Originally Posted by
Rodney
If you place a value on your time: No.
Let's say you start with a $20 thrift store machine that looks like it's decent but average. You get it home, spend 2 hours cleaning it and checking it out, then spend another $10 on a belt and bobbin tire. At this point you have $30 invested not including gas or cleaning materials. You might be lucky to get $50 for the machine afterward. Yes, you made $20 at that point but how much effort did you put into it?
You can make some money sometimes if you luck into a machine that has a higher resale value than average but mostly people who flip machines do it because they love playing with them. It gives them a chance to mess with more machines than otherwise and maybe even cover some of the costs of their hobby.
As far as making money, you're better of working at McDonald's.
Rodney
I totally agree. I use my SMA as a hobby. Sometimes I find machines in really good condition and I sell them for more than I paid for them but that doesn't happen very often. I tinker with these machines to keep my brain actively working along with my jigsaw puzzle addiction, hoping in the long run to avoid alzheimers disease. I do not expect to get rich or even have a small income from this hobby. I have on occasion purchased a sought-after model at an estate sale and after a little cleaning and maintenance have sold it for quite a bit more than I purchased it for but these situations are very rare