That's interesting; it's never occurred to me to attempt to nitpick a price once it's been agreed upon. I've definitely found some objectionable issues with items once I've gotten in front of them - a leg vise that was described as "great condition" ended up being literally broken, and I didn't find out until I'd driven two hours to pick it up - but that's why I try to get into a ballpark price range before going to see something; if there's not going to be a chance of getting together on the price, there's not a lot of reason to waste the time and fuel.
And, I guess I've never seen the inquiries I've made as negotiation; I just ask someone if they have any room to move on the price, or I ask what their best price is. Most of the time, someone is either firm on the price, or they state something that's somewhat lower. If it's too high, I just say "Okay, understood; thank you!" and move on. Sometimes I get a text/email back asking for my side of the offer; most of the time I don't hear anything back. That's cool, either way...but in all cases, I've just tried to make the process as expedient as possible.
Regarding the Deckel... here's my objection: it's a better, nicer, rarer machine than I need. It's kind of like you said: you'd sell your dad's workbench to get one...but I wouldn't. To me, it's a nice machine that's slightly too big and that costs more than I want to put into a home shop mill at this point. I need something that's on the small-to-midsize end of the scale, and that's basic and solid, and that's not excessively collectible; beyond that, I'm really flexible on what I get. I like the 85XX or A1S size, but I could go any direction beyond that...and I think that's where I differ from the Husky seller: it's very important and valuable to him, but to me - now - it's a tool that's the right size, but no more.
On that topic: if anyone has further suggestions on alternate options, I'd still like to hear them. I've already altered my opinions on lathes after getting lots of input on that front...so I'm willing to do that with mills as well.
I don't waste my time with ads that aren't already pretty close to what I consider a fair price. If I would pay the price for the machine or tool as it appears in the ad, then I will go look. If I feel it is a bit high (but not too high or I wouldn't have even left the house) I may try to negotiate, but if they are firm and it is as listed I'm good with their price. If it isn't as listed, if there are problems then I'll point out the issues and negotiate from there. So far I haven't had to walk on anything I actually went to look at.
It's not that I'm made of money, but I'm simply not going to screw around trying to knock off $25 just so I feel like "I won". I'm amazed at some of the stories I hear of buyers trying to nickel and dime an already fair price.
$3500 for that mill, I wouldn't have even responded to the ad, because I don't need a mill badly enough to pay what seems a premium premium price, but as I said earlier I don't think he is so high it will never sell, that is still only about 50-60% the price of a similar mill new (prices on new have skyrocketed since 2020, the small knee mill Harbor Freight sells was $1600 in 2019 and $2700 today).
Eventually somebody who is sick of looking may bite, but he may be living with that mill for years before he finds that buyer. I think you nailed the seller, it sounds like he really doesn't need to sell, so is holding out for beyond reasonable top dollar. He is probably about $1000 over a good high end price, and $1500 over the sell it this week price. I've seen the Clausing 8500s creep into the $3000-ish range with a similar amount of tooling, but $2500 still seems to be the right price for them, and about $500 less for the better imports in that size. That is San Francisco Bay Area pricing, and location matters. I have no idea what Washington prices are like.
There are a lot of import mills similar to that A1S, sold under a variety of brands, Grizzly and Enco, but also some less well known. I've seen a few true mini-Bridgeports from the 80s that look like nice mills, but they have very Asian sounding names so often get overlooked.
The common ones in this size are the like that A1S and I've seen them listed under the Husky, Select, Grizzly and Enco brands, and then there are the USA made mills from Clausing, Rockwell and the slightly larger Burke or Powermatic Millrite. Occasionally I see small horizontal mills with a vertical milling attachment. These can be a pretty good deal since most seem to ignore horizontal mills.
Unfortunately "common" only in the usual suspects sense, as none seem to turn up all that often.
