reply to u/SisterGoldenHair70 at https://reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1lbjr5f/sorry_to_say/mxz1ag2/

I'm honestly curious about your definition of a "machine that only cost $250" is? Make/Model? Where was it bought? What is the actual condition (both cosmetic exterior and mechanical interior as well as cleanliness)? Also, what is your definition of investment with respect to how you're going to use it? Is it a display machine? Is it for display and the occasional addressed envelope or grocery store list? Or is it something you're planning on giving moderate to heavy use on a daily or weekly basis as a professional writer?

Most typewriter repair shops won't spend more than $20 on purchasing a machine and typically they're getting machines donated for free (or for the cost of coming to pick them up); then they spend hours to clean, oil, adjust, repair and restore them for sale in the $400-600 range unless they've got rarer colors or typefaces. (At this level, you're probably not getting any new rubber at all.) The level of restoration is definitely a choice as there are restorers out there who can easlily charge in the $1,500+ range depending on how much work you want done and to what level.

As an example, if someone chooses to spend $120-200 pus shipping on something like an old/dirty Olympia SM3 with old gaskets from an outlet like ShopGoodwill.com (the current going rate for one in unknown condition and only using photos) that is going to need several hundred dollars of repair work, that's their choice. If they don't have the expertise, it's far better to buy one outright in the $500 range from a shop. Usually people are just keeping that $120 machine and limping along with what it offers instead of cleaning it up or they attempt to do the clean up work themselves. This work may seem "free", but it's time, effort, and expense of one sort or another. Economists call this opportunity cost.

There is a massive information imbalance in the typewriter market between buyers and sellers, because incredibly few people really have any idea of what they've got and what sort of condition it is in. This imbalance means that most professional shops are an absolute steal if you're looking for something in excellent condition that's going to be a work-a-day typewriter or be in good shape for another 50-75 years.

As a small example, an indiviual could call JJ Short and get a platen recovered for around $100 plus two way shipping, but you take it to a shop and you're probably looking at $180 because they're going to charge you for the time, effort, and cost of knowing what to do, where to ship it, taking it off, putting it back on, and doing the appropriate ring & cylinder, on-feet, and motion adjustments on

If you're looking for pink, here's a shop that repairs and refinishes them (repaints) in pink: https://karlbusinessmachines.com/pink-typewriters/

As for natural pink manufactured typewriters, you're probably primarily looking at the Royal Quiet De Luxe (circa '55-58), Royal Futura 800, Royal FP (a larger heavy, standard desktop machine), the late 50's Smith-Corona 5 series (Clippers, Sterlings, Silent Supers). There were a few later in the 60s and 70s, but they're more difficult to find in the US and aren't as solid. These aren't rare typewriters, but generally because the collector's market likes color, you should expect to pay a $50-150 premium for pink in most online markets. Professional shops are much less likely to charge this sort of premium on pink unless it's for a machine they've had to strip down and repaint. (See also: https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1kw5jxh/what_are_your_thoughts_on_these_and_the_prices/)

For colloquial experience from a typewriter hunter from the Los Angeles area, I'll say I've been looking for a Cameo Pink smooth Royal FP for over a year and finally found one in solid, but restorable shape for $35, but it's taken a year of searching and it'll take a half-day's labor and some parts to clean it up to what a professional shop would consider solid working condition. In that time I've seen maybe half a dozen in online shops sell them in similar rough condition going for anywhere between $100 and $300. For your budget range, getting one from a professional shop is really the best, most economical way to go.

Please note that you positively don't want any of the new pink plastic typewriters made by "Royal Classic" or "We R Memory Keepers" (etc.) which you'll find on Amazon, Michaels, Home Depot, etc. for $200-300. They are dreadful machines, and if you really want one, save the money and buy one from ShopGoodwill.com for $5-15 instead.

If you wanted to go custom in your particular budget range, you might check out Gerren's work at Hot Rod Typewriter Co. where he does some truly gorgeous paint jobs on excellent typewriters. I suspect a pink Olympia SM3 from him would be a thing to behold.

