The one that I would have not passed on is that round-key Royal Companion, oh and also that rare black Olympia SM portable that you walked away from a while back because it was $5 over your limit. Sorry to bring up the past, I remember you took a lot of heat over that one! Love the videos, keep them coming.
I buy mainly synthesizers, and I found by expanding my search radius on marketplace to include surrounding rural areas, that I sometimes have the opportunity of picking up rare synths, for a good price, and many who only buy local, may not even have seen them. One was technically outside the city, but was only ten minutes away.
Your approach is very sensible. There would be more happy typists if everyone set their own limits like you do. I think everyone should see this video! It is super well structured and covers all aspects. I am especially sad to see people buying machines without trying them from an unknown source and without knowing the condition. Another sad situation is the number of machines damaged during shipping. I have seen stories of a 100 years old beautiful typewriter badly packaged and lost forever in shipping. I got lucky with a 1947 Royal QDL that works super well and had a new platen installed sometime when a newly recovered platen was widely available. That Carlton is a mystery! I see you got a lot of feedback from very knowledgeable collectors that could not identify the manufacturer. It baffles me too. Thank you, Sarah, for your excellent videos sharing your experience. Daniel Ottawa, Canada
$25 to $50 is a steal in my area for the quality you're talking about. I frequently see people posting machines they found from their grandmother's attic for at least $65, and anything verified as working is at least $100. Obviously there are exceptions going both ways but those seem like the "reasonable to expect" prices in my area.
My first typewriter was a 1951 Royal QDL I got for $85 from FB marketplace. It works, but it's a little finicky when I type quickly. I got a 1947 SC Sterling at an antique store that I plan on getting repaired, but I didn't even realize it has a math keyboard haha. I really wanted a 1940s Sterling but they're hard to find in better condition than the one I found. Finally nailed it on a 1964 SC Sterling from Ebay. $100 and it's in ridiculously, absurdly good condition haha, I just have to fix the shift alignment. Most of the typewriters I've encountered in the wild at stores here have been $120+ and in pretty bad shape. FB was so hard to navigate haha.
There were 4 typewriters at my local thrift shop in the past month. 1 electric with a bunch of cleaning needing to be done that I wasn't confident I could do even for $15. The other three were around $35 mechanical typewriters the only one I remember the brand was the royal typewriter that was missing two keys. In the end I wish I had picked up the two cheaper mechanical typewriters.
Would you spend more than $25 if you knew it was worth far more than what they were charging? I just bought a curvey Hermes 3000 in perfect worming condition for $65. Would you have passed on that? I also found a Vogue Royal Model P for $200 that I got. Just curious if you would pass on deals like that?
