- JeffMo74
- Platen Punisher
Offline - Registered: 29-12-2017
- Posts: 78
Re: Are prices going up?
I will sheepishly admit it, I had one typewriter before the movie...25 after the movie. And yes, I have several smith-coronas. Let's just say I had a glowing ember of interest, but realizing that it was an actual thriving "hobby", my interest burst into a raging inferno. I've remarked on this in another thread that ebay truly inflates prices and for those that happen upon a machine in their basement, they mostly refer to ebay for pricing. I've had two separate deals fall through because someone saw it was going for much more on ebay.
- Ct92404
- New Member
Offline
- From: California, USA
- Registered: 19-3-2018
- Posts: 4
Re: Are prices going up?
I think you're definitely right about eBay also having an effect on prices. What I'm wondering though is wouldn't the shipping be insanely expensive for a typewriter? I never even considered buying a typewriter from the internet, since I just figured shipping something that heavy would be prohibitive. At least for me. Has anyone here actually bought one online? I'm just curious.
I've only ever bought them in person - usually in antique stores and thrift shops. I sometimes look on Craigslist and Letgo too.
- M. Höhne
- Key Master
Offline
- From: Maine
- Registered: 14-3-2013
- Posts: 637
Re: Are prices going up?
Ct92404 wrote:
.... snip .... What I'm wondering though is wouldn't the shipping be insanely expensive for a typewriter? I never even considered buying a typewriter from the internet, since I just figured shipping something that heavy would be prohibitive.
.... snip ....
Why don't you just read the shipping cost that is stated in each listing? You can also find a rough guess by using the USPS website <, and those for FedFx and UPS, etc. A portable is, packaged, about 20 to 30 pounds.
- Totally_Not_Ben
- New Member
Offline
- From: Germany
- Registered: 05-3-2018
- Posts: 7
Re: Are prices going up?
Has anyone here actually bought one online? I'm just curious.
I bought quite a few of my machines online. Portables ship for around 7€ and desktop typewriters for around 15€ at least in my experience with german ebay. It is always kind of a gamble because private sellers don't usually care about right packaging but luckily all my machines arrived safe so far.
- skywatcher
- Moderator
Offline
- From: The Prairies of Alberta
- Registered: 14-3-2013
- Posts: 735
Re: Are prices going up?
Greetings All
Shipping for a portable typewriter depends largely on how much effort the seller is willing to go to. Using eBay's shipping calculator gives ridiculously high shipping charges. If the seller is willing to take the package to a FedEx or UPS office to get it weighed and a quote for ground delivery, a 25 pound typewriter can usually ship across the States for around $30.00 to $40.00. UPS can ship a Hermes Rocket from Seattle to Great Falls (650 miles) for $12.50. All the best,
Sky
We humans go through many computers in our lives, but in their lives, typewriters go through many of us.
In that way, they’re like violins, like ancestral swords. So I use mine with honor and treat them with respect.
I try to leave them in better condition than I met them. I am not their first user, nor will I be their last.
Frederic S. Durbin. (Typewriter mania and the modern writer)
- Fleetwing
- Typewriter Talk Vet
Offline
- From: Hartford, CT USA
- Registered: 30-6-2015
- Posts: 1,011
Re: Are prices going up?
It all depends on how well the shipper packages the machine, unfortunately. You can pay that amount and get a machine that's trashed. Reason enough for me to avoid having a typewriter shipped.
- RobMacKillop
- Novice Typer
Offline
- Registered: 22-7-2018
- Posts: 46
Re: Are prices going up?
As someone new to old typewriters, I can't help feeling that prices are not so much getting high as having been unrealistically low for decades. You guys have been lucky! Many of the old pre-electric typewriters will last for another fifty to one hundred years, if carefully maintained. Why grumble about paying 200 dollars/pounds/euros for that? Seems like a bargain.
When many of these old typewriters were first made, I wonder what percentage of the average worker's income they sold for? I imagine most people only used one at work, and if they had one at home it would be just that: one, not a collection in double figures.
As a newcomer to the scene, I don't mind paying twice or thrice what the original buyer bought it for, if he/she has spent time and effort getting it in good working condition. At the same time, I wouldn't like to see prices rising to the extent they have in the guitar market, which I'm familiar with. That's a crazy scene! So I do share concerns that the typewriter scene might be heading in that direction, but I don't think we are anywhere near that yet.
- Uwe
- Moderator
Offline
- From: Toronto, Canada
- Registered: 12-3-2013
- Posts: 4,410
Re: Are prices going up?
Why grumble about paying 200 dollars/pounds/euros for that?
For the simple reason that if you are a collector such prices would make the hobby cost prohibitive for most of us. On a good day, with $200 in pocket, I can scoop up five to ten machines. If they were priced at $200 I probably would stop looking, and looking - for me at least - is half the fun.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- RobMacKillop
- Novice Typer
Offline
- Registered: 22-7-2018
- Posts: 46
Re: Are prices going up?
I get that. I'm not the collector type...though my better half might argue that my guitars form a collection, but, really, they al all necessary ;-)
- gnuyork
- Platen Punisher
Offline
- Registered: 03-10-2017
- Posts: 88
Re: Are prices going up?
I get that. I'm not the collector type...though my better half might argue that my guitars form a collection, but, really, they al all necessary ;-)
I totally get that. I used to have a guitar problem myself.
