just venting

[freddyray21]

I buy old motors usually off of Craigslist or sometimes at a garage sale and fix them up to sell. I stand behind my motors and won't sell one I think someone will have a problem with. The problem I run into is I usually deal with motors from the 50's and early 60's and people seem to be afraid of the age of them. You try and tell them that if they are still running after 50 years they will run awhile longer. None of my motors have knocks in them. They start in the first or second pull and idle and shift good. I make sure the lower units are good and sealed. The impellers are good ( I replace virtually every one unless I am sure they are fairly new). I am not making a lot if anything off of these motors, but guys still want to buy them for 50 dollars.

 

[dajohnson53]

Re: just venting

I buy old motors usually off of Craigslist or sometimes at a garage sale and fix them up to sell. I stand behind my motors and won't sell one I think someone will have a problem with. The problem I run into is I usually deal with motors from the 50's and early 60's and people seem to be afraid of the age of them. You try and tell them that if they are still running after 50 years they will run awhile longer. None of my motors have knocks in them. They start in the first or second pull and idle and shift good. I make sure the lower units are good and sealed. The impellers are good ( I replace virtually every one unless I am sure they are fairly new). I am not making a lot if anything off of these motors, but guys still want to buy them for 50 dollars.

I don't know why you'd be surprised that people don't want to buy an engine that is not only 40-50 years old, but looks like an antique. I'm not saying they're unreliable, but (a) how would they possibly know- the common sense thing would be to assume something that old cannot be reliable. Certainly you wouldn't buy a car from the 50s or even 60s as a daily driver (b) why should they even care if it's reliable. They look so old fashioned that it's perfectly normal for someone not to want one. Again, take the car from the 50s - only an antique car buff likes the looks of them compared to a modern car.

I wouldn't buy an outboard from the 50s for general use, and I certainly wouldn't pay much at all for it - unless for some reason I thought it was a collector's item. But that's just me.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but to me, it's not surprising at all, and nothing to get mad about.

 

[JB]

Re: just venting

DAJ hit the nail on the head.

Most people don't understand that outboards almost never wear out like cars and almost every other mechanical device known to man do.

Now take clocks. Good mechanical clocks almost never wear out and for some mysterious reason most people don't look down their noses at old clocks.

Old outboards, particularly old JohnnyRudes, should be reserved for people who appreciate their simplicity and reliability and like their looks. Let the others mess with high prices, unreliable electronic ignitions, etc.

You can buy an old JohnnyRude, complete and reliable, for less than the cost of a powerpak for a new one and still give the seller a good price.

So, as to your vent, keep them until a qualified buyer show up. They are out there.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: just venting

It doesn't matter what product you are selling -- new, old, or in between. Most savy buyers will try to get that product for nothing. In most parts of the world, heavy duty bargaining is part of the process and the seller feels cheated if he can't argue a little before saying "ok it's yours". I'm sure you don't walk into a car dealer and write out a check for window sticker so it stands to reason people will negotiate on old motors. I used to do the same thing you are doing but with cars and trucks. Periodically someone would try to buy my car/truck on the cheap because they were attempting to do the same thing. I could spot them a mile away and didn't waste my time with them. In most cases the initial phone call was indication whether or not the dude was serious. Welcome to the "free market system".

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: just venting

I totally agree. People that know what you are selling will be prepared to pay a fair price for it. People who do not will treat it more like a yard sale item.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: just venting

You live in the wrong place. Here in Minnesota nice-running Johnsons and Evinrudes from the 50s go for $200 and up, depending on the model. Folks here appreciate the old engines, and know that they can depend on them, once they're fixed up and running well.

Craig's list always has several for sale, and they don't last long, either. If you don't call within a couple of hours of the time the outboard appears on the list, you don't have a chance to buy it.

The most popular of the johnnyrudes from that period are the 7.5, 10, 15, and 18 hp models. The 3hp models also sell well as engines for the boat at the cabin. The Big Twins sell OK, too, but not as quickly. Of course, you can hardly give away a Fat 50, but that's an exception.

Anything from about 1955 up through the mid-60s, in decent cosmetic condition and running perfectly sells well. A double-line tank, though, has to come with engines that need it, or they don't sell. Those tanks are like gold here.

I fish a lot in the smaller lakes around here, and see the older engines all the time on boats out on the water. Guys are fishing with them every day.

