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10-6-2022 19:11:34  #1


where do all the typewriter going

With models that nobody even wanted 2 years ago going for several times what they were going for then, I can't help but wonder.  Is is just collectors driving up the price? Resellers on ebay? Or are people actually using them? I don't know a single person in real life who uses a typewriter, and when I mention that I do people usually laugh in derision.

So I'm guessing its answer #1 or 2, unless I just don't hang with the hip cult typewriter-using crowd.

 

11-6-2022 08:58:38  #2


Re: where do all the typewriter going

Hi Overwood, 

I use my typewriters on a daily basis...but by no means am I a “hipster”...more like an old geezer. With 42 machines in my home, I guess I am also a collector. 

Here are some things I do on my typewriters : 

1. To-Do lists. 

2. Grocery lists. 

3. Write journal entries and keep each page in a 3-ring binder. I find I do this on a weekly basis...with the week summarized. 

4. All sorts of business letters (which I mail out) and then scan and keep on my hard drive for archiving. 

5. Notes on what may be flaky on a typewriter and keep the note under the ribbon cover (or in its case) until I decide to pull the machine and get it on my work bench. 

6. Personal notes to my wife I leave around the house for her to find. 

7. Running history of our house-cats noting what crazy things each is up to, notes about their health, birthdays, shots, etc. Have a small manila folder with these notes for each kitty. 

8. Sad attempts at some poems and short stories.

9. Running history about our family tree and events associated with family and relatives...over time. 

10. Short notes and letters to friends which I mail out. Some have asked me to email...so I do that for them...but its a type-cast thing. Type a letter, scan it, and them email it to them. But most like getting letters...yet respond to my letters via email. None have made the plunge to get a typewriter on their end. But I am hopeful some will. 

11. Cooking recipes. Once a recipe has stabilized with time, I will laminate that recipe type-written page in plastic on both sides so it can be cleaned if food stuff gets on them. 3-hole punch them for a cooking binder or two. 

12. Notes about the purchase/history of each typewriter I own and any previous-owner info. I may have about them. Such pages are left in the typewriter case along with any/all other documents that may have come with the machine. 

13. More uses...just listed these, above, to give you an idea. 

Could I do all of these more-efficiently on my PC...sure !  But it is fun to grab a typewriter, un-wind, and go back in time to do some of these tasks and chores.

 

11-6-2022 17:38:13  #3


Re: where do all the typewriter going

overwood wrote:

... Is is just collectors driving up the price? ...

From my observations it's all about the middlemen out there who are trying to make a quick buck - and the collectors who are willing to pay them what they're asking who are a big part of the problem.

Essentially - in my area at least - middlemen buy up the cheap typewriters (<$50), give them a spit and polish, call them refurbished, and list them online in the $300 - $500 range. And because they find buyers willing to actually pay those prices, middlemen are encouraged to continue flipping machines.

The side effect of this is that other potential sellers who are unsure what their typewriter is worth use those inflated prices to value their machines. Result? Average prices have skyrocketed.

The bottom line is that buyers are responsible for the crazy pricing. 

 


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

11-6-2022 17:47:47  #4


Re: where do all the typewriter going

Yes...a decent round Hermes 3000 just went hammer-down on ShopGoodWill for $ 1200.  That is for an "as-is" machine that may or may not have parts missing out of it, etc.
 

 

14-6-2022 13:38:04  #5


Re: where do all the typewriter going

Hi. Scouting around the forum today -- haven't been here in a while but curious now since our moderator and I went on an antique market safari last weekend, with an eye out for machines. I'm kind of bowled over at a $1,200 price tag on a Hermes. I like that machine.... but that is indeed a really crazy selling price. Maybe a collector just wanted to make a generous charitable donation, and thought it would be a win-win situation?  


"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the typewriter."
 

14-6-2022 17:23:14  #6


Re: where do all the typewriter going

I've a theory on these outrageous auctions. I've been tracking many auctions on SGW for a month or so and notice that nearly all the typewriters that sell at extraordinarily high prices show up again on SGW a few weeks later. It's not just Hermes 3000 class machines, either. I just bought a Finger Flite for $32, but the same machine had been offered on SGW twice before, "selling" at $151 the previous time, and $189 previous to that. 