Reply to u/dtja1l at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1l0l6pi/help_finding_a_thoughtful_typewriter_as_a_gift/ with regard to buying a pink typewriter for a birthday present

reply to u/No-Entertainer-7217 at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1k45o89/typewriters_needing_new_ribbons/

"Working but needs new ribbon" is almost always seller's code for I have no idea if it really works, but I'm going to try to sell you this machine for the price of a fully functioning machine that was just serviced by a professional shop despite the fact that I just took it out of grandpa's barn and I'm not sure if the mouse inside is dead or not. Also, I can't afford $10 to replace an old ribbon to truly participate in the charade of the price I'm going to try to fleece you with.

Educate yourself a bit: <br /> - https://boffosocko.com/2025/03/29/first-time-typewriter-purchases-with-specific-recommendations-for-writers/ - buying typewriter ribbon: https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-faq.html#q1 and https://boffosocko.com/research/typewriter-collection/#Typewriter%20Ribbon - typewriter 101: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJtHauPh529XYHI5QNj5w9PUdi89pOXsS

If you want to tell people Tom Hanks taught you to change a typewriter ribbon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBbsNKaVAB0. There are lots of other YouTube videos out there for specific machines as well as reviews of them.

You can definitely test out a machine without ribbon, but if they're trying to charge you over $100 for a machine, it really should have fresh ribbon.

https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1jyu00h/whats_the_manual_typewriter_market_like_in_your/

There's a few things going on here. Generally at SGW a gray Olympia SM3 in excellent "looking" condition like this one will go for $120-150. This one is also hiding a script typeface which will usually add another $110-150 of value, which would put it at the $300 mark. I'm sort of surprised that the original winner didn't actually pay for it at this price as that's likely what someone would honestly pay for one like this. (It's also possible that they forgot they won or didn't know and didn't pay for it in time too.)

On today's listing, it's far, far more likely that someone wants it and either couldn't get it or pay for it now at the price that it was going to go for in a reasonable auction. They used a throw away accout to make an outrageous bid in hopes that in a week it'll be relisted and no one will notice the script typeface and it'll go for well under $200. (It won't.) This happens incredibly frequently for some of the less common typewriters. Usually it's machines with script or uncommon typefaces or uncommon character sets. Recent auctions for a gold plated Olympia SM3 and a Yellow Royal FP with a Gothic typeface come to mind. I've seen this also happen four or five times in a row before someone ultimately pays for a machine at some reasonable price.

Honestly, SGW should have a policy that the second and third runners up for auctions that don't get paid for by winners should have the right of last refusal on auctions like this to prevent this sort of "gaming" of the system. If you search back in this sub, you'll see this topic coming up every couple of weeks with the same discussions over and over. The common wisdom is that a SGW auction isn't gone until the machine doesn't pop up anymore and actually "sold". And even then, if you wait a week or two, you'll usually see the exact machine pop up less than a month later on eBay being listed by the winner for an exorbitant amount (almost always without having done any additional cleaning or restoration work on it aside from maybe dusting it out.)

Maybe we should add the tag #SGWgaming to all these conversations to make them easier to find?

reply to https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1jift5r/listing_on_the_right_was_a_month_ago_listing_on/

reply to u/andrebartels1988 at https://reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1jcsp6t/rant_over_online_sellers/

No, they're either ignorant or actively trying to hide the fact that their machine was bought for $5 at a yard sale and they're trying to match the pricing of pro shops that have cleaned, oiled, adjusted and repaired a machine which far exceeds the misery they're selling because they have absolutely no idea what goes into a good machine.

People doing the work to show type samples and video of their machines are usually far, far more legitimate. These people are also going to give you $2 of new ribbon for free with purchase.

Without a type sample or video, all but the rarest machines aren't worth more than $20.

reply to u/bethcano at https://reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1j3z646/whats_a_fair_price_these_days_for_a_hermes_3000/

In the US I've been seeing them go for around $250 based only on photos without any additional information about whether they work or other condition.