I wouldn't buy and sell the things...too much work. But when I had my 1958 RDS-20 Johnson on the back of a crummy old trihull, a guy came up to me on the ramp and offered me $900 for it on the spot. We went to the bank in the nearby town. He got the money, and we moved the outboard off my trihull and into the back of his pickup right in the bank parking lot. Seems he had a 1958 Herter's fiberglass Fin Boat, and that was the engine he was looking for. Normally, they go for about $400 here.

Like I said, Missouri just may not be the place to sell the old-timers.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: just venting

One more thing: Outboards sell best when they're demonstrated as they will be used. Meet the buyer at a launch ramp, with a boat to run your motor on. Take a couple of motors with you. Sit the buyers in the boat, fire up your johhnyrude and take 'em for a spin.

Running a motor in a barrel just doesn't have the same impact. Show them what it will do for them.

Heck, if I had a dozen small motors that I had fixed up, I believe I'd head for a nice busy ramp with a nice-looking small boat, clamp some outboards on the tailgate of my pickup, put out a sign saying "Outboards for Sale," and take all comers for a ride with the one they liked the best. You'd need another person there.

I'm guessing I'd have six of the dozen sold by the end of a Saturday. People would buy them for kickers. Their friends would buy them so they could get a little boat.

It's all in the marketing.

 

[NW Redneck]

Re: just venting

One more thing: Outboards sell best when they're demonstrated as they will be used. Meet the buyer at a launch ramp, with a boat to run your motor on. Take a couple of motors with you. Sit the buyers in the boat, fire up your johhnyrude and take 'em for a spin.

Running a motor in a barrel just doesn't have the same impact. Show them what it will do for them.

Heck, if I had a dozen small motors that I had fixed up, I believe I'd head for a nice busy ramp with a nice-looking small boat, clamp some outboards on the tailgate of my pickup, put out a sign saying "Outboards for Sale," and take all comers for a ride with the one they liked the best. You'd need another person there.

I'm guessing I'd have six of the dozen sold by the end of a Saturday. People would buy them for kickers. Their friends would buy them so they could get a little boat.

It's all in the marketing.

Now that's a darn good idea!

I'll bet you could sell binoculars to the blind too!

 

[vess]

Re: just venting

JB- you made me chuckle about the clock comment. I have an antique grandfather clock from 1905- given to me by my grandfather. I wind it every Sunday, and recently my daughter was watching me and innocently asked me why I had to wind it up every week- to be honest, I stammered. I am used to doing it, but when I thought her question over, I realized she has only seen electric and battery powered EVERYTHING, so this was new to her. She's 12. I guess our world is changing quickly, and I hadn't thought that she wouldn't know what it was like to use manual labor to power things.
You will have to accept that some people will appreciate the older engines, and many won't. Don't sweat the ones that don't. You can't put a new outboard on an old woody- doesn't look right- so you still have a market out there.

 

[mthieme]

Re: just venting

Old Mercs are coveted around here.
I have a neighbor with two old Johnnyrudes (V4's I think), one is 1967, the other 1969. They had seen regular use until about three or four seasons ago when he got a "newer" Merc 90 tower. Dunno why he switched unless the is more HP (?).

 

[jbjennings]

Re: just venting

I'd get offended if someone offered me $50 for any motor I just demonstrated in a tank and offered/took a prospective buyer for a ride in, too! I'd probably be tempted to say, "Why would you bother to waste my time if you were going to make an offer like that?" I can see it if the motor wasn't running and was in the back of a garage and you knew nothing about it. I personally like to do the same thing as you, Fred. But I don't really buy anything that I don't want for myself so if someone comes out to look or get me to look at their motor, I don't even mention selling one and if they ask, I tell them quick that I'd sell them one but would want a reasonable price because I've put a lot of money and work into them. The only one I sold was a '57 18 hp johnson. THe guy drove about 150miles to come get it and he knew nothing about motors. He actually asked which connection worked the shift and which worked the throttle (for controls). And he didn't balk at all when I told him the price. It had a new pull cord, impeller, controls, l.u. oil., and restored tank with new double line fuel hose.
I agree with the others who said that someone who actually knows something about motors will be willing to pay a reasonable price. I'd hate to have someone come by and offer me $50, too. I live only 1/4 mile from the lake, so that helps to sell them when I need to.
JBJ

 

[Shizzy]

Re: just venting

thats the reason I dont buy and sell stuff. When it does come time to sell something I almost always call up a friend who I know wants it and offer it to them for half price. One phone call and he is at my door with cash in hand. I also always give them the manual and a list of whats "not quite right, but works for now"

no test rides, no strangers and no negotiating. The last two things I sold were my canoe and my last car. Canoe was worth $400-$500, sold it to my friend for $200. my old Dodge neon, worth $1000, sold it to a friend for $600.

