". . . anything they recognize as possibly valuable."
Exactly my point. I doubt a '70s automatic drip coffeemaker would appear valuable to most thrift store processing staff. Or at least I would hope not.
The Chemex is indeed a Norelco system, but it has some differences. There is a round, flat "shower head" that distributes water in a circular pattern instead of the single stream of a Norelco and other makes. The Chemex also pauses after wetting the grounds to allow them to "bloom" (see "with exclusive wetting cycle" verbiage on the box in the picture above), has a hot plate temperature control and an on/off switch.
If a Chemex "shower head" could be fitted onto a Norelco, you'd have basically the same machine except without wetting cycle (just unplug it for a minute instead), temp control, or on/off switch.
The reason for the ridiculous price point on the ebay machine is because a few years ago, and the last time one of these showed up on ebay, it went for almost $400. The starting bid was very low because the seller had no idea what they had. Now any seller who does research sees that information and proceeds accordingly.
My sister has two Chemex machines; one daily driver and one used spare. She's had them since the '70s and is always on the lookout for another one. She has been spoiled by the ease of use that these machines bring to the Chemex brewing process.
If they made such a thing as a Chemex Automated Grind-and-Brew, I might be interested -- if they were priced reasonably. Otherwise, my Cuisinart burr grind-and-brew is good enough for me.
