MadCow333

It's not so strange. I have lived in 4 cities, have always shopped estate and tag sales, have paid attention to used sewing machines since I was a kid in the early '80s. And each location, what comes up for sale correlates well with the age of whomever is retired, recently deceased, or currently downsizing to move to smaller quarters. At various times, I've seen the thrift stores and estate/tag sales awash with Singer shuttle machines in treadles, shuttle heads electrified and put into a '40s/'50s portable case, then black postwar 15/66/201 and a smattering of the various Swing Needles, by early 2000s - 2005 it was 401/403 and Touch & Swears, then some Rocketeers, etc. I never paid much attention to the Whites and Kenmores and Japanese clones. But now I am seeing more '70s zigzags that people my mother's age and the leading edge of Baby Boomers would have bought.

Honestly, I see the progression of models come and go. About the only Singer machines that I'd call rare to find are 301 and Featherweight. People know those are worth money. Rocketeers are popular with the hipsters, due to the styling and their passion for Mid Century Modern decor.

J Miller

Hey There LocoBovine333, I'm not a hipster and I got two Rocketeers. How does that skewer your theory?

I'm just teasing. I haven't seen near what you have seen but I can see where your analysis is sound. Things changed drastically in the years following WW II and the average families disposable income has oscillated greatly and finally taken a great plunge. Those well off don't sew any more, those in the middle don't have the time, and those at the bottom go to WalMart and thrift stores.

Those of us that are left are hoarding the old machines to keep them running and out of the scrap dealers hands.

JMHO

Joe

MichelleP

What would you pay for or ask if selling these machines? I don 't need them and hoping to be able to make the $ back to go toward a treadle.

DonnaMiller

There has been a recent resurgence in White machines. They used to be little orphans, but people have found, restored and moved them up in class because they are good machines and sew well. They are going up in price as more folks have tried them. The Singer 301 used to be cheap and plentiful, but they have become very popular. The same thing is now happening with the Whites. Some of the folks here on this site know where to get manuals and information. I think they can help direct you in that regard. Sew Classic.com has the rubber tires and Tri-flow oil for a start. They also have gear grease too. All the old machines love oil, within reason of course. Never use 3 in one oil as it gets nasty over time. I just rescued a White machine just like the brown one and now need a cabinet for it. I learned to sew on an old White Rotary treadle. All of my school clothes were made on it. Thank you for saving your machines.
Donna

Rodney

The best thing I can tell you about monetary value is to watch Craig's List daily for a while. That will at least give you a feel for what people are asking for old machines. You can also try Ebay's old listings to see what machines similar to yours have actually sold for. Some people ask for crazy amounts of money. There are machines on my local Craig's List that have been sitting for literally a year and are still being listed.
I haven't paid over $25 for a machine yet. I've learned if I'm patient the right one will come along at the right price.
Rodney

Cari-in-Oly

Rodney there are some ads that have literally been there for as long as I've been watching CL, about 5 years. They come and go sometimes, and I've actually seen a couple ads where the sellers have raised the price instead of lowering it. Guess they really don't want to sell.

Cari

MichelleP

Craigslist and this site are two I read almost daily. I've even started looking at areas of other states, even though we don't travel. I've gotten better at our states geography by looking at the map to see where the sewing machines are.
I'm getting a little better at knowing the machines by reading here. I have a lot of question and can usually find some of them already answered and even a tutorial at times.