what would you sell this for
 

I have an old Singer machine that looks a little rough. It has a bent wood case. It sews like a dream I mean the stitches as very even and nice. I need to get a new o-ring for the bobbin winder. My husband clean up the motor and it runs nicely. I don't know the model number or how to find out what it is. I was wondering if any of you could give me advice on what it is worth. If you were in the market for one what would you be willing to pay. I would apprieciate any help or advice you could give.
Thanks Dixie

According to the serial number..if I read it right...it is a 1926 model. They do have some listed on e bay with price ranges all over the place. Maybe that could give you a starting point.

how do I tell what year it is by the serial number

thats a neat sewing machine

You have a very nice model 99 commissioned on July 8, 1926. Looks like the handle has been replaced on the bentwood top, and the decals could be in better shape....but the important part is that the machine works VERY nicely! :)

As for what you should ask for it? It all depends on what the machine means to you and what it's worth to you...keeping in mind that if the machine has sentimental value, that particular value does not translate into retail value. (In other words, it may be worth more to you than to others.) I wouldn't pay more than about $35 for it...and that would be because of the decal damage, and because I don't have an emotional attachment to the machine.
You can go to ISMACS.net and look up the serial number here:
http://www.ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/serial-numbers/singer-sewing-machine-serial-number-database.html

Where did you get the machine? :)

I bought a Singer featherweight and this one together. So there's not much sentimental value just love the way it sews I have many featherweight and really don't need this one.

If you're going to post it on Craig's list, put a $75 price tag on it...and be willing to negotiate. :)

Yup, I agree with Charlee. I would pay around $30.

Dixie, there is a website devoted strictly to vintage Singer machines. Offhand I don't have the wesbiste, sorry. But I am 99% certain it is in a Yahoo Group. If you search the Yahoo groups for vintage machine groups, you will find it. There is a lot of expertise and nice folks there that will give you expert advice.

Actually, the Vintage Singer group will not allow any posts to ask the "worth" of machines. You will get a very nasty e-mail from the moderators. They have a lot of "rules" and beware if you don't follow them. I know this first hand! :<

Yeah, me too...lol!

Vintage Singers group does have rules--and they are clearly stated on pricing. there is such a wide area of prices, depending on the condition, that no one could be expected to give you a price. and areas of the country differ also.
but---ask these people any question on operation, cleaning, fixing, and they will bend over backwards to help you.
so many years of expertise in that group !!

Quote Originally Posted by Candace View Post
They have a lot of "rules" and beware if you don't follow them. I know this first hand! :<


Yea! me three! . . .and I was following their rules and still got barked at.

Yup. I just lurk now and will never post again. I understand there are rules, but the utter rudeness and nastiness of the moderators there turned me off completely. I made the mistake of posting a thank you for your help-gasp, not allowed. And then I didn't trim a post to her satisfaction and was sent a flaming message about it. Nope, I don't need dictators or thread nazis in my life. LOL! I agree, the information and the members are great, it's the one moderator there, in particular that needs a chill pill.

Miss Dixie, is this the machine I was using for the hat making? I can't believe $30.00? $75.00 is awful cheap in my thought.

Finding the value is very tough. You may have to go by what you see locally over time. (That bentwood case is worth more than $30 on ebay Charlee) A working machine - depends on a lot. Has it been serviced? cleaned and oiled? Have cords been replaced? I know you CAN buy the machines inexpensively in some parts of the country - other places it is a different story. I usually base my prices on what I have in it plus what time I had to put in it. Sometimes I come out on the short end but I chalk it up to learning experience. I'm still less expensive than if you buy it for cheap and then have to take it to a shop just to make it work. If you do the work on it yourself then buy the cheap ones and fix them up - some times you will end up with a machine for parts. If you don't work on them at least educate yourself enough to know what it will need and whether or not any work has already been done. Take some time playing with the machine. I get people who come over and really play with a machine. I LOVE that. Then I get people who pick it up, pay and leave - they worry me. I would say that about any machine you get cheap is GOING to need SOME work - at least the ones I find do. How willing are you to do that work yourself. I know some people look at a vintage machine that needs work and give up - they sell it cheap - then go buy a plastic machine at WM or where ever. The good news is most vintage machines can be made to work and will outlast those new ones every time. I don't blame the Vintage Singer group for not allowing worth posts. It is a dis-service to a well serviced machine to sell it for less than it is worth and it is equally a dis-service to sell one for more than it is worth.... When you look at the machine check to see if it is clean inside and out. Check for lint and dried up yellow oil. Does it turn freely? Is the tension set right? Is there any rust? If it has gears inside are any cracked? No gears? That's ok unless they are missing. Does the machine stitch nice? Does the bobbin winder work? How does the machine sound? Does it purr? roar? click? squeal? smoke? Does it zig and zag? Do all the levers and knobs work? Is the needle going down the center of the hole? I've worked on a few machines and I still am learning new things that can be wrong. I bought a Spartan that looked fantastic - everything checked out. The tension had some drag. I hand turned it and it made a nice stitch. I never plugged it in though. I got home and had nothing to do. I was amazed. Then I thought I would sew a quilt for DGS on it. It would take a stitch or two and nothing. Well, it was a loose tension spring - I had to figure out how to fix it. I'm thankful for good directions on line. It could have cost a hefty service fee. I bet that was why it was in such good shape - maybe it just never was right. Had it been top dollar, my goof there would have been to not spend enough time checking it out and not running it with fabric in it. Don't get me wrong it was still worth what I paid. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder isn't it.

lol yep.....makes you feel a bit like a criminal...ha ha ha

That's a good post and very true, Miriam.

I'm with Charlee here. I have looked at the photos and wouldn't pay more than fifteen quid. Allowing for currency conversion and the fact that machines are cheaper here, we have pitched in at about the same level. Shame it has a motor on it, but I would say that wouldn't I!

Miriam is right when she says that the case alone could cost more. If you want to make money from an indifferent machine then you massacre it and sell off parts separately. But it's a shame to do that if it sews well and someone would be glad of it.

This machine has that beaten up look, often the mark of a good little work horse. 99s make an excellent stitch. Why don't you keep it? Has it got attachments? If so put on the seam guide and try it out for piecing. If it has the underbraider have a go with that... You could have hours of fun with this machine and end up seriously attached to it. It is worth more for what you can do with it than the money you could raise from it.

Good points Miriam, and believe me, I'm not trying to dis the machines that you work so hard on and resell...that wasn't my point at all... I believe Muv said it better than I did....

A GOOD sewing machine, regardless of age, is worth much more than the going market for them. This little 99 is a GOOD machine, however, when folks buy these old black girls, they want "pretty" more than they want function, altho they really want BOTH.

I will say that I've noticed the market for the old machines picking up tremendously in this area. A good thing for the value of the machines I already have, not so good for the machines I would hope to own.... :)

I paid $35 for a similar size machine (a 128) in a bentwood case last December. I wouldn't sell her for less.

Just checked my semi-local Craig's list and they have some very ambitious sellers on there this week - a featherweight for $600 and a New Ideal treadle with no belt and not so good cabinet for $425. The person with the treadle had a comment in his/her ad about it being 'antique enough' for that price!

I would agree, CL is all over the map on prices. Some of those people must be smoking something - it is a good place to pick up a machine for not too much once in a while. However, I have yet to pick one up for not too much that actually works in every way. I've also sold some - I price mine moderately and do ok there. Then some times a really good machine will just sit there. Go figure. I would like to know a place to sell good machines locally.