Rodney

As soon as 401As hit $300+ for average condition machines I'll sell mine. I like it, it's a great machine but I have others that will do pretty close to the same job.
These people that "researched" their machines usually don't have clue. I think they're just grabbing at numbers without finding the actual facts. Actual research would take more effort than most sellers are willing to commit to.
There's a huge difference between asking prices and selling prices. I've watched some machines on Craig's List sit for a year with no takers. They weren't even overpriced either. There's also a big difference between machines that have been stored in the garage for 20 years with nothing done for them and ones that are freshly serviced and ready to go.
Unless a machine is truly rare or has a good reputation outside vintage circles it just isn't worth a lot.
Rodney

DonnaFreak

Well y'all...I spoke too soon! I was sitting in the parking lot at the grocery
store when I sent my last post, and decided to go to just one more yard sale, since it
was on my way home anyway. As I slowly drive by it I asked DH, "Hey! Was that a
sewing machine cabinet I saw sitting back there"? He hadn't noticed, so I turned
around and went back and parked. Sure enough, it WAS a cabinet with a JC Penney
machine in it! There is a big gap at one end of the machine, so it's obviously
not the right machine for the cabinet. But then I noticed a portable case that
was hidden behind the cabinet and asked if it had a machine in it too. It did,
and it was an Atlas!! I realize that it looks pink in the pic, but it's actually tan.
And...drum roll please...I got both of them for $40!!! The JCP doesn't have a foot peddle
with it and neither have attachments, but still!! And if I'm not mistaken, I THINK the Atlas
will fit into the cabinet! So it was a pretty productive day after all!!! This brings me up to 9
machines now, but I am NOT a collector! I am NOT a collector! I'm NOT...wait a minute. I don't have
a pink one yet! I'd sure like to have a hand crank too.....

Donna

tessagin

Made out like a fat rat anyway!! Woohoo!. I paid $150.00 for my 401a in a cabinet and had the manual and attachments. It is in very good condition. Just cuz some one is listing or asking $xx for it doesn't mean they'll get it. Like they say, It's only worth as much as someone will pay for it and often become nothing more than doorstops.

Macybaby

Nice -especially that Atlas!

DH and I came home with an armload of quilting fabric, but no sewing machines. Saw quite a few, and some at good prices, but none we wanted to bring home.

Though the 15-88 treadle was very tempting ($30) but I already have a treadle base like that, and I have more 15's than I need.

Tomorrow we are heading out again in a different direction, and will hit a few thrift/antique shops on the way.

Jeanette Frantz

I'm sure everyone knows I'm not an expert on these vintage machines -- I just love them. There are two things that really turn off my interest in a machine: 1 - photographs depicting only the back side of the machine; and 2 - a price that seems way too high for me. I'm not interested in going bankrupt over "A" machine! LOL!

Jeanette

morganfam7

Congrats on your deals! I have a pink Atlas that looks like yours.

elnan

We went to an estate sale where I looked at some sewing machines that a friend had alerted me to. On a small glassed-in side porch were two old singers in cabinets, frozen up with rust and the cabinets falling apart, $125 each. The wife of the nephew was running around with a small computer, checking the price online of each and every object. We had passed a boat in the yard that my husband took an interest in, but didn't say anything, just followed me in. I picked up an old Kenmore portable sitting under some stuff, the handle crumbled apart, split right in the middle when I tried to pick it up. I've looked at a lot of old Kenmores in cases, but never had a handle break, even on the ones where the latches were rusted shut. The woman kept telling me it was something aunt spent a lot of money on to have something to carry around, etc. She had not known the machine was even there until I pulled it out. When she started again with that computer, I started to leave, telling her I'd pay $10. She took it. Freeing that machine up took several days, never could free the bobbin winder and broke it in the process. I offered to wait while my husband asked about the boat, but after witnessing the computer and online pricing, said no.

Rodney

Nice get on the Atlas! I think it might be Brother made. I just tore apart a cabinet that's very similar to the JCP one. That one had a Japanese made White in it.

Elnan old boats and sewing machines have a lot in common. If your husband likes old fiberglass ones he can fill up your yard for free. I wouldn't mind internet pricing "research" so much except everyone thinks their boat anchor is solid gold. They go for the highest price regardless of condition, accessories, reality, etc.
Rodney