Anybody in the Washington DC area?
Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 11:12 pm
I wonder what kind of business sense it would make for Shopsmith for them to start picking up these cheap used machines, do some factory refurbishing, and sell them as refurbished machines (clearly advertised as such), with a limited warranty and support, for a lot less than the cost of a new machine? A basic Mark V 500, new, is $3,000. That's a lot of money and that doesn't even get you the 520. How many people who want a Shopsmith, but don't want to refurbish one themselves and can't spend $3k, would be willing to spend maybe $1.5k on a used factory refurbished machine with a 1 year limited warranty? It might cost more than if they bought a used machine and fixed it up themselves, but it would be backed by a warranty and since the factory did the restoration, it should be reliable. And if Shopsmith can pick these machines up for a couple hundred bucks on average, how much profit would there be for them to refurbish them and sell them at $1,500?
I'm no business person so maybe it's a lousy idea. It's just a thought I just had.