Platforms like eBay and ShopGoodwill.com will allow you to search for actual sales (see the advanced settings) and this will give you a much better picture of what the prices are versus people listing them for several hundred more (usually to match the prices of professional shops that are listing theirs in cleaned, oiled, and adjusted condition). (Remember when shopping: Condition is king!)

See:

• https://shopgoodwill.com/categories/listing?st=hermes%20typewriter&sg=&c=&s=&lp=0&hp=999999&sbn=&spo=false&snpo=false&socs=false&sd=false&sca=true&caed=3%2F5%2F2025&cadb=90&scs=false&sis=false&col=1&p=1&ps=40&desc=false&ss=0&UseBuyerPrefs=true&sus=true&cln=1&catIds=&pn=&wc=false&mci=false&hmt=false&layout=grid&ihp=
• https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=hermes+3000+typewriter&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1

Keep in mind that prices may be dramatically different in your country based on how ubiquitous they were when they were originally manufactured.

Expect to add $150-200+ for script or rarer typefaces, and another \~$150 if the platen has been recovered.

$550 would not be uncommon if purchasing a pica or elite Hermes 3000 with a standard typeface in generally good cosmetic shape that's been professionally cleaned, oiled, and adjusted by a shop.

reply to u/Pope_Shady at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1iwrlij/highest_price_youd_spend/

Generally my cap for typewriter purchases is in the $20-35 range. Most of my favorite machines (the standards) were acquired for $5-10 and they're so much better than the portables. At these prices I'm not too worried about the level of work required. I regularly spend 3-4 times more money on a full reel of bulk typewriter ribbon than I do on a typical typewriter.

A few of my more expensive acquisitions: * I went as high as $100 on a machine (including shipping) to get a Royal Quiet De Luxe with a Vogue typeface that turned out to be in about as stunning a condition as one could hope for. * I went to $130 on an Olympia SM3 in part for it's Congress elite typeface as well as an uncommon set of mathematical characters. I'm sure I could have gotten it for significantly less, but wanted to help out the seller and it was in solid condition except for worn bushings. * I also went to around $150 for an (uncommon in the US) early 30's Orga Privat 5 that was in solid shape. I've yet to run into another Orga in the wild in the US since.

It also bears saying that I don't mind buying "barn machines" as a large portion of the fun in collecting for me is cleaning, adjusting, and restoring them to full functionality. I've been dissapointed once to have bought a Remington Quiet-Riter once for $10 only to discover it was in near mint condition and didn't need any work at all.

I am at the point where I'm going to need to start selling machines, work at a local shop, or start my own shop if I'm going to keep up with the "hobby" and maintain a sane spouse simultaneously. If I didn't enjoy wrenching on machines so much, I would definitely be buying them from local shops for significantly more money, and I'd probably have far fewer.

It's not talked about in great length in some typewriter collector spaces, but I think some of the general pricing "game", beyond just getting a "deal", is the answer to the questions: "What am I into this space for anyway? What makes it fun and interesting?" If you don't have the time, talent, tools, or inclination to do your own cleaning and restoration work, then paying $300-$600 for a nice machine in exceptional clean/restored condition from a shop is a totally valid choice and shouldn't be dismissed. Some are in it for the discussions of typewriters. Some are in it for the bargain hunt. Some just want to write. Some want rare gems. Some want common machines from famous writers. Others just want one "good" machine while others want all the machines. It's a multi-faceted space.

https://www.catawiki.com/en/s?q=typewriter

Typewriter Market: It may be better if you didn't get an Olympia SM3 typewriter today.

I'm not out to shame people for their purchases, just to caution uninitiated typewriter purchasers and budding collectors who aren't carefully watching the market.

Olympia SM3s are well-touted and excellent typewriters. They've recently been selling on ShopGoodwill in unknown condition for $120-150 based only on photos.

