We Are Buying Knobs, Tubes, and Cleats

Sundial Wire is buying porcelain knobs and tubes that we can use for resale. (If you are looking to buy knobs and tubes or knob-and-tube wire, please click here.)

PLEASE DO NOT SEND US ANYTHING BEFORE CHECKING WITH US THAT WE NEED WHAT YOU HAVE.

IMPORTANT:  WE WILL ONLY PAY FOR THE SHIPPING COSTS INCURRED USING THE CORRECT USPS BOXES AND LABELS WE SEND YOU.  IF YOU CHOOSE TO SEND USING A DIFFERENT METHOD, YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR THE SHIPPING.

What We Currently Do Want

• both glazed and unglazed knobs in the two-piece clamp style
• both glazed and unglazed knobs in the one-piece wrap around style
• tubes only of the following lengths: 2-2.75", 3-3.75", 4-4.75", 5-5.75", 6-6.75"
• cleat pairs

What We Currently Do NOT Want

• knobs with mis-matched tops and bottoms, i.e., glazed with unglazed or different sizes
• tubes in sizes not listed in the list above
• any pieces with really major chips or other significant breakage
• any pieces with any more than a small spot or two of paint or other non-removable coloring

We price the pieces based on their condition when received and prefer to buy lots of 50 pieces or more, except for cleats, which we will buy in any quantity, but we are open to buying smaller quantities at times, when our stock is low.

We pay:

• $0.75 a piece for new-old-stock, pieces that have never been used, in other words are pristine clean, no chips or marks of any kind.
• $0.50 a piece for any knob or tube or cleat pair that is in as good or better condition than this: slight chips, a tiny amount of paint, moderate dirt, no more than slightly bent nails.
• $0.25 for pieces with these conditions: large chips, no major breakage, a small amount of paint, significant dirt.

Please understand that what we charge customers takes into account the high amount of labor involved with handling calls and emails on available product, sorting, evaluating, communicating about the purchase, sending payment, etc. These are very high-overhead items for us.

We will do the evaluation as to whether the pieces are new-old-stock, very good/good, fair, or not-saleable when we receive the product. By sending us the pieces, you are agreeing to accept our evaluation. You will not be paid for pieces that are evaluated as not-saleable. Items categorized as not-saleable are either too broken or covered in paint or items we cannot sell at the moment. Please see the section above on what we are/are not currently buying.

Packing and Shipping

Please note that newsprint dirties the porcelain. You will get better prices if you pack the knobs and/or tubes in unprinted paper or bubble-wrap.

To ensure what you send arrives in the same condition in which you sent it, please pack the pieces very tightly together so that when you shake the box there is absolutely no movement. Each side and the top and bottom of the inside of the box should be well padded and the product very tightly packed within that padding. If the pieces have room to rattle, they get chipped. It is NOT necessary to wrap each piece if the pieces are in rows and kept tight together. In fact, wrapping each item makes the items take up far more room and makes them far less convenient to process. The really important thing is to put the items flat and in rows, padding at the top and bottom of each row and on the sides of each row. (For tubes, alternate the direction the large ends are facing so they fit together better).

IMPORTANT:  WE WILL ONLY PAY FOR THE SHIPPING COSTS INCURRED USING THE CORRECT USPS BOXES AND LABELS WE SEND YOU.  IF YOU CHOOSE TO SEND USING A DIFFERENT METHOD, YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR THE SHIPPING.

If you are planning on sending us pieces, please contact us at custserv@sundialwire.com with an estimate of how many pieces you will be shipping and your zip code so that we can make sure we want everything you are sending. 

We will email you a label for your shipment.  We only pay for shipping in official USPS (Post Office, NOT UPS) Priority Mail shipping boxes, which you can get free of charge at the Post Office or on-line, here for a Medium Flat Rate box and here for a Large Flat Rate box. We recommend that you get medium and large boxes so you don't have to make another trip if what you're sending needs a different size box.  Please use a large box rather than two mediums as it is much cheaper.

And please make sure the box is marked Flat Rate.  There are boxes that look almost exactly the same that are marked Mailing Box instead.  They cost much more to send when the contents are heavy.

Once you have the items packed, call or email us to let us know what size box you are using as well as your address.  We will reply with a label that you can print and tape to the box mail.  We will not reimburse for shipping that is not processed in this way.

Before sending us anything, please e-mail us at: custserv@sundialwire.com and let us know what you have. We will let you know if we are interested. We will not necessarily purchase the contents of packages we haven't agreed to receive.