Did you just recently come across a sewing machine going through a cellar and had no idea what vintage sewing machines are valued at? While these sewing machines are still usable (even in today’s society) a large amount of you who recently found these sewing machines are not interested in keeping them, but as a substitute are interested to see if they are worth anything and selling these machines.

The good news is that there are lots of buyers for vintage sewing machines out there. The bad news is that there are a lot of old sewing machines out there. Old sewing machines are so prevalent today since lots of them were built, and built so well, that lots of them are still being used today.

Yet, just because there is a hefty supply, it does not mean that you cannot get a decent price on these vintage sewing machines even if you don’t have any understanding about sewing machines. You just have to have somebody demonstrate to you how to sell them for want they are worth and also where you should sell them. Unfortunately, the majority of individuals do not do the needed beginning steps to get top dollar for their vintage sewing machine. Don’t be one of those people who sell their sewing machine for the low end of the scale.

Let me go over some very basic things that you should do in order to sell vintage sewing machines.  The first thing that you want to do is find out what the value of the sewing machine is. But, you won’t be able to find the value of the machine except if you know the year the machine was manufactured. This is relatively easy if you have a Singer sewing machine.  You need to locate the serial number initially to find the age of the sewing machine. A typical serial number will be a 6-9 digit number preceded by one or two letters. Note that if there is no letter prefix, then the machine was created earlier than 1900.

Once you found the serial number, go to the Singer website to determine when the sewing machine was made.

Once you find the serial number, then you can determine the value of the antique sewing machine. There are some different strategies to do this from getting an appraisal online or you can try to see what other similar sewing machines are selling for online. For me, the best way to figure out an approximate selling price is to visit eBay or Craigslist and look at all of the vintage sewing machines that are listed.

The next item to think about is repairs. Does the sewing machine currently work? If it does, then nothing else needs to be done currently. If not, then once you have an approximate value on what your vintage sewing machine is selling for, the subsequent thing to think about is if it needs to be repaired. Clearly if you are only going to get $25 for your antique sewing machine, it may not make sense to have it repaired. Conversely, if you anticipate a fair price for a working sewing machine, then it might be worth figuring out what it would cost to be fixed. If you do not have someone you know who can do it for you or if you are not handy, then try looking online for many sewing machine repair sites.

Last, but not least, once you figure out what an approximate price is and once the sewing machine is working, the subsequent item to do is actually sell it. I recommend that you use eBay to get the best price in an auction since you have only to post a single listing to have the country and/or the world buy from you. My other recommend option is to use Craigslist. The trouble with Craigslist is that you have to post a listing for every town you want to sell your vintage sewing machine. If you only want to sell nearby, that’s fine, but because of that you restrict your selling price since the individuals who are your potential buyers is a much smaller audience than can see you on eBay and for that reason a much lower likely sales price.

Just one last thing about selling old sewing machines. As I am sure you realize, these vintage sewing machines are very heavy and part of selling the item online is shipping (unless of course you specify the buyer picks up). Here’s a suggestion, include the shipping into the price if using Craigslist or as you can on eBay, build the price of the shipping in the shipping and handling price when you are selling the machine.  Just be frank with the buyer and tell them that the sewing machine is heavy and shipping will be an extra charge above the selling price.

Don’t want to ship the item yourself? Then use a service like FedEx Office or the UPS store and have them do it for you. Again, check with them first, on what it would cost to ship and then include that price into the price of the item and/or the shipping and handling part.

I went over a great deal of information previously, however understand that getting a decent price for vintage sewing machines does not take a lot of work if you know what you are doing and it will be well worth your effort for a little bit of your time.

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Filed under: Antiques and Collectibles

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