Looking around SGW, there appears to be little to no downside to not paying for a machine. And, SGW isn't funded as well as ebay to have an anti-fraud team or automated systems looking for people who game the system. The result is a very powerful tool for buyers: Someone outbids you by more than you can afford, fine, just bid double their bid and don't pay when you win the auction. SGW still needs to get rid of the machine, so it'll be back in 2 weeks starting at $9.99. It's an auction reset button.
 

 

14-6-2022 18:41:00  #7


Re: where do all the typewriter going

Overwood,

Regarding your comment of : 

"  I don't know a single person in real life who uses a typewriter, and when I mention that I do people usually laugh in derision.  "

In our HOA community, there is a "writers club" that meets 2 times a month for pre-teens...led by a couple of teachers who live in the community.  They meet in our HOA's clubhouse.

I reached out to them and volunteered to bring-down some typewriters to see if any of these young, budding writers might want a try at using them.

The two teachers thought I was from outer space...shook their heads...and asked " what for ?...they use iPads or their phones ". 

I gave them some business cards to hand out to the kids.  Never heard a peep...

Still trying to imagine a young writer doing work on a smart-phone.
.

 

14-6-2022 20:04:40  #8


Re: where do all the typewriter going

 People even older than me are the worst. Our office admin is in her 60s and she couldn't believe I use a typewriter. "What about mistakes?" with a look of horror.

I very slowly mime opening a bottle of whiteout, dabbing the page, and closing the top, and say "yeah that's a real nuisance." 



 

     Thread Starter
 

14-6-2022 23:24:58  #9


Re: where do all the typewriter going

On the flip side: my 11 year old has gotten really into typewriters. I've taken to leaving a typewriter in the dining room for him to write on, and swap it out every few days so that there's always some novelty to it. Whatever keeps him writing.

At the type-in I went to a few weeks ago, there was a school teacher who used typewriters in her classroom to inspire kids who have difficulty writing to write (i.e. when hand writing, computer writing (including dictation) all fail, typewriters seem to engage kids because they're different, and physical). She said that she's sold a great many typewriters to families with kids who wouldn't write otherwise. 

Personally, I use my typewriters for brainstorming, journaling, writing drafts of articles or long emails, and just word play. Somehow, writing on a typewriter helps me unwind my brain after an intense day of work. Occasionally, weather permitting, I sit on my porch and type away. I get lots of smiles and curious questions from passers-by. 

 

17-6-2022 00:41:08  #10


Re: where do all the typewriter going

Welcome to the post-Internet, digital world. There have always been those personalities with a tendency to hoard/collect certain things. But after those personalities were introduced to other like-minded individuals via online forums and later by way of social media and other mediums, behavior that once seemed questionable suddenly became normalized among these newfound online groups of peers. People left to their own devices in the past,before the Internet came into play, might have managed to govern their purchasing habits to some extent. These days with so many people out there promoting their own unchecked buying/acquiring, there are bound to be many more others to follow (though they'll likely have to pay more now).

Very few people have a real need to own more than just a few typewriters in this day and age. But ironically, whereas owning 10 typewriters might have seemed totally crazy 40 years ago, no one in the peer group known as the typewriter community would blink an eye at that number today. A big part of the attraction for acquiring things these days has to do with showing these acquisitions off to others around the world, be it on forums like this one, or by way of social media, or other platforms as well. Note that I'm not talking about just typewriters, but all sorts of things from film cameras and mechanical watches, to guitars, tape decks, and countless other items.

I've long found this behavior to be rather fascinating. I have asked others what they would do if they had no one else to share their acquisitions with and for many this is an uncomfortable question. (Again, I'm not talking just about typewriters.) But think about it, if you didn't have anyone else to discuss typewriters with or to share your latest purchases with, how do you think this would impact things for you? Honestly, the only reason that I could imagine people paying the amounts they are these days for a typewriter like the Hermes 3000 would basically be for bragging rights of some sort. People are aware that others desire these machines, so they too desire them as well. However, were there no one around to tell, I doubt H3000 prices would have reached the point that they are at today, The same goes for countless other typewriter models, along with countless other items in the world.

 

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