Candace

Really, it depends on condition, attachments and the area you live in...they are increasing in price. We live in the same area. I'm also in N. CA If you can get one in the $100 range with a nice table or case and attachments, you're doing pretty well. The longbeds and black longbeds especially will fetch more than the mocha shortbeds.

vintagemotif

Nancy, there is a black 301 selling on ebay for around $152 with 7 bids. It ends after the one you are interested in.
I agree that at least a no thank you should be sent.

vintagemotif

I noticed that folks are asking way to high right now. I'm seeing prices over $200 for treadles and machines that are missing parts. Most of these machines are NOT selling, even at the low range of less than $100.

nurseknitsLaura

Uhm...you don't like my writing? You think I should, as Mr Strunk says:"omit unnecessary words"? I am thinking- no hoping that this is just a joke? I reckon it must be, because why else would you reply to my happy, chatty comments on my vintage machine and quilting life with the title of a grammar classic? Laura

nurseknitsLaura

I'm wondering if the high prices we are seeing are related to the economy. Perhaps the sellers are feeling the need to raise some money, and are setting their price accordingly. If you don't really want to sell something, I think the tendency is to price it high and sit on it. I had friends with featherweights that did that a few years back. They didn't really want to sell the machines, but it seemed silly to not take $500 or something for it. So, they priced them high and stuck to their price.

The trendy clothing store All Saints also decorates their stores with hundreds of machines, and they pay about $50 a machine, running or not. I think they bear some of the blame for the sharp increases in price. Just my thoughts on the subject. Laura

vintagemotif

Laura,

I have noticed that when the stocks fall, then the machine prices seem to go up. Doubt that is true, and nobody is going to get rich on selling vintage sewing machines.

I also doubt that prices are going up because of All Saints or even this site. Folks are just looking for items to sell. There are some good souls that are giving away machines for either free or cheap. They know that they will not get rich from selling a machine, but it could pay for a nice lunch or dinner.

I believe that some look at the ebay prices and think that they can get the same on CLs.

I have a Two Spools that I picked up for $30. A month later, a Two Spools sold on ebay for ~$650, just machine head. I have another Two Spools in parlor cabinet that I paid $150. For me, that was a good deal since I didn't own a treadle cabinet for the first Two Spools. Now for someone else that may have been too high a price.
Deals are out there to be found at either garage sales or CLs. One has to be patient in finding the deals and living in the correct location. Unless you are Pat, and you are willing to drive across the country picking up machines.

I love wandering around CLs posts looking for the deals or interesting machines, like the Weed machine in PA that I posted the other day. For me, that machine is too high a price, but for some collector that might just be an excellent deal. One man's junk is another man's treasure. Whatever makes one happy!!!

vintagemotif

Laura, Why did you use Martha Stewart paint on the HC? Does that paint finish have a similar look to that blue machine that you had at the Turlock TOGA? Or does it have more of a machine/car paint look?

vintagemotif

Fancy place to store the trash, or maybe that is sewing patterns in that basket:
Opps, that's the manual.
http://fredericksburg.craigslist.org/atq/2924282258.html

vintagemotif

This is a pretty machine and treadle, just that I didn't realize that the Art Deco period has moved to the late 1800s.

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/atq/2934461483.html

Muv

[QUOTE=BoJangles;5178091

Muv, beautiful Wilcox and Gibbs! I have two of those babies, but neither one is a hand crank! One of mine is a treadle, the other electric!

Nancy[/QUOTE]

Hello Nancy,

Nice to hear you have a couple of little Willcox & Gibbs machines. Have you got one of those hilarious treadles with the giant footprints? Also I've seen a picture of one with a motor, which I would be too terrified to touch. Have you ever got them stitching? Mine has the needle fitted, a very short little thing which I expect is impossible to replace, so I'm not sure if it's even worth trying to get it working. It's very stiff, but nothing a clean up and oiling wouldn't cure.