On Sun, 17 Jan 2010 22:37:15 -0600, Ignoramus15099
wrote:
On 2010-01-18, GeoLane at PTD dot NET GeoLane wrote:

Nope. The seller cancelled the visit when I told him I was thinking
in the $500 range and his starting price was $3000. His isn't the
only machine in the US.

Sounds like he is living in a very sheltered location..or his own
private fantasy world. Or the thing is brand new. Shrug

Thanks, but probably not economically feasible. I'm in central PA. I
don't see them very often on the Craigslists near me, but they do show
up.

The guy that cancelled the visit lived outside Philadelphia. A dealer
in the Scranton area gave me a rough quote of $1500 for a tooled
K.O.Lee that he's waiting to arrive when the riggers get it out of the
factory.

I have never found a way to get such sellers back in touch with
reality. Fortunately, with enough looking, you can find truly great
deals.

The only way I've found is to inform them of the reality of the
marketplace - with enough details and facts to convince them you
aren't bull****ting, and leave your name and number.

When they get tired of sitting on the grinder (or whatever) at their
price, they may come down to yours.

They put a $25 price tag on an empty fire extinguisher that is $40
brand new, and will need a $25 Hydro and fill to put in service. I
had a few realistic "Okay, then how's $2.50?" counter-offers, and a
few who thought I was trying to cheat them. Their loss.

Can't even do that anymore, because now any extinguisher over ~25
years old (1981?) is trash. "Doesn't meet the current labeling
requirements" and no shop can legally fill them. (Don't worry, we'll
gladly sell you a new one!)

Unless you are buying an antique brass Soda-Water flip-and-bounce to
make into a table lamp, it's just an old pressure cylinder that cant
really be repurposed. Or like that Tool & Cutter Grinder, a piece of
gear that is rarely needed anymore outside a museum or a hobby shop.

-- Bruce --