Old (Locked) Safes: Should You Buy One?
Advice For Prospective Buyers of Used/Locked Safes By Ken Dunckel Safecracker: Safe and Vault Opening and Repairs San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California 415-203-7298 kendunckel@aol.com It's common for a caller to tell me something to the effect of, "I bought an old safe with no combination. How much would it cost to have it opened?" Sometimes the caller tells me how much he or she paid for it, sometimes not. However, by then it's way too late for good advice. And that good advice is this: A person with a locked safe and no combination, whether it's relatively new or ancient, has nothing to sell. Older (pre-1940 or so, but that's arguable) safes generally do have more eye appeal. However, if the safe you're looking at can't be used, eye appeal is all that it has; it has no value until it's opened and made usable. The person trying to sell a locked safe for which the combination is unknown or nonfunctional has probably heard