have been watching the market for vintage metal kitchen cabinets on ebay since 2002. And, I began hosting the buy-sell forum for metal kitchen cabinets here on RetroRenovation.com in Dec. 2007. These are my “credentials” to answer the question, but even so, the answer will depend on a number of factors - including luck. So make your own decision about how much to charge. So, now that the disclaimer is in place, here are my thoughts on value:

1. Condition — The number-one determinant of value, I’d say, is condition. If the cabinets are are in excellent shape — with their original finish – and don’t need repainting, that will add to their value. Repainting cabinets can get expensive and is a hassle. Also I tend to think that a ‘so-so’ original finish is better than cabinets that have been repainted poorly. Nothing compares with that original enamal finish! Rust on the sink cabinet also is not good. And a serious ding will pretty much bring a cabinet’s value to zero. My advice to buyers is: Hold out for cabinets in excellent condition, they are out there.

2. Number of pieces available…size of your set — It can also be quite a hassle to retrofit someone else’s kitchen into your kitchen space. I bought 67 cabinets to get the right fit into my 15′x15′ space. And I made it work by the skin of my teeth. I know several readers who are in the process of collecting 2 or more sets just to get the right pieces. So in general I’d say that the larger your set, the better luck you will have finding a buyer.

3. Brand — I tend to believe that the larger-name brands are going to find a home sooner because of the issue above, that is, people collecting multiple sets. From my research I’d say that the big name brands were and are: Youngstown, Geneva, St. Charles. There are some folks who say that St. Charles was the cream of the crop…but I have 1963 Geneva’s and I think their quality is terrific. If you have a less-common brand – like Crosley, Tracy, American brand — you still may find a buyer, especially if there is a collector watching far and wide to find just the cabinets they like.

4. Location — I tend to believe that the market for cabinets is very local or tight regionally. Buyers are most likely going to want to come pick up the cabinets personally as shipping is costly. They also are likely to want to see them. So, the closer you are to a large city the better you chances may be of finding a buyer close enough to work with.

The last factor is: How much time do you have? If you need your cabinets out of the garage next week… well, don’t be thinking you’ll get the top possible dollar. While interest in these cabinets is growing, it’s still a collector’s market. If you plan for some time to connect with the right buyer you may get a better price.

Okay. All that said, how much?

$5,000?
Early on in the forum’s life, a large set of cabinets (sorry, I forget the brand) in a great shape, from a church kitchen in Iowa, sold for $5,000. That’s the most I ever heard a set sell for.

$3,000?
I bought my 67 cabinets — 100+ linear feet in great shape, great color - for $3,000. The reason I got them so cheap  (in my estimation) is that the seller would not break up the set, and she was in the heart of Gotham.  And just so you have an idea of what a buyer might have to go through: I took a day off work and paid my hauler to go with me to NYC to check out the cabinets and viability of moving them, BEFORE I made my decision. I then had to pay another $3,000 to the hauling company  for the cabinets’ Escape from New York. Then for 4 months I had to rent a Pod to house them in my front yard while the kitchen renovation got underway. Then we had to clean them up, which was disgusting. During this entire time, I also had to endure my husband’s beady-eyed stare, he did not believe the grungy cabinets would be worth the effort. (Fortunately, all the NYC grime protected their finish, they are gorgeous and all is well here in Pam’s Retro Paradise once again.) After I installed all I could (in mudroom and garage, too), I sold the remaining 28 cabinets (pictured above) for $2,500 minus commissions to ebay and paypal. One bidder, at the last second. So that’s the saga of one buyer. Honestly, the seller in NYC probably should have paid me to take them off her hands – I am sure she would have had to pay some dough-re-mi to cart them off to a dump. But it was a non-profit… I didn’t even dicker.

$2,000?
A really beautiful, large set of St. Charles’ sold out of a Detroit-area home for $2,000. I think the buyer (a reader) got some nice vintage appliances, too. Had to drive 3 hours.

$300-$1,000?
Smaller sets… in great condition: $300? $500? 1,000?-maybe

$100-$300?
Smaller sets… in bad condition: Less.

A note on sink cabinets with porcelain-on-cast-iron drainboard sinks.
If these are in terrific shape – if the drainboard sink is in pristine condition — they can be worth…$250 on the open market? If you have a name brand – especially a Youngstown, I think — you may have good chances of finding a buyer looking for this important piece. Places like historichouseparts.com sell them for more, but remember they are dealers so have underlying fixed costs.

Why don’t the cabinets sell for more? They are expensive to repaint. They are a hassle to hunt down, pick up, store and then try to retrofit into an existing kitchen. To that right person it can be very gratifying, but retro renovation takes a lot of energy physically and creatively – it’s hard work and time consuming.

READERS: Please add your thoughts! Believe it or not – together we are the go-to place for expertise on steel kitchen cabinets now!

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