I have a 201 (aluminium) for sale at the moment for $120. I wrote about how great the machine is, its history, how much work I put into cleaning and oiling it so it works like new again. Also mentioned that a normal sewing shop will charge $10 more than the asking price just to service it.
Got a reply from some chump offering me $50: Obviously a "low baller", and I've just had enough of these types. This was my reply:

No worries, but I'll have to "un-service" it first so you get what you're paying for: I'll have to make sure the timing's out, re-set the needle height a little, replace the oil with 60 year old rust and dirt and replace all the wax with grime. With the motor and light I'll replace the new wiring with the 60 year old disintegrating stuff (if I can find it in the bin), scrape off the motor grease and add a little grit. Several inches of old thread stuck around the bobbin and a handful of compacted lint should get us back to the typical $50 201 mark.

Let me know if you want the $50 version, or a machine that works.

Yes I know he won't offer to buy it, but it felt good to reply appropriately. :shock:

You might keep a couple around like you just described and if they want to talk you down you can point and tell them you might have something they can afford...

I do have one with a bent neck actually. It's unfixable and always going to be stiff but I'll let it go for $50. Some might say I already let him have it ;)

Haha, that's great. I love it.

Hi all, I'm going to post this on the thread I started about the Singer model 12 but, does anyone know where I can find a bobbin, shuttle and needles for the model 12? I'm going to go look on eBay but I thought you all might know someone that has some or perhaps a website. I checked sew-classic and the model 12 isn't listed.... too old I suspect.

There was a discussion a month or so ago, started by SteveH (now banned unfortunately) about obtaining these needles: I don't believe anyone makes them. Steve discussed having them made by Schmetz. I'll ask him where it's at and get back to you.
Oh, and I should mention it wasn't a profit thing: He wanted people to commit to buying 100 needles at cost price. Shmetz does a minimum run of 5,000

I looked on eBay and can buy the needles. And there are some Schmetz needles listed on eBay as well. They are pricey but obtainable.

Steve H has been banned??? What happened there??? That's hard to believe. He was great at giving us help on cleaning up machines. And he did some fantastic restorations.

He was banned because he mentioned he was wanting to sell some machines at a flea market. Someone asked him where it was and he said he could ship. That has been removed a few pages back.

I will really miss Steve.

Yes, I will miss Steve as well. His information was so helpful.