How much is a manual typewriter worth?
A portable manual typewriter is a brand, a typeface, and a machine that actually types. Sticky type bars and a dry platen are the usual estate-sale truth.
Manual typewriters, the portables from Smith-Corona, Royal, Olympia, Hermes, Underwood, and others, are common estate-sale objects and occasional thrift finds. A clean portable that types a clean line is a usable machine. A machine with a bent typebar, a slipping escapement, or a platen as hard as stone is a repair. The brand and the model are on the front or the paper table. The typeface, if it is a script or an italic, is a reason to look twice. The mere fact that the keys are round is not.
Electric and electronic typewriters are a different, usually less wanted, category, and they have motors and power supplies. Do not list a Smith-Corona electric as a manual because both are typewriters. Shipping a portable is possible and a little violent. The case is what saves it. This page will not price “vintage typewriters.” Test the sentence. The estate-sale guide is about not renting your afternoon to a frozen machine with a hopeful tag.
What to look for
- Brand and model
- Read the name on the front and any model on the back or under the carriage. Photograph it. A script typeface should be shown by typing it, not only by admiring the type slug.
- A typed line
- Roll in paper and type every key, shift, and the margin. A bar that sticks, a letter that prints high, or a ribbon that only ghosts is the condition. If you cannot type, say the machine is untested, not that it works.
- Platen and rollers
- The rubber hardens and shrinks. A platen that will not grip paper is a repair with a real cost. Look for flat spots. Do not feed a hardened platen a valuable sheet of paper to prove a point.
- Case and body
- The lid, the handle, and whether the drawband inside is intact. A missing drawband means the carriage does not return. That is a specific fault. Paint chips are cosmetic. A cracked body casting is not.
What moves the price
- Working
- A tested typing machine comps against tested machines of that brand. An untested pretty one comps lower. A frozen one is parts or a tech’s project. Those are three prices. Pick one and match the words to the test.
- Model and face
- Some portables and some typefaces have a following. The following is visible in sold comps of that model. A common 1960s portable in average shape is common. Script type is worth showing, not worth declaring rare before you search it.
- Repairs needed
- A new platen, a new drawband, and a cleaning are money. If you are not doing them, the buyer is. Price the machine as the project it is, or do the work and say what you did. A drop of oil on every pivot is a way to gum a machine. Do not.
- Case
- A portable without the case is harder to ship and easier to damage. Mention the case. A case alone is a case, not a machine.
Where to sell
- Local
- Best for heavy standards and for untested portables. Let the buyer type. A standard office machine is furniture. Do not discover that at the post office.
- eBay
- Tested portables, with a photo of the typed alphabet and the model name. Pack the carriage so it cannot slam. A machine that arrives with a bent bar is your refund.
- Use
- A working portable you will actually type on is a good buy at a modest price. The romance of the object is not a resale plan. The buying-used note is the plan: it works, you will use it, and it beat the alternative.
What a photo can settle
The front with the brand, a typed sample, the type basket, and the case. Worth can read the brand from the paper table. It cannot know the escapement runs. The typed sample is the listing.
Questions
- Is a sticky key a death sentence?
- Often it is old oil and dust, and a careful cleaning frees it. Sometimes the bar is bent. Type every key before you call it working. One stuck key is a fault in the title, not a footnote.
- Are all Royals and Olympias valuable?
- No. Both brands made common portables and a few models people seek. Search the model you have, sold, in a condition like yours. The brand is the start of the search.
- Should I put a new ribbon in?
- A fresh ribbon makes a fair test and a better sample. It does not repair a hardened platen or a slipping clutch. Say the ribbon is new if you changed it, so the buyer does not think the typeface is faint.