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03-1-2018 13:43:00  #1


Are prices going up?

I've been reading blogs and posts on reddit and here and over and over again I read about how someone got an Olivetti for $10 or a Hermes 3000 for $40 and this for $10 and that for $20 but when I search for good deals, it's rare to find anything worth buying that costs less than several hundred dollars. I mean, I've seen deals and steals but they usually seem kinda risky for an online purchase.

I know McCarthy's Olivetti and McMurtry's 3000 have jacked the price on those particular models (can't seem to find a 3000 for under $300 anymore)  and yet I still read about folks who seem to pick them up for next to nothin'

for example: (https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/7nax6s/my_2017_finds/)

Are the prices going up or am I just impatient

 

03-1-2018 16:19:00  #2


Re: Are prices going up?

I primarily stay with in-person deals that I can pick up locally or within a reasonable drive rather than order anything online and then have them ship. That said, only once have I ever paid over $100 for a machine--and that was for a Hammond in perfect condition. Maybe I'm slumming it, but I still don't usually ever pay more than $40 for a machine, and I can still afford to be rather picky. So to my mind, I really haven't seen prices go up much at all over the past few years. 

 

03-1-2018 16:23:27  #3


Re: Are prices going up?

My experience is much the same as Markmotown's, and going over $50 for a machine is something I really try not to do. $40 tends to be my limit. Prices around here seem to not have moved much for a while.

 

03-1-2018 16:36:23  #4


Re: Are prices going up?

So do y'all try antique malls and yard/estate sales and thrift stores and the like? I live in NYC (for some reason) so everything is overpriced anyway but ~$40 machines sounds excellent. 

     Thread Starter
 

03-1-2018 17:29:01  #5


Re: Are prices going up?

The prices are set by the buyer and the seller. Most of the time I buy from older people or second hand shops tends to be cheap. In the other hand if the seller is young or an antique shop tends to be more expensive. I personally don't have a price limit, but I tend to leave the seller happy, and don't bargain much, that said I run away from "ultra rare smith corona", "perfect condition" and such sellers. In general I wouldn't say that the typewriters are more expensive, but there is more people capable to ask 200 dollars, and more people able to pay it too. But cheap typewriters are still there. After all a Olympia SM 3 "tastes" much better if you pay 20 dollars instead of 150 dollars... anyways always they would be idiots with lots of money or greedy speculators.

 

03-1-2018 17:37:48  #6


Re: Are prices going up?

I will also like to add that I prefer a typewriter that costs 80 that is in my wish list than two for 40 each that they weren't.

 

04-1-2018 13:29:32  #7


Re: Are prices going up?

Pricing to a great degree also depends on the market. In Toronto prices have in fact gone up - a lot - to the point that I rarely see machines that are in my sub-$50 price range. The reason why prices in my area have skyrocketed is fairly straightforward: first, there are a growing number of those who are flipping machines for a profit, buying them cheap, giving them a quick spit polish, and then selling them for ten times what they paid because it's now a "rare and restored" machine; and second, the new generation of collectors in my area are willing to pay what I consider to be a stupid amount of money for a machine - mostly because they are impatient or don't know better. Of course the tumble-down effect of this is that sellers see these elevated prices and expect the same for their machines.


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
 

04-1-2018 22:47:39  #8


Re: Are prices going up?

I look around antique stores in small towns or cities for bargains.  They often don't know they have them because they're still in their cases under a table.   A 1954 Royal QDL for $45, a 1961 Smith Corona Skyriter for $40, and a 1959 Olympia SM3 Deluxe for $25 were some of my finds, and I bought a 1956 Underwood Olivetti Lettera 22 for $30 from my sister.  But I have purchased on online for typewriters that I really wanted and wasn't afraid to pay higher for.  I just made an offer and bought an excellent (except for missing knob)1965 H3K for $180. using my Christmas gift money.  It all depends on what you want and when you want it and how much you're willing to pay to get it.  Overall, you can still find dirty old typewriters cheap, but often they clean up just fine if you're willing to put forth the effort.

 

05-1-2018 13:19:50  #9


Re: Are prices going up?

Prices have definitely gone up, both online and in stores. It is not always easy to score the bargains: one has to not only have patience and scour the earth on multiple venues, but out-hunt and have better luck than some very avid collectors. The amount of time, effort, and gasoline that it takes to pull this off should be considered. If you enjoy the hunt it can be very worthwhile. But if you factor in all the hidden costs, the bargains are not always as cheap as they seem. I should note, that although typewriter prices have risen, as far as objects, they are still cheap. Even the higher-end typewriter models (not counting rare antiques) are cheaper than the crappy guitars.
 

 

05-1-2018 15:27:59  #10


Re: Are prices going up?

Would we all agree, though, that office standard machines seem to go for less? Better-typing and fuller-featured machines than portables, as we all know, but not as cute or compact. So they're less desirable.

 

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