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As much as you and I might like to walk into a nice store packed full of vintage appliances, there are some very cogent reasons why it just doesn't happen. The biggest is the rent every store must pay on its space. Retail rents are charged by the square foot. A vintage washer and dryer might take up eight square feet. Now, if a store owner can put something in those eight square feet that will sell rapidly- and make him money every month- why on Earth should he put something there that will sit there and sit there- without making money? Vintage appliances are a very small, narrow, specialised market. There is a REASON we have to pursue this hobby in flea markets, junkyards, and musty basements.

Look at it this way- if someone created a vintage washer and dryer store, and sold only units in excellent original or restored condition, they would cost a fortune (visit www.antiqueappliances.com if you doubt me- and that company is located in a small Georgia town with relatively cheap rents, not a major metro area). Finding stuff costs money, restoring it costs money, displaying it for sale costs money, and standing behind the merchandise costs money.

If the average used-appliance dealer devoted space to really old appliances, he'd be passing up the revenue he could get from faster-selling stuff, and needs to pay his expenses. It would be absolutely terrific if dealers could carry more vintage, but it's a lousy business model.

Look at it this way- the way things are helps ensure that when you DO find something, it's cheap, because it's in an estate sale or basement or thrift store.
 
Sell them for $20? Are you for real? Most machines like that that come in, need repairs. So, now I repair the machine with parts (parts cost $$$$ whether the part is used or new), clean it up, and merchandise it. It'll cost me more to sell it then I'd be asking for it. Now if someone came in before my scrap guy showed up, wanted it as-is, and didn't care that it didn't work, THEN I'd sell it for $20. I'm telling you, 99% of my customers want a newer used appliance. I know that the newer stuff isn't as heavy-duty as the older stuff, but I also need to stay in business, so I sell what my customers want. Also, beltdrives do not last forever.

You can't compare a typical 1970's beltdrive WP/Kenmore to the classic Maytag pink set. They're not the same thing. Now, are those worth $2000? Not to me, but it never hurts to ask. He is the seller & can ask whatever he feels the market will pay. If you do not want to pay his price, do not bid. It's that simple. No need to call the guy names (like cretin) because you do not want to pay that kind of money. Personally I think he is way off base on those, but that's me.

So I'm stupid to send the old machines to the crusher. Yeah well. Like I said, I can't save everything. It would be impossible. I have over 875 newer used appliances in my warehouse. There simply wouldn't be room, so the crusher it is. My scrap guy is good. He'll seperate all the metals out (copper, aluminum, steel, etc) for recycling. So at least the beltdrives are going to be something new instead of going to the landfill.
 
we all have our own opinions. Good thing some people 20 and 30 years ago didnt think that about all your 906's and so on. Its all perspective really. What was junk 30 years ago is highly collectable today.

Why would anyone expect anything but "as is" on a vintage set? People on ebay sell them "as is where is" and have a very low overhead. I wouldnt want anyone to not make a living, but the scrap guys compete with me and a clasic is to me what crusher fodder is to others. Get it? Scrap guys today are very agressive and post adds on craigslist so I never even get a chance, like you selling them to the scrapper before you know if there is an interest. I have to see it available in order to consider it.
 
I have to agree that you need to be selling newer stuff if you want to survive. I didn't get any calls on my '98 Amana pair that's low mileage and in like new condition--even though I only posted a picture on Craig's List and didn't give their age. I am confident that both machines are in better shape and way cleaner than most of similar vintage that you find in a used appliance shop (at least the ones I've been to locally) but it appears I'm going to end up giving them away. I refuse to let some slimey fly-by-night or on-line-only, english-as-a-second-language dealer come and take them away as his offer would insult me and he'd not have to lift one finger to put them on the floor and sell them as is. Sears has maintained them regularly their whole lives. I wish I knew of a friend who needed to replace their machines as these would do OK for anyone for at least 5 more years if not longer.
My opinion of the local used appliance stores stems from shopping around and ultimately buying an early 70's fridge from one about 15 years ago. It was for the garage, it didn't have to be perfect, I wasn't looking to spend much and this one was priced right. It looked clean underneath, but the first night I had it home, I found a dead cockroach a foot or two in front of it on the floor. I knew where it had to have come from. I ended up having to bug spray all under that fridge (clean back style) and also set off a bomb in the garage for good measure. Now, don't you think the dealer 1) Had to know that fridge had an infestation when they acquired it, and 2) Would have gone to great lengths to make sure every last egg was killed or otherwise prevented from hatching? You really have to be careful out there when buying anything used. This frig also had a bad evaporator fan that was turning very slowly. This should have been an obvious problem to any dealer who knows and tests out his merchandise. I suspect runematic has a very nice clean store where his customers feel confident they are getting a good machine for their money and won't have any surprises after they get it home. Some stores that have display windows might use that space to put something more vintage, but generally you're not going to find a bunch of vintage anything in a used appliance store anymore for all the reasons already stated above. Just a fact of the modern world, you'll need to hit flea markets, thrift stores and garage/estate sales if you're looking for vintage anymore.
 
