Caveat Emptor….

Recently I’ve had 2 different clients call me with with the same problem. Both bought small tabletop presses from a press dealer on the East Coast. They both paid well over $1000.00 plus shipping (one girl paid over $2000.00) only to find that once the presses arrived, one had broken during shipping due to poor packaging and one had the wrong parts attached.
I’m all for people getting interested in letterpress, but I can’t stress the importance of doing as much research as possible before buying a machine. Take a class if you can, talk to another letterpress printer, search the web…find the press that’s right for you!
Unfortunately there are people out there who will take advantage of someone who is itching to buy anything to get started.

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Long standing members of briar press know what/who you are speaking of….

Having made the same mistake myself I echo this advice. I bought a press with undisclosed repairs and missing pieces - the seller was not expert enough to know this so I must blame myself.

Be patient - there will be another one.

Research is key, both on the press that will be right for you and who you are going to buy it from. If you’re going refurbished it doesn’t take to long to dig around on this site and find the places that have acted questionably. I’d also recommend investing the time to go and pick-up the press yourself—I drove 2000 miles round-trip to get mine. Meet the people who did the work, allow them to show you the intricacies of the press you are going to purchase, shake their hand, and then pay them the full balance.

I’d be happy to share who I bought my press from to any one who asks. I am reticent to do it here because I enjoy the fact that BriarPress is virtually free of any blatant advertising, but feel free to e-mail me.