A1S Value

^^^ is excellent advice.
 
Nesse1 said:
If you have the time, a trip to check it out may pay dividends when the guy realizes, his price is way too high. Assuming it's nice, leave with the seed planted that you like the machine, and will take care of it with loving care, but that you think it's worth $XXXX. After a while, with nobody paying $3500, he may call you back.
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I do have the time for an inspection trip, and I just got off the phone with the owner; he's very congenial - surprisingly so - but it's clear that he considers the machine to be effectively new, and thus worth an ultra-premium price. He's the third owner, gave a detailed history, and said that it doesn't even have 100 hours of use; supposedly, the only issues are a few paint chips...but even with that being the case I still feel that the price is simply way too high. Included are the five collets that I mentioned, "a few bits and pieces" that he wasn't very specific about (because I think he hasn't decided which tools to let go of), an R8 to ER32 adapter, and that's about it. There's an iGaging set of DRO's, a couple of work lights, and a mobile base...but that's all. Effectively, it's $3500 for the machine.

Our phone conversation was affable enough for me to tell him, directly, that I felt it to be an absolute top-end price, and he wasn't upset about that...but he made it very clear that he's not going to move on that price at all. He said that he's posted and removed the ad several times, but never adjusted the price; this tells me that even though he wants to sell it, he doesn't have to do so...and thus, he still has it. I feel that it's the kind of situation where someone will grandstand on the validity of their opinion to the detriment of all parties, so I doubt that he'll move on it. This being said, I'm still going to take a look at it, and I very much appreciate the suggestion to name a figure that's more agreeable and see if he eventually bites; after all, he may not have to sell, but I definitely don't have to buy.
 
How long have you been looking? How many have you seen in that time? If you have only been looking for a month, say, than I might be too high for you. No worries. If you have been looking for a couple years, and only seen one, well, maybe that price is pretty realistic.

I don't know anything about mill prices, but I know a bit about scarcity. If someone has something that a lot of people are looking for, they can charge more, as while you might think it is too high, someone else who has been looking for a while might jump on it, as they know the cost of time spent looking and waiting.

One other thing; if you go and see it, and still think it is priced too high, leave your number. If he comes down that might be enough to put you at the front of the line.
 
@Dave Bonzo Maybe a trip to take a look at would be worthwhile, but then again, do you want to waste time dealing with a guy that apparently has no intention of working with someone on a sale? I would hold out and find a better deal.
 
The guy is only about an hour from me; that's not very far, so it's not a real loss of time for me to go look at the machine. That being said, there's been a weird development: the guy sent me a text just now - I already left my number with him - and said that he pulled the online ad for now, and he'll repost it if I decide not to buy. That's very nice of him, but I already told him that I wasn't a buyer at $3500; I said that I would like to look at the machine if he had time, nonetheless, and he was fine with that...but I was very clear about not purchasing at his price. In fact, the "come and see it" trip is very much to do just that: come and see it. So I'm not sure why he pulled it.

And on top of that, a guy in the semi-local area that has a mystery Clausing lathe called me because the buyer he had lined up for it passed. It's kind of a weird situation; the seller has had the lathe for ten years but doesn't really know much about it...or even what model number it is. I'm intrigued, but confused; I guess I should post a thread on that one too and see if anyone can tell me more about it, because I've tried to ID it from pictures and failed.
 
Dave Bonzo said:
The guy is only about an hour from me; that's not very far, so it's not a real loss of time for me to go look at the machine. That being said, there's been a weird development: the guy sent me a text just now - I already left my number with him - and said that he pulled the online ad for now, and he'll repost it if I decide not to buy. That's very nice of him, but I already told him that I wasn't a buyer at $3500; I said that I would like to look at the machine if he had time, nonetheless, and he was fine with that...but I was very clear about not purchasing at his price. In fact, the "come and see it" trip is very much to do just that: come and see it. So I'm not sure why he pulled it.

And on top of that, a guy in the semi-local area that has a mystery Clausing lathe called me because the buyer he had lined up for it passed. It's kind of a weird situation; the seller has had the lathe for ten years but doesn't really know much about it...or even what model number it is. I'm intrigued, but confused; I guess I should post a thread on that one too and see if anyone can tell me more about it, because I've tried to ID it from pictures and failed.
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Good grief. Be careful out there. LOL
 
7milesup said:
Good grief. Be careful out there. LOL
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You have no idea how on-point you are, man; this whole thing took a weird turn in the middle of me cooking loaded baked potatoes for dinner.

The short form is this: I responded to his text about pulling the ad by thanking him for being considerate, but also by reiterating that I wasn't a buyer at $3500, whereupon he said "if you're not buying, let's not meet, no hard feelings." So, I guess the whole part in our phone conversation where we discussed me coming to look at the machine anyway just to check the sizing, condition and function was somehow a misunderstanding. Honestly, I felt that he had simply decided to not even bother with me unless I was going to pay his asking price...but regardless, I apologized for misunderstanding the terms of our arrangement and bade him good luck.

Thirty minutes later he sent back another text...stating that he's now decided that he's not selling the machine at all. I guess that all the calls he was getting - and he literally said that in the text he sent about pulling the ad - convinced him that the Husky was worth even more than he had asked for it. He said that he would "never be able to afford one as nice as this one" and therefore he couldn't replace it.

There was some more attached to that last text about him wanting to buy a $6K Deckel that's for sale locally and not being able to afford it, but somehow I resisted the temptation to tell him that he'd be closer to buying what he wants if he'd be reasonably about what he has...but in the end, I think this guy was exactly what I suspected him to be: someone who just can't bear to part with one of his toys unless it's for a big, big paycheck. I've seen that happen time and time again; I guess the lesson here is to pay attention to my instincts.

Thanks to everyone for their input; apologies for the wild ride this has been...and if anyone happens to come across a baby Clausing or Husky or something similar, let me know. :)
 
So, if I want to negotiate I go in person and being my friend Benjamin with me. Surprising how the sight of cold hard cash can influence a reluctant seller.

That being said, if there’s a Deckel around it might be worth upping the budget and going after it. Not many chances to pick up one of them….

John
 
I'm all in favor of bringing cash; I had planned on doing exactly that, but my feeling from the start was that this guy wasn't ever going to come off his price...and that was borne out, in the end. Or was less about assessing the machine and more about assessing the seller.

I'm with you on the Deckel; that would be a cool one to have...and I'm fortunate in being able to up the budget, but it's a larger machine than I have space for at the current time, and it also comes with absolutely nothing. I have a feeling that it will eventually sell, but it's going to have to be to an enthusiast: there are too many larger, heavier and more complete/accessorized machines on the local market for anyone other than a hobbyist to pick up that one. That's the irony of this whole thing; if I had more space, I could solve this problem easily.
 
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