Earlier today, an Olympia SM3 sold for $334! So what gives? Why did this go for over twice as much as the average? To the uninitiated, the seasoned collector can look at this machine carefully and realize that even without seeing a type sample or a close up photo of the slugs that this machine is quietly hiding a script typeface of some kind. This means that two bidders would have paid an almost $200 premium for a script typeface, and one of them managed to snipe it for $1 with minutes left. Generally I see script machines going for $100-150 over similar machines without script.

Sadly, the high price on this machine earlier in the day may have suckered others into thinking these machines are significantly more valuable as it seems two other Olympia SM3s right after it both went for:<br /> * $202.03 https://shopgoodwill.com/item/222707079 * $202.03 https://shopgoodwill.com/item/222546519

And they were bid over 200 by the same two people while the "smarter" money stopped with bids at $137 on both.

Of course, neither of these later two machines have a script face, but at least two bidders were potentially reeled in by the much higher sales price of the script machine earlier in the day. This means that they've overpayed at least $50 above market for each, possibly thinking that they may have gotten a great deal. Sadly they didn't, they just overpayed the market average. The person who was sniped on both managed to save themselves $100+ today because I imagine they'll be able to get equivalent machines in the coming month for closer to under $150.

Incidentally another later Olympia portable (usually in the $75-120 range) earlier in the day went for a more reasonable $232 with a stated/photographed cursive typeface: https://shopgoodwill.com/item/222546740 This one was a stronger deal in the current market as they only paid about $110 above average for that machine to get the script typeface. The tough part is that because the description stated "cursive", they didn't have the benefit of possibly picking up a script machine with less competition.

While this is an interesting microcosm example of the current (overheated?) typewriter market (at least in the US), I hope all the buyers of these machines enjoy their purchases. If they're your first Olympias, and they need some work to get back to fighting shape, I've put together a guide: https://boffosocko.com/2024/07/14/aggregated-resources-and-playlist-for-a-crash-course-on-the-olympia-sm3-portable-typewriter/

syndication link

reply to u/Jbhusker at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1hk15pf/the_frenzy_continues_where_does_it_end/ on an old and rough looking Underwood No. 3 from 1927

The shipping price is suspicious as even Shopgoodwill wouldn't ship it for that low. I do notice some online sellers playing games between machine pricing and shipping. They'll often price a machine lower than "market" and then make up for it with an astronomical shipping price. This example seems to have gone the other way, which may help some novice typewriter purchasers who wouldn't understand that this is a 30# machine.

What's going on in this example does present some interesting analysis of the current market.

Possibilities driving the price here: - Week before Christmas and someone is burning spare cash on a decorative/nostalgic present at the last minute. (I've noticed prices on everything going up in the last two months at a greater than usual clip. I suspect things will come crashing down a bit after the New Year.) - It was photographed well. - Included a video of it actually typing as proof that it "works". - It has the look of having been cleaned up despite the look of old patina which was left to make the machine show its age. Look at the exterior screws which appear cleaned/refinished while portions of the exterior don't. In fact, the underlying servicer (Adam of Brooksaw Antiques) seems to specialize in servicing machines to working order but leaving lots of age and patina on them almost as if they're being aged up on purpose. They've got lots of examples on a variety of socials as well as presences on Etsy and Ebay, which speaks to some level of experience. Given the appearance of experience here, I'd bet the machine shows up in the condition it was shipped. - "New ink" decreases the stress of the buyer on finding it themself (potentially a $30-50 value to the customer) and it only cost the seller $2, because I'm dead certain they bought it in bulk. - The eBay reviews of this shop are stunning over 931 items. The lowest is a 4.9 out of 5, which I'm guessing is someone dinging them on shipping price from an earlier sale where they had more realistic shipping numbers on large standards. - "Military Sand" may possibly have been misinterpreted as this being a mill. It is a great marketing name for the color in any case. - I would guess that the purchaser is buying this as a single showpiece for nostalgia's sake. They're getting the bonus that it works. (Like Kirk, I'm not a big fan of the refurb paint on these.) - Its the week before Christmas...

