andyinchville Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Hi, I am going to go to Maryland tomorrow morning to buy or swap for a combo machine for a new location that I'm getting. The 2 machines I have to choose from are a Crane 797 for $2500 or a national 474 for $1600. (there is an AP LCM4 for $1600 but the compressor does not work....how hard to fix that?....it is at the same shop as the National 434). The machines are coming from a refurbishing company and both machines are claimed to be in very good condition. The company with the Crane 797 is willing to do some trading for machines that I have ( I have 6 , 2 wide FSI machines (I think the model number is 3120) . Of the 2 machines, which do you feel would be the better machine?… I like the lower price of the national 474, but on the flipside, if I can do some trading I'm may be able to get the Crane 797 for no money out of pocket...(or should I try for both since the National is so cheap?...relatively speaking).....NOTE: The site will ONLY deal with a combo machine (it is a new Home Goods store). If I try to trade for the Crane 797. How many of my small machines do you think would be a fair swap (my small FSI machines are okay, but I bought them from another vendor have not actually tested them… They do need paint, cleaning, etc.). Thanks in advance for any and all help. Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Andrew, The National 474 is from as early as 1991 and is kind of long in the tooth. It would need to be in top condition to bring $1600. It's a good machine, but the AP LCM 4 is better partly for its age (early 2000's) and partly for it's simplicity - only one board. As I mentioned in another thread, the National machine has more electronic boards - main logic, snack interface, power supply, and a small interface board below the can unit. The National 797 is a much later machine (1999) from National but still has more than one board in it. The APLCM4 for $1600 and not cooling should tell you that they give more value to it than the working Nat.474 for the same price. I would say that the LCM is priced too high for a non-working machine. The worst case scenario is that it will need a new compressor. To accomplish that, you have to remove the can module from the machine, then remove the can dispensing part off of the refrigeration base. You then rebuild the unit, reinstall the can dispenser and then reinstall the entire module back into the machine. You should ask them why they aren't repairing it for sale to you. That seems strange. As far as trade-in value, as I told you before, don't expect a lot for the 2 or 3 wide machines unless they have a definite need for them. Telling us that they need to be painted, cleaned and tested means you won't get much for them at all. You should have already broached the subject with your supplier so you know if they even want these machines. My suggestion is to trade as many as you can straight across for the LCM and then pay to fix it, or trade the same number of machines for the Nat. 797 and pay some cash too. No one can tell you what the value of your machines are. The value is simply what your buyer, or trader, will give you for them. On the used market you are guaranteed to get more than you will from an equipment dealer. It's the same principle as buying a used car. Good luck with the transaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyinchville Posted March 30, 2013 Author Share Posted March 30, 2013 Hi AZ, Thanks for the reply... very helpful and informative. I tried to be somewhat scientific about the swap and look up the value of the old USI machines VS the values of the other machines I was looking at but I could not find anything similar, so I guess as you said above, it was just basically trying to come to an agreement between the seller and the buyer as to the relative worths of the machines (of course I realizethat since I was dealing with a business that they would somewhat over inflate the value of their machine and downplay the value of mine since they have to make some money deal). When I first arrived at the site, the initial offer they made was that they would give me their machine (the Crane 797) for 5 of my small USI machines (12 selects), plus $500 cash from me (we had spoken over the phone prior to me actually bringing all the machines to their shop for evaluation). I balked at the notion of giving 5 machines, plus cash, to them so I countered that I would give them the 5 machines for their machine, plus an old 3 wide snack machine they has they had sitting in the shop (for whatever reason, this shop would prefer to have 2 wide USI machines rather than the 3 wide USI machines). Side note : They had told me earlier in our conversation that if I ever ran across anymore USI 2 wides that they would gladly trade me USI 3 wide machines for them outright ( I prefer the 3 wide's over the 2 wides myself so if I come across more, I told him I would gladly swap). Anyways, after much haggling and deliberation . I ended up swapping 5 of my 2 wide machines and $100 for their Crane 797 (refurbished). Also, as fate would have it, as I was wandering around their shop looking at all the various machines, I noticed a machine with a name tag on it that sounded similar to the person I was going to visit next at his shop an hour and fifteen minutes away (this was the fella that had the other machine that I was going look at buying for $1500)..... I asked the manager at the shop that I was at if it was in fact the machine that belonged to the next person I was going to see and sure enough, the owner did confirm that fact. Given that that machine was extra nice, I asked the manager at the location I was at if he could contact the owner of the machine, and see if they were interested in selling it to me, thus saving me an hour and 15 minute ride one way to the next shop. Long story short, the person did sell it to me for $1650… The machine was a refurbished GPL (?) 4 wide combo machine that was newer and in better condition than $1500 machine that I was going to look at later that day (per the seller). In all, I think I did pretty well on these 2 machines considering I did need one right away… The reason I bought the 2nd machine was to have a backup machine or a machine that I might be able to place in a location that is a little tight on space, etc.… Thanks again for your help. Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Andrew, I think you did fine with this. It is so hard to make good money with a 2 wide machine, let alone merchandise it, that if you can make future trades of a 2 wide for a 3 wide straight across, I would do it. One thing to keep in mind though, is what level of technology is in the 2 wides vs. the 3 wides. If you are going to use them all as stand alone machines, the technology doesn't matter. But if you plan on slaving any USI soda machine to a snack, the age of the technology can become an issue. For example, if you have a late model BC6 soda that has 6 stack columns, you might not be able to interface it to an older 3 wide USI snack. I'm glad you saved yourself all the driving and got 2 good machines to take back with you. Nice job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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