What are these mill and lathe worth?

Hello,

We've got a Chester Craftsman lathe (lightly used) and Chester 830VS turret mill (brand new) avaialble for sale. Both single phase and are from a project that is now defunct.

What would these be worth today and where is the best place to advertise them?

Thanks

John, this type of question arises fairly regularly, usually posed by members of a deceased model engineer's family. In my opinion these questions are impossible to answer because it depends how much you personally want or expect for the equipment or, more to the point, how much someone is prepared to offer and how much you are prepared to sell it for. As a another respondent stated not so long ago in response to a similar question: put it on eBay with a 'buy it now' price of what you want and expect to sell it for and if it doesn't sell progressively lower the price. I think they call this a 'Dutch Auction' but you will reach the maximum number of potential buyers. Obviously, there are many factors in play when selling anything and at the end of the day it comes down to the vendor and how fast they want to sell any item.

Anything is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it.

By way of trying to be helpful You should be able to search ebay for completed listings of any same or similar machines sold recently to gain an idea of 'market value.'

If someone really wants something they may pay over the odds. I have on occasion.

Similarly if there is little interest a buyer may end up with a 'bargain'

It's the $64,000 question really.

If i were marooned on a desert island, having just harvested the last five coconuts

& a fellow maroonee offered me a 1kg bar of gold (worth a fair few quid i believe) for one of said coconuts i'd have to politely decline under the circumstances.

With fairly recent machinery like that, still available new, half the new price is a starting point. The unused brand new one might be worth a bit more. Maybe ask 3/4 of the new price and see how you go. You can always come down.

Ebay tends to reach the widest audience. If you have easy access and the ability to load, you'll get a better price than if it is in a basement and needs four weightlifters to manhandle it out.

Whereabouts are the machines located?

Edited By Gavlar on 03/03/2023 08:03:20

For a reasonably common current model machine in decent clean condition that can still be got new I agree half new price is reasonable expectation. Possibly a little more.

Bidding wars are for rarities or obsolete machine of high reputation. Generally at well less than half new price as such things tend to have been well beyond a private persons pocket when new.

The big imponderables are transport and loading.

If the machine is only a few miles up the road standing in a clear garage with easy access for the trailer or truck with a couple of fit healthy guys on hand to help load I'd pay a bit over the odds. Saturday morning job!

If I have to drive 400 miles (Manchester maybe?) and dig it out of a cluttered shed with only my mate to help me its going to have to be seriously rare and highly desirable if I'm going to pay a good price. Realistically thats £200 + in fuel, food for me and mate, a very long day and either a decent wodge to my mate or serious favours owed.

Knock £500 off.

I'd give Facebook marketplace and some of the local buy and sell groups a try first before E-Bay. Facebook tends to be much more local and there is less competition. The "Hmm not to far" effect is valid for turning "Maybe I'd like one" int "Stuff it I'll get it". I've occasionally gotten lucky but E-Bay is more relatable.

Clive

An advert on Tony Griffiths site , Lathes . co.uk is a good option machines sale & wants it's not cheap but it's viewed by a lot of enthusiasts and gets good results, He can look in his database and give you an idea of value as well.

I placed a wanted add there for a rare type of vintage lathe and got a reply which resulted in me driving 80 miles to view and buy it.

If it is any help, I sold my 10 year old Chester DB7V last week for around half of the price I originaaly paid for it, a Sieg SX2,7L which was 3 years old sold for around 2/3rds the original price, both were advertised on here. You can place classified ads on ebay, You pay a fee and then it works outside the normal ebay system, no commision charged! I used it very succesfully to sell my late cousins ride on mower.

Thank you all, very helpful. These machines are in Newport Pagnell, about 10 mins off junction 14 on M1. Will ask a local fellow to list them on ebay and see what interest they gather.