I wish more people would ask. "Why don't I know what the terms 'elite' and 'pica' mean in the American typewriter world?"

Short answer: they are names for the pitch of the typewriter, the characters per inch that it prints---12 and 10 cpi respectively. ONLY. They are not names of typeface designs, although many typeface names have those words in the name. They are not analogous to the "point size" of typesetting and computer type.

Dunno why this seems like such a big deal, except that civilization depends on mutually agreed upon language.

I think there´s a critical question which MUST be asked both by sellers and buyers:

Does this thing work?

Sounds obvious, but so many times either the seller doesn´t tell or the buyer doesn´t ask (or both). I know things are worth what people are willing to pay for them, and I know everyone is free to put any price tag on anything, but... But. A big but.

Condition defines a good part of the price of a typewriter, and I honestly think there are some lines which roughly define what´s right and wrong when pricing typewriters. If it doesn´t work don´t pretend it´s worth as much as a working one, period. I know I´m not the one to tell anyone how much they should sell a typewriter at or how much you should pay for it, and I´m no authority on the matter. But I´ve seen... things. Unspeakable, disgusting and ludicrous at the same time, and these are usually avoided using your common sense, but not always.

And then there comes something which is even more important than the price tag: telling the truth.

This mainly goes to the seller, and you can´t argue with this one. If you say it works, then it HAS to work. Sometimes the seller honestly thinks it works and then reality is that it doesn´t work at 100%, but ignorance is not the same as a flat-out lie. I see hordes of typewriters in which the only means to assess it is a photo taken with a toaster and no condition is specified. Try asking the seller and see what happens... Most of times there´s no answer, but when a reputed seller says the typewriter works you may be inclined to believe it because there are hundreds of people who say "you can trust this guy". It doesn´t always work, though.

Conclussion: always ask if it works. Then, common sense will help you decide.

Uwe wrote:

I can think of one collector in particular who has shelves full of typewriters that I have never seen in person before and aren't common in the database - and yet neither of us would describe them as being rare. 

​My point is that there are far more typewriters that still exist in the world that don't have an internet presence than those that do have one. It's one thing to claim rarity when the actual history of a model along with concrete production numbers is known, but to call something rare just because you've never encountered it before is inaccurate and unnecessarily misleading. 

I must say I´m a bit guilty of that. It´s a bit of being lost in translation, but I may have used the word "rare" a bit freely when what I mean is that a typewriter is not frequent.

For example, a GSA 300 T isn´t as common as an Olivetti Lettera 32. In fact, you´d find way more Smith Premier 10´s than GSA´s anywhere, or waaay more Mignons. Is it rare? For sure it isn´t in the sense that it´s been mass produced in Korea (for a brief period of time), and in addition it´s a so-so machine. But it isn´t frequent, and even if it´s nothing to write home about it´s nice to bump into something that´s not yet another Travel Riter. What I´m not implying is that the GSA or any other non widespread typewriter is rare as in "this 1st model of Crandall is ridiculously rare". Again, the term "raro" in Spanish doesn´t always mean unique.

But yes, If I´d been given a cent each time I´ve seen an Underwood 5 listed as "RARE UNIQUE TYPEWRITER OMG IT´S SO RARE I CAN´T SELL IT ON MY OWN AND I NEED A TWIN BROTHER TO SHARE THE STRESS" I´d be rich. And let´s not talk about the colored Plumas 22. Why the pink one is so expensive? It´s not frequent, right, but 200€? The ivory one is relatively common, but now it´s experiencing a slight skyrocketing because some responsible and informed seller has decided it must be as ridiculously expensive as the pink one.
 

One thing that would be really great to have people understand is that the prices they are asking are simply absurdly high in many cases. But of course you aren't going to be able to tell someone that, so the best thing is to just not even bother to make an offer. Another machine will come along, or maybe the seller will realize that he needs to drop the price. Let the market work.

So I'm sensing a trend. It looks like there's some agreement about the fact that too many people over price typewriters.

I'm curious about other misconceptions, as well. There have to be some maintenance myths that have become widespread, like the ad I saw that specifically suggested that the machine just needed some WD-40, or basic care practices to ensure longevity that aren't known widely enough.