Rp, my store is definitely clean. I will not allow anything with bugs near my building. Those go right to the local recycling yard, bypassing my scrap guy. I also sell new stuff, so I keep the used stuff nice & clean as an alternative. All of my used pieces come with a 1 year parts & labor warranty so my customers are taken care of if there happens to be a problem.

Wannapinkset, if something like that came in, I would not crush it. Also, I would never, ever, sell my junk to my scrap guy. I GIVE IT TO HIM FOR FREE! I'll let him dismantle it and make some money. He has to eat & make a living too. Sometimes, he'll pick up a newer piece somewhere else that I can use and he'll take care of me. So, that works both ways. Look, I'm sorry you can't find/afford some of these vintage pieces. It's tough out there. But like I said before, it's impossible to save everything. In fact, I just sent a rough 806 pair to the great laundryroom in the sky. I hated to do it, but they were hopeless & I needed the room. I'm not the only one on here that has scrapped these older pieces. Sometimes it has to be done.
 
I'd like nothing better than to be selling all late model, newer used appliances. But one of my main sources is a new appliance dealer, who also sells used. What I get is what they don't want. Such as anything GE, or most of the older items, including belt drive WP's, GE FF's, and older Maytag's, harvest gold refrigerators, etc.

My customers are mostly low income, or landlords. A landlord will take a BD Kenmore, because I sell it cheap, usually $75.00 or less. And I'll give a 30 day guarantee. If a BD comes in and doesn't work, or needs something major, they get scrapped. But probably 75% of them need nothing but a cleanup.

The high price of scrap has eliminated a lot of my pickups in alley's, curbsides, etc. It's getting harder to find good ones to rehab and sell. That, and the fact that everyone thinks they can sell used appliances out of their garage. They'll make a deal with a Lowes store, to take everything that comes in, not realizing that a good Lowes can generate 20 or more trade in's a week. Pretty soon the stuff starts backing up at Lowes,because the garage dealer can't keep up, or can't sell that many. So Lowes gets ticked, and bring in a dumpster, and NO ONE get's them but the scrapyard.

I have no problem with the way Runematic runs his business, it obviously must be working for him. Like he says, you can't keep them all. I have a storage building that has some things I've been saving that should be scrapped. Cost's me $75.00 a month to store them.

stepping down from my soapbox.....

kennyGF
 
Its so not about afford. I never even get the chance. *Beating my head against my desk* That’s what I have been attempting to point out to you. That and that today’s junk is tomorrows treasures.

scenario attempting to make understand peoples out there #1

20 something Greta grandkid gets grandmammas pride and joy 65 belt drive (horrors! *freaky doomsday movie music*) Maytag, Frigidaire, Kenmore, magic chef, etc (pick one) set being as they were the favorite grandkid and all. Pump, belt, float water height, timer, etc goes from heavy inexperienced hard use. gretta grandkid never wanted grandmammas old junk neeways and goes out and buys new front loader finance till yer crumpled with old age made in kajikastan out of three sheets of stamped aluminum foil painted hoopdee Hoosier horchow melon washer, dryer and matching $$7000.00 pedestals. Now....in comes the appliance sales dude charging gretta granddaughter 25.00 removal for old grand mammas 65 set or they set them by the road or call the scrap dude that has the listing every single stinking day in craigslist. There is NO FLIPPING opportunity for access on my end. I could be here with eight 100.00 dollar bills stuffed longways between my boobs and a hundred rolled up and sticking out of each ear but none of you can see me and I cant see you.

Do ya get it now?????

falling off my cage now.
 
Linda, Linda, Linda...

I promise you, when your luck changes, it changes all at once. I looked for a VERY long time for centre-dial Maytags. I didn't really need them, because I had a perfectly good set of Whirly DD's, but I wanted them. I haunted yard sales, flea markets, thrifts, and junk stores. I read want ads. I did everything, and found nothing.

A few weeks ago, my Whirly washer gave trouble I couldn't fix. In total despair (and not flush at that particular moment, either), I looked on Craigslist for something that would do; I was hoping for maybe something like a Kenmore 90 series pair or maybe one of the later Maytag Dependable Care sets. When what to my wondering eyes should appear....

