I know nothing about buying a concrete mold business. I do know a little about research and I think you could find out a lot about what questions to ask when you are thinking of buying a business if you would do some internet searches and talk with the librarian at your nearest library for book suggestions.

As a very basic beginning, I would try to check online to see what the items you mentioned would cost you new. Ebay has hundreds of concrete molds for sale if you are talking about the small stuff.

Hopefully, someone here will have business experiences to share with you. For me, $20,000 would be a huge investment. I would want a lot of buyers standing in line waiting for my product.
good luck,
Laura

I have no idea about the equipment costs, but I would tell you that I have more that 100 molds - pavers, plaques, and such - some so big I cannot lift the finished product. I bought those molds 1 at a time from eBay vendors. I may have paid $20-30 for the larger ones. I have also MADE many of my own from urethane. A dear friend has gone into the biz big time - making molds and selling those on eBay. Not selling concrete items...selling molds.

$20K IS a huge lot of money - is there an existing client base? Folks are fickle - and todays cute molds are passe' by tomorrow. I would tread cautiously on this one.

Vicki

Would that person be a queen?Just wondering...
Cheers from here

Laurah, is this business you are referring to a place on the island that is selling all the supplies to set your self up ?If so there are some pretty nice molds from what I have seen, how ever I think you can do better picking and choosing your own molds etc. A fellow here in Nanaimo was trying to sell his established statuary busines for around 30,000 last year, included his shop, he'd been in business there for around 6 years. I think if you priced out everything individually it would be less. Don't know that you would need the air gun initially also. If you were creative you could scan auctions etc for a vibrating table and turntables etc.
Cindy

Mold prices can range from dirt cheap to astronomical. Twenty grand could either be a steal...or a total rip-off. Valuing them requires a fair amount of savvy, but it basically comes down to Material Type, Condition and Demand.

Material Type: Generally based on useful life-cycle and the degree of detail. Aluminum molds can be used for years while lightweiight, vacuum-formed plastic has a relatively short lifespan. While neither will record a very high level of detail, the first are expensive and the latter are very inexpensive. High quality urethane molds can be very pricey, but hold very fine detail and with a little care can withstand quite a lot of "pours". Latex can hold even finer detail, but nearly always require a mother-mold and wear much faster. Commercial casters have to consider "how many of what can I get from a mold and sell at what price" in order to determine the real value of any given mold.

Condition: Critical for determining value. How much "life" does a mold have left. Closely inspect each mold and think in terms of depreciation. Examine some recent pours to see how well they are performing and check them closely for cracks, splits or any condition issues that might impact their useful life and the quality of the end product.

Appropriateness for your marketplace: Again, critical. A $1000 dollar mold for something no one in your area wants has no value at all unless you can sell to someone who has customers for it.

As for the rest of the business, just take a long, hard look at the books. It's a good idea to have your accountant go over them to get a handle on what real value is there.

Best of luck, hope this helps at least a little.

Check this place for comparison

http://www.islandgardendesign.com/business.htm

hi all

i am in the same position but i absolutly dont find what search for about moulds ? i search itallian style / look
but do not find it i have all the other stuff vibrating table but seems like impossible for me to find moulds tried ebay and if i look at China i need buy 200 kg latex which i find to much in the beginning. know this is another one who put questions here but hope its ok ?