And this is where you see how the condition of a machine comes into play when pricing is being considered. A $700 machine has had several hours of cleaning and potential reconditioning, parts, repairs, oiling, and adjusting done. At $700 and given it's age, I'd also want to ask if they've replaced the platen. Compare this with a dirty, old machine that's going to need those same hours of work, attention, parts, and new rubber, to bring it up to par and it's definitely not going to fetch the same price.

And this is exactly what is wrong with 95% of the market: most buyers and sellers have no idea what they've got, much less the condition it's in or the work that it takes to bring these back to life for another 50-75 years. Thus they price their dirty, and rough machines at the same prices as the repair shops thinking they're going to make a mint. Apparently they're all hoping some sucker who doesn't know better will buy it.

Remember: Dante has a special circle of hell for those who buy typewriters for pennies on the dollar and flip them on eBay without doing any work on them.

They're looking at what others online are listed for (and not what they've actually sold for) to set their price. They probably have no idea what the typewriter market is like and what the value of their machine really is based on a variety of factors including make/model, condition, servicing, extras, typeface. Unless their machine has an exceptionally rare typeface (usually adds $80-150) or has a brand new rubber (usually adds 30-40 for new feet) or a new platen ($100-180), then in its current condition it's probably not worth more than $50.

Once you get it, you're going to want to have it cleaned, oiled, and adjusted which will run you several hours of labor and materials at a repair shop at $50-75 per hour. It may also need one or two replacement parts.

If talking to them about the price doesn't bring it down significantly then you should pass on it. If you're not up to cleaning, adjusting, oiling a machine yourself, your best bet is to purchase something from a repair shop that already is. You'll have a far better experience. https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-repair.html

For comparison here's some similar machines professionally cleaned, serviced, with new ribbons and a 3 month warranty from $240-350 with some of the price depending on particular model and desirability of color. https://reeselectronics.com/search.php?search_query=smith+corona+silent&x=0&y=0

If you've got money to burn then maybe it's worth $180 to you, but if that's the case then get something in much nicer condition from a repair shop.

reply to u/EmergencyFirst7634 at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1gcyayc/this_a_good_buy/

reply to u/NoDoctor4602 at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1fjrjns/ive_spent_a_few_days_searching_for_any_concrete/

In the mid to late-1950's and after several typewriter manufacturers made limited runs of gold plated typewriters for special anniversaries or for bonuses to salespeople. They're uncommon, but not rare. I've seen at least 6 or seven pop up on auction sites in the last 6 months. If you really want one, watch the lower end of Facebook Marketplace, ShopGoodwill, Craigslist, et al. where one will assuredly pop up for a much more reasonable price. I'm not sure if it was this one or another I've seen since April, but one of these went up for sale on ShopGoodwill.com recently and sold for about $600. A week later it was listed on eBay for several thousand just like this one. Given the timeframe, I doubt they spent any time cleaning, oiling, or adjusting it in any fashion—it was a pure flip. I've also seen this recently with Royal typewriters with a less common, but highly collectible Vogue typeface: a Royal P sold for about $900 there and was listed on eBay shortly after for over $1,500 with no indication that it was cleaned or adjusted. (If you watch some of the sites carefully, you can pick up a Vogue machine for under $100 easily enough depending on the type and condition.)

In my mind, as a collector, I'd try to find one in the wild and clean it up or I'd want it in stunning restored condition for over $2k. You might be just as well off picking up a working model for $100-$150 and gold plating the pieces yourself. It would probably be cheaper in the long run and you'd have a better machine in better condition. Some sucker with money to burn will eventually buy a Gold Olympia SM3 for over $2,000.

