Vintage Thor In Northern NJ

[brianl]

Another seller who thinks they got pot of gold.

Ad states:

1929 Thor washing machine. This vintage 82+ year old item, will be a fine addition to your collection. Would serve as an eye-catching, unique piece for your home, office, or shop. As shown, I just pulled it out of a barn in PA. last week. I have not touched it. Agitator spins, porcelain tub in good shape, can roll on it's original wheels. Just clean and display as is or, won't take much to get it working and restored. See photos for item and an old ad I found on the internet. I just saw one on ebay all restoed for $3000.00. Asking $700.00 or make me a decent offer.

 

[brianl]

And a vintage ad the seller posted:

 

[mickeyd]

Nice mark-up!

People have such high hopes for a cash cow these days. It 's a little bit sad because it's hard to tell sometimes if it is a real need to keep the roof overhead and food in the belly, or greed, but not in this case, pure--almost silly--greed. "Gee, some people are asking 3000 dollars for this, and I only want 800." Brian, my mother was 85 yesterday and she's in better condition than the Thor.

 

[brianl]

Sad, but true

Greed seems to run rampant these days. It's a shame cause it is so close to be but they would be lucky I give them $100 for it. I would like to know where they get their numbers from.

Happy Belated to your grandmother. A lot of birthdays this weekend. Mine tomorrow.

 

[travis]

The internet is a wonderful place to find what you're looking for, but you can also do a quick search and find a number of wild values for anything. Most sellers don't know what they have. They just google whatever info they can find and get a starting point.

No one EVER factors in the cost to restore an item. Most people can't fathom the work involved. It's a pain just to get all the materials and parts in the same room to restore something.

 

[tolivac]

"Out of a Barn in PA"doesn't that tell you something-the machine probably has mice nests in it-parts corroded or rotted-no thanks-maybe offer him $50 for it and no more.Does the motor-engine run?This is unknown.Since the condition of the motor is unknown-I am down to $30.

 

[moparwash]

99.75 in 1929..

ends up to be 1354.30 according to this inflation calculator...still I think they are asking alot for it!

Inflation Calculator | Find US Dollar's Value From 1913-2025

Easily calculate how the buying power of the U.S. dollar has changed from 1913 to 2025. Get inflation rates and U.S. inflation news.

www.usinflationcalculator.com

 

[whirlykenmore78]

Considering the above data

If you consider that at best a used appliance of this age is worth 1/3 of new unrestored. This machine should sell for $451 adjusted for inflation using the data above. Well short of the $800 he wants. Even @ 50% of new adjusted for inflation the machine would go for $677. Also short of $800.
WK78