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Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers

Certes mk12 sold for £361 on ebay

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A mk12 Certes with a banister rail for the handle but a very good grass box and reasonable life in the cylinder just went on ebay for £361. I can't comment on more detailed condition because I didn't win the bidding but it seems quite a high price even with the decent box or is that what they go for these days? 
Any thoughts from enthusiasts more experienced than me? 

Clive1997 Wed, 03/06/2020

Yes perhaps a bit extreme, but from the bidding I would say £150 is probably a reasonable going price, bearing in mind 5 people were willing to pay this sum, when just 2 bidders push to a much high price its becomes more of a one off as you always need two & there may not always be two around!

I think I may have a nice handle lying around off a Cellec or Bowlic if the winner wants to contact me.

 

Antbr123 Thu, 04/06/2020

All I will say is that the old adage is that "something is only worth what someone is prepared to pay" holds true....and you never know who is reading these forum contributions.....whether it is the new owner or the seller..(wink wink).  Lawnmower enthusiasts can have deep pockets if they really want something.....plus it could transpire that the new owner might become a member of the club. The gentleman who bought this had a 10 bladed Allett Kensington and his lawn was his passion...How do I know.?..I leave that for you to guess......but he was eccstatic about the mower.

Tony

Keith Wootton Thu, 04/06/2020

I agree with Clive and Tony's comments about values and requiring "two to tango".

Also worth bearing in mind the following factors may be at work:

First, mowers often appear on eBay (and via the club for that matter) that collectors might want but which others are buying to use in their day-to-day work. This could well apply here. A new hand mower for the fine turf on golf or bowling greens (like the Certes) would cost a lot of money, assuming such a machine is available. That has a knock on effect to the second hand market. For someone who is going to use the mower regularly - and be paid - it won't be hard to justify the cost (bearing in mind that cost can be offset against profits etc so the actual "cost" is less) which might only be equivalent to a day ot two's fees. I don't know much about the new machine market but I suspect that there are few if any hand mowers available so this will also inflate second hand prices.

Second, and following on from the first, because there is a commercial market for this type of mower there will no doubt be people and businesses buying them to refurbish and sell on. This too will inflate the values - if the buyer can see a potential profit despite the work they might need to do, they will buy.

Third, although less relevant to this discussion perhaps, we always need to factor in the cost of collection and delivery. For most of us, the usual option is to collect but if the mower is some distance away then it can take a lot of time and the cost of fuel can be off-putting (I've heard this from many collectors over the years). If you really want something you'll go for it but if it's a borderline decision then the answer is more than likely to be "no". It could be relevant to this particular item because paying a bit more for something "local" will still cost less in total than buying cheap and then spending too much to collect.