1 of 1- typewriterloverr
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Online Stores To Purchase Vintage Typewriters?
Hi everyone!
I was browsing the web for some stores to purchase vintage typewriters...can anyone recommend a site that sells them? I know eBay & Etsy do, but I'm just curious if there are any other sites that this community knows about.
Thanks so much!
- thetypewriterman
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Re: Online Stores To Purchase Vintage Typewriters?
If you are in the UK, try www.thetypewriterman.co.uk :-)
- Uwe
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Re: Online Stores To Purchase Vintage Typewriters?
The first and most important consideration is your location. Something local to you would be your best option, but it's difficult for anyone to make a recommendation without knowing where you live. eBay is an option, but you risk getting a machine that isn't as good as advertised, or one that is beaten to death during shipping. It happens too often for my liking. I would avoid Etsy like the plague; from what I've seen the most ridiculously overpriced typewriters are sold there.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- typewriterloverr
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Re: Online Stores To Purchase Vintage Typewriters?
Thanks for replies!
I'm based here in the USA. Yeah, from what I've read around, looks like Ebay might be my best bet. Though I'm still a bit skeptic sometimes by Ebay and the conditions that they claim to be in.
t be helpful if there was an online store here in the USA that sold vintage typewriters!
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Thread Starter- Uwe
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Re: Online Stores To Purchase Vintage Typewriters?
If you're in the U.S., and in/near a major urban centre, I'd suggest looking over your local Craigslist and Kijiji ads instead of eBay. You should be able to find plenty of machines to buy locally that way, and at least it will give you the opportunity to inspect them first. It's only when you become more of a serious collector and want to buy specific models that eBay becomes more of a necessity.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- JanetLand
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Re: Online Stores To Purchase Vintage Typewriters?
When I search ebay I sort the listings by distance from me, and ask about local pickup, because I fear shipping disasters.
- Uwe
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Re: Online Stores To Purchase Vintage Typewriters?
JanetLand wrote:
I fear shipping disasters.
It's a healthy fear to have. I think I'm batting around .500 right now, which sounds great if you're playing baseball, but really bad when buying typewriters. The last one I bought had the ball bearings fall out of the carriage rail the moment I tried to use it. And here's how another looked when I opened its travel case:
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- malole
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Re: Online Stores To Purchase Vintage Typewriters?
When I search ebay I sort the listings by distance from me, and ask about local pickup, because I fear shipping disasters.
Yep, absolutely, me too! There are just far too many things to go wrong with a badly parcelled typewriter for it to be worth it for me any more. Unless I am sure the seller is experienced in packing typewriters, I'm steering clear of long-distance purchases.
- sc1000
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Re: Online Stores To Purchase Vintage Typewriters?
Wow, that's pretty bad. I would never underestimate that damage the USPS, or anyone else for that matter, could do slamming parcels around, but your typewriter is in a travel case ! ! I suspect there was something wrong with the typewriter to begin and the seller quickly closed the travel case lid and shipped it to you a.s.a.p. 'Sorry that happened to you, but it's out there !
- Uwe
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Re: Online Stores To Purchase Vintage Typewriters?
ut your typewriter is in a travel case ! ! I suspect there was something wrong with the typewriter to begin and the seller quickly closed the travel case lid and shipped it to you a.s.a.p.
The photos in the ad clearly showed that the carriage was properly mounted on the machine before it was sent, and the description stated that the machine was in good working order. I was lucky - after being unlucky - as the seller fully refunded my money after seeing detailed photos of how it arrived.
A travel case should never be considered as suitable protection for a typewriter being shipped. Depending on how the machine fits in the case, and whether or not it has a carriage lock - or that carriage lock was even used - it can still take a lot of punishment inside the case. Hammer bars can flop around, segment or carriage shift mechanisms can bounce up and down, ribbon covers can pop off, and carriages - like the one in the photo - can move around enough to get torn off the typewriter.
To properly ship a typewriter it has to be just as carefully packed inside the travel case as the case itself is packed inside of a shipping box.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