A PAIR OF CENTRE-DIAL MAYTAGS! In my area. Hell, in my NEIGHBOURHOOD. For $195. Working. Dee-freakin'-LIVERED. I called; the seller told me his mom was going into an eldercare facility and he didn't need the machines himself.

I bought 'em, he brought 'em. I set 'em up; they worked fine, though the guy's momma was no Mommie Dearest clean freak, let me tell you. Whatthehell. I cleaned them up, replaced a torn dryer filter, and they're great.

That's how these searches go- it's like hunting for the Perfect Mate. You date and date and date, and nothing happens. One day, long after you've given up, someone wonderful comes along when you least expect it. These things don't happen on a schedule, but they do happen.

Trust me, the machines you dream of owning will find YOU.
 
Make friends with the local dealers and ask them to save you what you want if they ever get one in on a pickup. If someone came in & said "I'm looking for.......if you ever get one PLEASE call me", I would. just a thought
 
Some would scream and claw their faces if they knew about cool washers & dryers that I've sent on to the krusher. I can think of several that I offered to the good people here that were not adopted to loving homes. Space is a premium commodity that in one form or another costs money so despite the desire to be an orphanage to everything we stumble upon, it is impossible. On the upside of that, the scrap metal is being returned to you, via China, as toasters, cars and new major appliances. Keep talking to the shop owners, repair techs and hunting behind big-box stores like Lowes, etc. and the goods will make their way into your loving arms. Patience and persistence are the only requirements and soon you'll have more than you can keep.
 
One more point about saving old appliances--there's the government to watch out for. We used to store old appliances in the backyard behind our store. Obviously, not the stuff ready to sell, but when space is limited, the space outdoors also gets used. That is, until the city inspector tells us to clean up the yard. No choice but to bring appliances to the junkyard when that happens.
 
old versus old

When I was selling second-hand and new washers and refrigerators here in Munich, my boss had a simple policy:
If it was old enough or unusual enough for a staff member (and we saw hundreds of appliances every month) to say wow! he'd keep it regardless of the condition - and it worked out, he was always able to sell one of these.
But if something came in, regardless of age, which had the cleaning lady screaming at him or me saying "not on MY sales floor you don't...I am here to MAKE money, not scare away the customers..." he would trash it.
Nothing came into the shop before it had been cleaned up in the courtyard enough to be sure there were no bugs - and that it wouldn't pose a fire risk.
Sure, lots of stuff got tossed which, today, is considered vintage. But we were able to sell great numbers of truly vintage machines, keep our customers happy...and earn enough money to stay in business.
It's always going to be a tough call. But when your livelihood depends on your reputation (and I bet that holds true for all the second-hand dealers on this site) then you just have to see it for what it is: a business.
Oh - we would always hold a machine for a customer who tipped us off that they wanted something, regardless of what we might have thought of it personally. My boss would even put the word out that we were looking for ONE of them. The "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" approach works.
 
I agree Greg, you just can't keep everything. I've had a few old 60's belt-drives myself that refused to work correctly, and didn't hesitate to part them out and junk the rest. They seem to be quite common around here so I'm not too worried. This last one from 1980 I picked up was inches away from going to the dump. Much to my amazement it worked fine! I since cleaned it up and plan on selling it in the local classifieds...
 
i rememmber when I sold my washer and dryer in the paper

I had a three year old Maytag Neptune that I sold, and it is true, alot of people want something for nothing. I had a man that was not itnerested when I told him that the dryer was a little older than the washer(1997) even though I bought them at the same time. The truth of the matter is, when I take it home and use it the first time, it is now used. As far as used appliance dealers, i am seeing less and less of them. You really do not know what you are getting. i had a friend of mine who is quite clueless about these things who said, why should I get a used washer for 200 when I get get a new one for 299-350? Altough when he is replacing it in 3 years with another one just like it, he will understand, at least I hope so.
 
goatfarmer, it's a shame you're not closer to me. I have 200 older DD wp/kenmore, Maytag 10 & 12 series washers & dryers that I am currently wholesaling (for $20/ea ironically LOL, but must take at least 6 pieces) to dealers a little outside of my area. I won't sell to the ones in my town, though. I don't need to supply my competition! Unfortunately, the machines will be heading to the scrapyard in the next month or so. I need the room BADLY.

We used to pick up from Lowes. Those guys can generate pieces. We would get some nice stuff from 'em. But, alas, we were muscled out by a group from over 200 miles away that got a contract at a bunch of Lowes. they came in & sat a tractor trailer behind the store & everything went in there.

Linda/wannapinkset, I hope I didn't come off as too much a d!ck up above. Just trying to have you see it from the other side. Good luck in your quest.
 

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