How to price a Chandler and Price

prices are all over the place. be careful when you buy one because they can be hard to get out of a basement. most presses will need rollers at $100 each. if you look locally you should be able to find a c&p. the further you have to move it the more it will cost. good luck.

And who ever locked up that form in the chase should know better.

whats wrong with the lockup, it seems to work, so far.

It generally looks good (except for that lockup!) and clean, and shows that someone has taken reasonably good care of it. One problem I see is that it’s missing the part on the top rear of the right roller arm that the ink disc cam arm roller rolls against. The one on my first press, also an 8x12, was missing too and some time in the distant past someone had fashioned a replacement out of flat bar stock shaped to the right profile and screwed to the arm. It worked just fine. One could just as easily be made out of a hardwood such as maple. But that should drop the price some.

The going rate on average seems to be between $400 and $600 but that varies widely as mentioned above. Some people give them away and some want $2000 for a ball of rust. They’re “rare”, you know…

Also as mentioned already, a lot depends on where it is located, how much work will be needed to get it to ground level, and and how far away you have to go to get it, assuming it doesn’t need to be shipped.

I didn’t see a drive pulley on the right side so you’ll want to find out how it was powered, does it have a working motor, etc. If it’s not close enough to go look at it’s probably better to wait. That’s both because it would be good to examine it thoroughly and the cost and effort to get it.

I’d need more information to decide what I would think of as a maximum amount. I would look it over and make note of any problems and use those to keep my price down. I’d set a maximum for myself and then start low, how low depending on what I pointed out above.

For example, if it’s in a basement but otherwise in OK shape, at the least you’ll need a few people to help, a handtruck, boards, possibly a furniture dolly, a rental truck or trailer unless you own one, etc. You’ll have to disassemble the press, at least removing the bed from the main frame. Even if it’s only 50 miles away you’re looking at a day’s work for two or three people, buying them lunch, gas, rental fees, etc. Then new rollers, a motor if it doesn’t have one, etc. So you could easily need to spend $300 to $600 just for those things in addition to the price he wants for the press.

If you have a number of friends who will help and buy their own lunch, a truck and equipment of your own, etc. you can cut some of that down. But it’s a factor you need to consider. I don’t mean to be discouraging at all, just the opposite. But I know from a number of press moving experiences that while it’s not all that difficult, the cost can add up quickly in small ways.

So if the above was the situation, I’d offer maybe $100 for the press and see what he said, assuming I could afford a maximum for everything of about $500. If the press was in a ground level garage and 15 miles away and you or a friend had a van or pickup, then you could safely pay more for the press. I moved my first press in my van having taken the bed casting off.

Anyway, I think you see what I’m getting at.

Rich

Front Room Press
Milford, NJ
http://frontroompress.com
http://frontroompress.blogspot.com

I’ve got to concur on the lock-up problem…. thats a pi waiting to happen.

It is a good sign that someone has taken the trouble to mark the lubrication points. That may indicate that for at least part of its life it was well cared for.