10 Responses to Typewriter Bone is Never Wrong – But Sometimes Thrift Stores Get Greedy

1. Richard K/Texas says:

   October 28, 2011 at 2:40 pm

   That’s the down side to some of this renewed interest in these machines-people who don’t know typewriters can be so very far off of what they’re worth. Plus, they seem to think that if they hit the keys and they move and the carriage goes back and forth that all is fine. I’d sure like to have that Remington electric that you show on the right hand column for the Phoenix Round Up! Thanks for sharing your thoughts-

   Reply
   • munk says:

     October 28, 2011 at 2:56 pm

     it was pretty weird. I had to have an attendant unlock the case so I could look, and he hovered over me like I was about to snatch a 40 pound hunk of metal and dash out the front door. Wouldn’t let me take pictures either. ):

     Reply
2. Richard P says:

   October 28, 2011 at 5:02 pm

   $¢£€! I sure hope that isn’t a trend. At the St. Vinnie’s in my neck of the woods I’ve recently found a Lettera 22 for $5 and an SM9 for $6.

   Reply
3. I dream lo-tech (Ton S.) says:

   October 28, 2011 at 7:22 pm

   Bummer, that’s not good. I hope thrift stores are not starting to peg prices based on greedy etsy.

   Reply
4. peter says:

   October 28, 2011 at 7:28 pm

   wow that’s awful! you should have kept up a running commentary on everything wrong with the Corona.
   @richard: did we ever see pics of that L22?

   Reply
5. munk says:

   October 28, 2011 at 7:46 pm

   So far it’s just the Deseret store, which isn’t a chain. If Goodwill starts it up, I will shed tears of sadness. Deseret was bad enough. I got at least 3 or 4 very nice $5 machines there, Moneypenny, Bogart and Roger Sterling inclusive.

   Reply
6. Vintage Technology Obsessions (Dwayne F.) says:

   October 28, 2011 at 8:10 pm

   It’s really spotty around here. A local Salvation Army had a pretty hammered (been out in the rain) Royal standard rotting on the shelves for weeks with a $30 price on it. Last week I picked up a pretty nice Western Auto branded Brother at the same store for $4.

   I am seeing more of the good stuff identified at thrift stores and put in the locked case at a premium. They aren’t very good a setting prices or identifying what is actually good. Sometimes it looks like an ebay search turned up an optimistic price and sometimes an item will be randomly low or high.

   With cold weather coming, there will be little new stuff turning up anywhere until the spring thaw.

   Reply
7. Mike.Speegle says:

   October 28, 2011 at 11:47 pm

   That’s BS man. Vegas thrift shops are the same way. Goodwill only ever had beat-to-shite Royals at like $50 per.

   Reply
8. Rob says:

   October 29, 2011 at 8:06 am

   So I stick with Russian Roulette on UK eBay. Never bid too much, stay local – for pick-ups – and keep a disinterested detachment from the auction proceedings. You lose more than you win (phew!) but there’s not much connection between quality and price. Except the occasional Hermes and Oliver and, for some reason, Lettera 22s…

   Reply
9. Adwoa says:

   October 29, 2011 at 12:06 pm

   I think if the thrift shops and flea markets here started asking $50 a machine (which was about the average price at Retro Technica, now that I think of it, although there are enough good-enough deals to balance out the are-you-kidding prices), I would be far more keen on the internet auction sites. Which I still am, of course, although I try not to do it too often knowing that whatever I want will eventually surface in Geneva (and then I won’t have to worry about shipping cost/ damages).

   Reply