Help selling a 10 ER

[bobbi]

I have a 10 ER that belonged to my Dad, purchased in the mid 1950s. I need to get it out of the Garage and I'm looking for suggestions
on how/where best to sell it. I'm in Southern California (Orange County) and I've posted it on Facebook and Craigslist for several surrounding counties and nothing yet.

It's in pretty good shape but missing the saw arbor. I've also got a speed changer which I removed since the bearing is a bit tight. I was planning to sell this separately since I understand these are kind of rare and easy to ship.

I have the 10 ER offered for $225 obo.

Any Thoughts, suggestions, etc. would be appreciated.

bob

[DLB]

I'm going to tell you what you probably don't want to hear. Southern Cal is a buyers market on used Shopsmith equipment and has been for a long time. And $225 for a used Model 10 with no speed changer is a comparatively high price. IIWM I'd lower the price and see if that generates interest. Your machine appears to be in above average condition and I'm sure you are reaching the right audience between FB Marketplace and CL. Alternatively you might include the speed changer, either refurbished or with notes as to its condition. I don't think I would use the term 'rare' to describe a speed changer, but they are a valuable component. And most buyers would know this.

- David

[jpdalton]

An expression I’ve always used to describe any of the older Shopsmith models is the at they’re generally worth less than the sum of the the parts - in other words, selling components can often net more than you could get selling the machine as a whole.

I also recommend people really look hard at their local market for machine sales. It’s not enough to just look at what are probably inflated asking prices, but you need to understand what are machines actually selling for. Also, demand may change over time, so if you need to move it now, you’re not likely going to get top dollar. If you can wait for a bit, more interested buyers will come along, and you won’t need to be so aggressive on the discount.

All in all, a plain 10ER without a speed changer won’t likely command more than $50-100. I do hope you find it a good home - great machines!

[bobbi]

I'm going to tell you what you probably don't want to hear. Southern Cal is a buyers market on used Shopsmith equipment and has been for a long time. And $225 for a used Model 10 with no speed changer is a comparatively high price. IIWM I'd lower the price and see if that generates interest. Your machine appears to be in above average condition and I'm sure you are reaching the right audience between FB Marketplace and CL. Alternatively you might include the speed changer, either refurbished or with notes as to its condition. I don't think I would use the term 'rare' to describe a speed changer, but they are a valuable component. And most buyers would know this.

- David

This is great advice and great intel on the Market in So. Calif. I was not aware that it is indeed a buyers market.

Thanks very much David. I will refigure my approach.

bob

[bobbi]

An expression I’ve always used to describe any of the older Shopsmith models is the at they’re generally worth less than the sum of the the parts - in other words, selling components can often net more than you could get selling the machine as a whole.

I also recommend people really look hard at their local market for machine sales. It’s not enough to just look at what are probably inflated asking prices, but you need to understand what are machines actually selling for. Also, demand may change over time, so if you need to move it now, you’re not likely going to get top dollar. If you can wait for a bit, more interested buyers will come along, and you won’t need to be so aggressive on the discount.

All in all, a plain 10ER without a speed changer won’t likely command more than $50-100. I do hope you find it a good home - great machines!

Also great information and advice thanks very much. I was pretty sure posting on this site/board would be helpful.

You guys are great.

bob

[Real1shepperd]

Late to the party here. I have a friend who has been looking for ShopSmith 10ER's in SoCal for over a year. I have one and was trying to help him. In what I can't explain....the most common scenario was a SS 10ER posted on Craigslist or Facebook at a reasonable price with pictures. He would call them, leave messages, and sometimes, rarely, actually talk to someone. They were either leaving the country on vacation or couldn't be bothered to have him view the item. Insane. It was like a running joke when he told me there was another 10ER available down there.

I'm not a sociologist....I can only guess they inherited one from their dad, uncle, or grandpa. Their family and friends probably told them to post it on Craigslist or Facebook. But they didn't get the rest of the memo that you would actually have to show it or deal with people on some level. We really tried and some nice ones were listed.

So I guess if you had a really nice one cleaned up and were present, you might get $250 or so down there. I figure the speed changer alone is worth $150 to me and the rest of the machine is kind of a bonus if it's not rusted. My friend finally found one up here in the PNW for $100....a 10E. I drove four hrs to get it for him. Now I'm trying to understand the differences between my '53 and this '47 10E.

Kevin

[jpdalton]

I figure the speed changer alone is worth $150 to me and the rest of the machine is kind of a bonus if it's not rusted.

Kevin - I’ve also seen some surprisingly good items sit around for a long time in CA. I picked this up in Orange County this week while on a business trip. I randomly looked at the local Craigslist listings, and there it was… for $75!
.

IMG_4291.jpeg (759.45 KiB) Viewed 7273 times

.
The guy had been listing it for months, dropping the price periodically. Didn’t have a picture in the listing, so not exactly a great marketing job, but still surprising!

Raised a few eyebrows with the TSA during security screening, but made it back no problem…

[Real1shepperd]

Score....nice one!

Mine was completely frozen I got off eBay. I let it sit submerged it in a mix of 50/50 acetone/ATF for three days. Didn't touch it. I gently pressed the parts and freed them. No damage was done, although those alloy sheaves will break quite easily. The big snap ring was missing and the locking nuts. Didn't have any trouble sourcing those.

Yeah, no doubt TSA thought it was a weapon of mass destruction...lol. I forgot to mention there is no shortage of 10Es/10ERs down in SoCal. Probably due to Ground Zero being San Francisco. Move away from that like here in the PNW and they bring more money. The Midwest probably being your peak market. I don't know how many were made at the East Coast plant.

Kevin