Good morning Jenn, had a bit more of a think, especially about your questions relating to what kind of price you might expect to pay for these things second hand. The answer is still the same (whatever someone is prepared to pay) however here is some more info for you to mull over and with which to try and get a feeling for "value". You can purchase, brand new, 1 group, commercial espresso machines with standard workhorse type stainless steel body in "SEMI AUTOMATIC" form (regular commercial electric toggle switching) for under $3000.00 icl GST. Or, the same in "ELECTRONIC" form (touch pad operation) for around $3500.00. Or, 2 different forms of the 1 group "semi-commercial" Diadema Junior Plus with Lever operated E61 group and good looking and very well finished stainless steel body for under $2500.00. No water connection required. These are brand new, with compact sized bodies, suitable for connection into your kitchen, with 12 months guarantee. All the above have the E61 group if you are that way inclined, and they all are a better espresso brewer than that which you are interested in. In addition, I have a 2 group electronic ELEKTRA BELLE EPOQUE (that is the upright cylindrical style that looks like a Dalek out of Dr Who but with requisite brass dome and eagle on top), in copper and brass, brand new in the showroom...its current RRP is somewhere in the vicinity of $14,000.00 and if you twist my arm you can have it for a very reasonable price because it is old stock, been here a while unsold, and therefore was imported by us for a cost far below the current RRP. So if you would like to know more about this one, please email privately. In any case, a second hand fancy espresso machine, from a traders point of view, is nothing more than a second hand espresso machine, and we base our "valuations" solely on that. Purchasers of new "fancy" equipment have to accept that when they eventually want to sell, they will lose more on the original price, than if they had purchased a regular machine in the beginning. And in the meantime, they've still made a squillion out of it....last week we worked out that one of our clients who has regularly put 5 kilos of coffee per week through his espresso machine for the last 5 years, and sold the brew at an average $2.50 per cup, has taken $250,000.00 (yes that's right, a 1/4 mil) dollars from that espresso machine. Goodluck, FC.