Here's a vew posts/videos as examples of gold plated machines:<br /> - A video of another Gold Olympia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnUHgyABjw0<br /> - Royal QDL https://typespec.com/weve-got-gold-in-them-thar-hills/<br /> - https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kasbah-mod-typewriters_n_1453776

If you're looking for something great that you'll use, I recommend visiting a repair shop that has some stock to try out some machines to see if you'd like their touch/fee/aesthetics first. Visiting a type-in or two might give you some experience with a wide variety of typewriter models as well. Then try to find a rare or exceptional version that's worth putting some money into. Why put so much into an Olympia if it turns out you're an Olivetti, Royal, or Smith-Corona person? https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-repair.html (I desperately love Royals, but Smith-Coronas and Remingtons are much more forgiving of my mediocre typing technique, a fact which pains me dearly and cost a few hundred dollars and some sweat equity in cleaning and tuning machines to discover). Incidentally, I'll mention that for about $2,000 you could easily purchase a wide variety of about two dozen machines (even with shipping) and be able to get something truly exceptional in terms of condition and function.

Incidentally, the higher prices of $250-600 for repaired/refurbished/restored machines being sold by repair shops are usually what Harry Beercan is using as a pricing guide when he's selling his grandmother's musty, broken, old typewriter online not knowing that several hundred dollars in labor and parts has been calculated into the selling price.

Typewriter Collection Curation (for Novices) by [[Just My Typewriter]]

Typically in this sub, when people ask, "Is it worth it?" the presumption is that they're buying it to use for themselves. You left out your context of buying it to sell until later. This means that once you've cleaned things up, and go to try to sell it for something above $40, people are going to show up here and ask that same question. When they do, the answer is going to be that it's far too expensive, especially with shipping which is notoriously tricky, expensive, and risky.

You'll be sitting there with a typewriter that you don't care enough about to have known anything about it or if it had any particular value. This also probably means that you don't know enough about what goes into cleaning and properly adjusting a typewriter either. If someone is a sucker enough to pay the crazy mark up, it means that someone who wants to try out a typewriter will be buying a sub-par machine and have a sub-par experience.

unposted reply to u/DistributionPure6051 at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1dqr02l/is_this_worth_it/<br /> (Most of context is hiding because of downvoting)

reply to u/EquivalentHead3589 at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1cbzx1n/how_do_you_price_typewriters/

The primary difference is that listing prices don't indicate actual value. That is only determined by actual sales price. Things are worse for the listings which don't indicate much about condition as you're probably more likely to need to have the machine serviced and/or replace or recondition parts. This can often add a few hundred dollars (or significant research and time, tools, and elbow grease) to the bottom line to be able to use a machine.

I do recall a burgundy Olympia SM3 which sold in the last 4 months for right at $300 which was regularly used (loved) and serviced and in excellent condition with some fantastic photos. If you compare it to this Burgundy/Gray machine (https://www.ebay.com/itm/404901285037) for $299, but which has a missing key cap, and a damaged case, and may likely have other hiding issues. If you consider that you'll likely need to put a minimum of another $100 into this to get it up to the fighting shape that the first was in and it's still got damage, you'll start seeing the stark difference. The people with listings at $550-800 know they're not selling and they're just sitting there, so why not email them and ask more specific questions about condition and get a typed typeface sample of all the keys. Then make an offer for $200 +/- with some wiggle room for service costs once you've gotten it to see if they'll sell?

As an example, look at https://www.ebay.com/itm/226016437104 which is a Gray SM3 originally listed for $549 and now on sale for $428. The seller knows it's not moving. They state that they got it at an estate sale (probably for around $25) and they definitely did no work other than quick check of the keys. If you demonstrate that you've savvy enough to know the specific machine (what shape are the rubber washers on the frame next to the feet to prevent the carriage from rubbing against the frame? how what is the durometer measurement on (how hard is) the platen?), the market (in top shape maybe $300), and what servicing/repair costs are, they'd probably accept an offer of $150-200 and you're off to the races and they've made a solid profit.

The biggest issue in the typewriter market at present is the broad lack of information and knowledge about them on both the buyer and seller side. If you can demonstrate you've got more knowledge than the other side, you'll be in a far better position to negotiate, otherwise a seller can sit and wait an undetermined amount of time waiting for a sucker who will likely never show up.