Where To Find Used Power Tools
You have to really work at it to NOT be able to find used power tools in this day and age. You can find scads of used power tools from flea markets (called car boot sales in England), real life auctions, private hardware stores, online hardware stores and online auction sites like eBay. You can often find used power tools (especially large ones like band saws or jackhammers) in the classifieds of your local newspaper and on online classified sites like Craigslist.
The Disadvantages
Unless you use power tools nearly every day or do a lot of tinkering about the home and garage, there is really no point in getting used power tools for the average person. If you can get the original set of instructions with the used power tools, then that's a different matter. But you need to be familiar with what a good representative of that particular power tool is like before you can judge how good a used power tool is.
Some used power tools you might find as an incredible bargain might not be made anymore, which means you would have terrible trouble trying to find replacement parts for it should it ever need repair. Also, some people don't like to buy used power tools because the tools they find were often fenced. Power tools are targets for thieves.
The Advantages
The big advantage of buying used power tools is (of course) the price. Power tools are a bit like cars in that they depreciate at least 10% as soon as the box is opened. But you have to be familiar with how the tool works before you buy it in order to get any practical use out of it. If you are a beginning do-it-yourselfer, you want new tools.
Businesses that rely on power tools can save a bundle on used power tools for really large equipment that they would use nearly every day. There are many websites specializing in used power tools of particular brands. They not only buy the used tools, they check them over to be sure they are safe and in working order and then put them up for sale. When looking for these places online, type in "refurbished power tools" into your favorite search engine.
One power tool brand that also sells refurbished versions of its tool line is Bosch. In an effort to be a greener (and leaner) company, Bosch will take older tools (Bosch only, please) and fix them up to sell as good quality used power tools.
