Found for 800 on Craigslist, a good deal?

[JPG]

Saminmn raises a good point about missing items. The rip fence is essential and it's $161 + S&H. The lathe drive is $32 as I recall. The chisel sets start around $75 for the 5 piece set, again by memory. What seems to be missing now will exceed $300 to replace. The missing parts will add up quickly.

A miter gauge and saw blade/arbor would be helpful as well!:eek:

The jointer is worth $100(blade guard????).

The band saw and belt sander are worth $200 each.

That leaves $500 for the Shopsmith which is 'too much' typically.

So IMHO $800 to too much and $500 would be a 'reasonable' final price.

The ss itself appears to at least be in non corroding condition, but the 'not well maintained' is a concern. Also the refinished comment raises my antennae!

[letterk]

[quote="db5"]Here's a key point to buying something that is expensive on Craigslist (locally):

Have a written contract that includes everything that is being sold and the condition that it is is. You can prepare this in advance and leave several lines to be filled in for the details. Include pictures of what was shown on Craigslist and be prepared to take your own when you see it for documentation.

NEVER let the seller demo things to you. You should do it yourself because the seller knows how to mask problems. NEVER let the seller demo anything for you. He can show it to you and explain it but NEVER let him demo it.

In casual conversation ask where the seller is employed]

I kept waiting for the punch line, but you never got to it?.

[JPG]

Maybe we should beware of buyers bringing documents to 'sign'!:D

[backhertz]

Holy cow. I've never gotten a single receipt for any Shopsmiths or SPT I've ever purchased from an individual. I will agree it is good to personally check something out. For newbies, it might be good to bring a friend along who is familiar.

One 510 I purchased was from a storage place. I think I paid $150 for it. I happened to meet up with a huge Ebay Shopsmith wheeler dealer a week later. He had looked at that same 510 and he said it wouldn't power up, so he assumed the motor was fried and passed on it.

I came along and the guy was in a hurry to leave. <smile> I've been around electronic stuff most of my life and I didn't smell anything fried. I did not know the storage units had power or I would have powered it up. I was more interested in other things. So I loaded it up in about 10 minutes.

I got home, took the belt cover off and blew out 30 years of heavens knows what. Once it was clean, I plugged it in & it powered right up. I believe there was no power in the storage unit. I think the guy figured it was no good and simply wanted a buck and a half, gave me the exit code and high tailed it out of there.

Of the 9 Shopsmiths I've purchased, that was the only one that had a seller who was trying to pull a fast one. I bought a Mazda Protege that way once. The seller wanted $2k under the Blue Book price- about half price of the car. It seemed odd. I was buying something safe & reliable for my daughter. About 30 minutes after driving it, it would go into 'limp home' mode and run terribly. Being electronics literate and a member of the IATN, I got a schematic and started troubleshooting it. I had to watch the CEL blinks to get the code. The code wasn't helpful, so I simply hooked up three of my voltmeters with needle point tips and monitored the three water temperature sensors. All were normal. Well, after 25 minutes, one of them switched from 6-7 volts DC to 13.5 volts DC. Ah ha! The ECU temperature sensor had opened, so I was simply reading across an open. $18 later for a new sensor & the car purred like a kitten until we got rid of it years later. So perhaps it was me taking advantage of the seller… <smile>

I'm an old-school component-level troubleshooter. Has save me a fortune. But I'm from New York and have a sort of spider sense when I meet a weasel.

In April of last year just before I bought a 520 & new bandsaw for $600, I looked at a 510 near my home. The seller had no clue of how a Shopsmith operated. <red flag> So I pulled the belt cover off and showed him where he needed to clean it up and then showed him how to start it at the low speed setting. It had a bandsaw too and his price was $800 firm! It was a rust bucket and showed no sign of being cared for. He also had a DC-3300 and didn't know it. I directed him to his books & told him what to do if he wanted to really sell his 510. I was only interested in the bandsaw & he asked me if that his selling me the bandsaw would lower his chances of selling the 510. Well I didn't lie to him, of course it would.

But the next day someone posted a 520 & bandsaw for sale on Craig's List for only $600. That post was dated Apr 5th. This was April 29th. It should of been long gone, but I was the seller's first call. Go figure. So I wondered what might be wrong? There was nothing wrong. His band saw was brand new and he had 3 extra cardboard boxes full of accessories. Schweet. We just shook hands and I paid him his asking price. The 520 was sparkling. I upgraded it to a Power Pro after making the mistake of going to a Lowe's demo when they offered 10% off and 18-month free financing. Couldn't say no.

But I've found real thieves in my Craig's List buys. I've been lucky. But then I buy items that have usually been listed for a while. I'm not buying anymore, but plan to completely overhaul every Shopsmith and put one of Bill Mayo's modified quills in it. With 11 Shopsmiths, I at least 2 or more of every SPT. 5 of those Shopsmiths are 10E/ERs. Those averaged $50; but one I paid $150 as it was totally refinished and looked better than new.

Good luck and if you get a gut feeling, chances are it's right.

Tony

[pieceseeker]

I was handing over $900 for all I got and was 300 miles from home, I'm asking for a receipt.

You never know, if you happen to get stopped or in an accident just how inquisitive a cop might get.

[letterk]

But the next day someone posted a 520 & bandsaw for sale on Craig's List for only $600. That post was dated Apr 5th. This was April 29th. It should of been long gone, but I was the seller's first call.

Tony

Might have one of those situations where they edit the posting, but don't relist it. I had that happen where the price drops in the listing, but it stays at the original date. That is why it is always worthwhile to glance over the old CL listings once in a while. Got my scrollsawe that way, seller dropped the price without renewing the ad and it was posted with the original posting date.