However, Im the type of guy to give a guy what he is asking If I know its a fair price. When I was looking at my Alumacraft the guy said $500 boat and trailer, $250 for the 6HP Johhny. he put the Johhny in a bucket, pulled the cord twice and it fired up. I could have tried to talk him down, but for the price I couldnt beat it. I handed him the $750 and loaded up.

 

[david_r]

Re: just venting

i would be very very offended if someone offered me $50 for a runnin motor......they couldnt buy it from me for any price if he couldnt give me any more respect than that.

if someone wants to buy a motor of any age they shouldnt expect a new motor for less than the cost of a tank of gas.

its kind of like fixing a car (im an auto mech) if they dont like your diagnosis or think its too much theyll argue about the prob........youd be surprised at some of the reactions ive gotten when i say "if you know whats wrong with it why didnt you fix it?"

dont give up some people dont deserve an old ob

 

[ondarvr]

Re: just venting

Sorry to say, but they're only worth what someone will pay for them, great motors or not. I have a 50'X12' room in my shop full of vintage John/Evin motors and parts with almost no market for them. They belong to a friend that closed his shop when he lost the lease, but in the last few years his sales had been very slow, so it was going that way anyhow. He's been trying to get rid of them, but even at rediculously low prices the parts just don't sell. He's taken truckloads of motors and parts, sold them as scrap and has gotten more money for them with less hassle.

 

[dajohnson53]

Re: just venting

i would be very very offended if someone offered me $50 for a runnin motor......they couldnt buy it from me for any price if he couldnt give me any more respect than that.

if someone wants to buy a motor of any age they shouldnt expect a new motor for less than the cost of a tank of gas.

Sorry to say, but they're only worth what someone will pay for them, great motors or not..

+100 on that. One should never get offended on any offer on a business deal. People offer what they want to pay - or as part of a negotiating strategy. "Respect" has nothing to do with anything. You should simply take it as another piece of evidence on what things are really worth, not what you think (wish) they were worth. Don't get upset or offended, make a counter offer. Sell it for whatever you can get for it because you'll never get more regardless of your respectability or opinion!

 

[freddyray21]

Re: just venting

the problem I run into is the same guys looking at my 150 dollar motor on Craigslist is also looking at someone else's 50 dollar motor. The difference is mine runs. We have all bought motors that ran the last time I used it only to find bad coils, gummed up carbs, needs new impeller ect. I usually tell them to go ahead and buy those motors then call me when they won't run. I'll fix them for parts and labor. Called a guy the other day that had a 1960 5.5 hp Evinrude for 45 dollars. After talking to him I found it had a broken rod diagnosed by a shop. I told him I would pass as it can be fixed, but it would cost more than it is worth. I am aware of the free market and also aware that what you can buy it for is what it is worth. But talk apples to apples then. Not a good running ready to go motor or one that needs work. There is a lot of difference. The 21 in my nickname is not my age it's my mother's birthday. Most of us on here would not pay 150 for a motor from the 50's either as we know how to fix them and can pick up the 25 dollar garage sale motor and make them run. I am also not mad either just venting.

 

[56 rude]

Re: just venting

You sell old motors?Opps ive been doing it wrong then ,i buy but dont sell,lol.A buddy at work sold me a 1958 18 hp johnny this summer and i checked it over ,swapped the cowing for a 1957 (looks better as far as im concerned) put it on my 60 odd year old 14 foot cedarstrip boat and used it all summer without so much as a hiccup!What i like about them is their great conversation starters,met a lot of people this year just from talking about the oldies.

 

[cc67]

Re: just venting

I like buying them and fixing them for my own use. Never tried to sell or have I been offered any money for them. They are great for starting conversations but that is usually when someones ignorance rears it's ugly head. So far it's been a fun and relatively inexpensive hobby.

 

[freddyray21]

Re: just venting

I can only use so many motors. For me it is more about seeing them run again then the owning. I seldom make any money selling them but like to see them used.