Diana Lea

If there is not a lot of money to be made with flipping machine, is there money in repairing them for others?

J Miller

Yes there is. But you have to set your prices and stick to them. And all repairs are + parts. Never give the parts away, and always charge more for them than you paid for them.

Joe

KalamaQuilts

I paid my OSMM (old sewing machine man) $69.00 to go through my 15 clone, and with parts it came to $125.00.
Would I do it again? No. Way to easy and far less expensive to double check a machine before buying and make sure it works. That's just my opinion though, I'm not a collector a tall.

The two shops locally that sell new machines wouldn't touch a vintage, I've asked numerous times I can't get my featherweight to run right anymore and I think it's in the motor.

Rodney

There's always a market for competent repair people. The downside is that you're dealing with other people's machines and they're going to be looking for fast turnarounds. That means your time is no longer your own.
Rodney

jlhmnj

Flipping machines involves a good deal of experience and knowledge of the market, a machine sold locally might be worth 3 to 4x's more on a National market. In GENERAL your lucky to break even by the time you figure time and expenses but some stuff is worth the effort. In my area I was able to buy 15-91's and 201-2's for between $25-$50 and sell for $90-$225 on ebay depending on condition. Most of these needed rewiring so there was a lot of work involved. At the time I loved chasing and repairing the old machines and this was a fun sideline.

Repairing involves knowledge of the mechanics of various machines. A good way to gain this knowledge is to repair machines and "flip". Do your homework, buy a few machines you love that you think you might make a few bucks on, and see what happens.

Jon

Sunflowerzz

Another aspect is if you repair a machine for someone and charge for it liability enters unto the operation. You can repair a machine for someone that does not know about machines and you get it running perfectly for them they take it home and immediately mess it up. They do not understand the way it all goes together to work with the tensions, needle sizes, fabrics, threads and even sewing speeds. Some machines are much easier to mess up than others...

They may say you never fixed it right or even that you RUINED IT!, and hold you responsible even though it is clearly not your fault. So you will need to be able to deal with happy customers, and the liability of unhappy ones .
I would choose to repair machines and then sell them, which I have done and it works out quite well. Am I making a lot of money..NO. But it is fun and rewarding and I keep the ones I really like for my collection.

tessagin

People think because I sew, I know how to fix/repair. Some fixes are easy but when it comes to a repair, I tell them to see who the nearest repairman is that can repair that particular machine. To me a fix is something you can figure out but a repair is very different. If all else fails according to the manual, call a repairman.

xxxxxxxxxx

I once read on the net a lady stating it takes her 23 hours to tear down clean and put back together your standard simple singer machine, so like a 27, 66 , 15 model. I thought oh H$$ no. ok I timed myself , OH dang on me. my time was 24 1/2 hours. opps.

Ok I do know one guy, he has a lifetime in the SM repair bis, he must be late to mid 50's, did most of this in a major city, today he has a small shop in a small town, He is noting but vintage machines, I say vintage not antique, because what I see on the floor and customer bring in, what he has for sale are all less than 50 years old, so this mean mutli function machines aka dash board white beard box machines, you will see a few of what talked about on this site, or saying black n gold.

In asking him, the BnG machines are not big sellers,/ money makers. only machines he sells that I ask the price on was Pfaff 130's he targets $500.

yep that ol liability deal another example, a lady came in here madder than a wet hen. she took her machine in for service. they did the service, charged her machine was working .. her anger was, they didn't shine and polish the machine body, it looked the same as it was. in other words she want a wash and waxed job, not a oil change, she didn't care if it worked she wanted pretty. HAD THEY CHARGED HER $65 AN HOUR to make it pretty, oh boy there would have been 10x's the wet hen maddness. $650 wax job LOLOL

now he has antique parts, from machines at home, up till I met him never kept those parts in the store. He all but gives me the parts. example slide plates and needle plates for a singer 128, $1 each inculding a black side plate. Bobbin case springs free. I see him sell motors with wiring and foot pedal for $20

I'm sure he rents the building, you know thats at $2000 a month, then city bis license water sewer garbage phone gas food and TP. all over head. toss in SM oil solder , and a candy bar, how much a month is that ?

he makes it and has been there for years. so it can be and is happening. I feel you see more people opening shops catering to old machine only..

I have people asking me all the time, I know very well I could do a in home repair service, cut all the overhead. but would only make play money, who knows maybe come across a barn full of 1853 singers.


flipping machines warning wil, stop using that phrase, flipping = ripping, patching to turn a buck = junk yard jane.

Rehoming ( easier on the pocket book) = doing your part to>>> save <<<the old machine

Vridar

Totally agree with this. One of the reasons for the newer dial your poison and tension machines is that most people don't understand the stitch making process. And most vintage machines require this knowledge to adjust tensions, know lubicating requirements thread and needle sizes, etc. Repairing full time with fortitude to charge accordingly is a must.

Wanabee Quiltin

I think it depends on where you live. Here in the St. Louis area, a very old city and quite large, we have enough sewing machines to put one in everyone's house in the state. I think everyone wants a good repairman to fix their machine, but you better know what and how to do it right or they won't come back.