Why teasers lie about tools
A CIM that lists “$2 million of tooling” without splitting title is advertising someone else’s iron. OLV, FMV, and FLV apply to assets the seller can convey. A customer’s mold is not that. SBA 7(a) still caps at $5 million (Source: SBA). A lender who thinks consigned dies are collateral has been misled.
BLS OEWS May 2025 prints a welder median of $53,750 (Source: BLS OEWS). Labor cells do not create title. Buy a manufacturing business still says demand a classed machine list.
Insurance, storage fees, and modification approvals often sit in the same contract clause as title. A shop that modified a customer die without written approval can have a fight that is not a peg fight. A shop that billed the customer for the die and then listed it as an owned asset has a title lie. Split the machine list into owned iron, consigned tools, and disputed tools before the appraiser walks the floor.
WIP sitting in a customer mold is still WIP if title to the part is the seller’s. The mold is still the customer’s. Two nouns, one bay. The LOI should freeze both treatments. How it works still wants a classed machine list. The peg owner page explains why a retailer leftover fails. This page stays on the tooling noun. Jason Taken will not invent a lien.
Does tooling belong in working capital?
Usually no. The peg is eligible AR plus eligible inventory minus eligible AP. Customer-owned tools are not inventory the seller can deliver. Work in process can sit in the same bay and still be a different noun. The LOI should freeze the treatment before anyone argues at the physical.
A field exam on an ABL file will ask the same title question with a flashlight. A 7(a) lender inside a 5 million box will lien what the seller can convey. Customer tools are not that. Photograph the tags. Read the tooling clause. Freeze the peg treatment at LOI so the physical does not invent a die-as-inventory fight. Insurance and modification approvals often sit in the same clause as title. A shop that modified a customer die without written approval has a contract fight, not a peg fight.
How it works still wants a classed machine list. FAQ owns the questions. The machine-list owner is the process home. Jason Taken will not invent a lien.
What a buyer should mark on the walkthrough
Tag every mold and die as owned, consigned, or disputed. Photograph the tags. Read the tooling clause in the customer contract. BizBuySell’s 223-day manufacturing median (Source: BizBuySell) is enough time to fix the list. It is not a title cure.
| Item | On the seller’s books? | In the peg? |
|---|---|---|
| Owned press | Yes, if titled | No — capex / M&E |
| Customer mold | No | Usually no |
| WIP on that mold | Maybe | If the exhibit says so |
Contracts often say the customer can pull the tools on notice, or that the shop must insure them, or that modifications need written approval. Those clauses decide who moves the die at close. A handshake with the plant manager is not title. A machine list that values consigned molds at replacement cost is advertising someone else’s iron as if it were OLV collateral.
Lenders under a $5 million 7(a) box will lien what the seller can convey. Customer tools are not that. Field exams on ABL files will ask the same question with a flashlight. Tag every mold on the walkthrough as owned, consigned, or disputed. Photograph the tags. Read the tooling clause before the LOI freezes a peg that accidentally treats dies as inventory.
How it works still wants the machine list before a tour. FAQ owns the questions. The glossary hands you to the machine-list owner, then to a confidential intro call. Jason Taken is a business broker. He will not invent a lien.
If the tag is missing, treat the tool as disputed until the contract says otherwise. Disputed tools do not go on the collateral list and do not go in the peg.
What this page will not do
It will not invent a lien. Jason Taken is a business broker. The glossary sends you to the owner. After the noun is straight, book a confidential intro call.