I have a friend/colleague who would like to sell me his moderately used Olympia Cremina. It looks alright cosmetically and functions, but needs, at the least, to have the brewhead gasket replaced. I am not sure of the age. The serial number is: 9029841.

Could anyone give me some input on what a fair price might be? My friend got it from a chef friend and hasn't really used it. Neither of us have a sense of what it is worth. Kind of hard when talking about a machine with such a high price initially.

Any feedback would be helpful.

Ian

Hello Ian,

Judging by the serial number I would say your machine is about a 1990. Olympia closed up in 93 and was reopened in 96. My serial number begins with an 84. My understanding means it was made in 1984. I don't know this for an absolute fact, but I am pretty sure. As to value, that is difficult but I will tell you what I know. You can view pictures of my Cremina on my post--Using the Olympia Cremina. I paid $660 on ebay. It was in perfect working condition with no blemishes sans one small scratch. It did not come with the knock box, dosing spoon, tamper, pitcher, or double basket that comprised the standard accesory kit. I paid an aditional $25 for the double basket.

Roughly comparable machines go on Ebay from $500 to $700. Ones that are rough or need work go from $150 to $350. I believe that Steve paid about $406--before being refunded for shipping damage-- for the cremina he is rebuilding in his "Restoration of an Olympia Cremina" post. I saw one in rough condition missing the lever, portafilter, and all of the accessories go for $150. There is a really nice one on ebay right now with all of the accessories with one day left you can watch to see how much it goes for. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI....em&item=4397125581

Being that it is in good cosmetic condition but needs a gasket kit, I would place the value between the $660 I paid and the $406 that steve paid. The gasket kit costs about $90 and a couple of hours of your time. Add all of this into the equation with how much you can afford and how little he is willing to sell it for and you should find your price. I hope this helps.

Lance

Here are a few examples of completed Cremina sales on Ebay. The first one is Steve's (I think).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI....em&item=4397125581
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI....em&item=7538817081
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI....em&item=4395990361

There are some older ones I cannot seem to bring up.

Here is mine:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI....em&item=4390163017

Best of luck,
Lance

Ian, Lance is pretty dead on the mark. People always ask me what certain machines are worth and the reality is simply whatever the the buyer and seller are willing to agree on.

The range that Lance is giving you is pretty good. If the machine is in good shape and only needs gasket work, then you would have a nice machine if you could get in close to the bottom end. I would probably try and start around 400 and see where discussions took you. You should be able to recoup that should you decide it is not a fit for you. If you get the itch and want to do more than simply clean it up, then you may find yourself getting into spending enough where you may want to just pick up a new Elektra. Repaint, rechrome, etc are not cheap.

With Ebay, there are good secondary markets on these machines and they seem to sell quite briskly. If you float a price with him and he says $100, then I will buy it sight unseen.

Sounds like he scored it for free so he'll make a profit no matter what. It looks like you stumbled on a killer deal.

If it's a killer deal, it must be killing me. FYI, looks like the one listed above sold for $700 tonight.

Thank you all for the very helpful advice/info. I am still struggling with a decision. I "could" tell my colleague that the machine is fifteen years old and just not worth that much, but I am not that type of person. Plus this colleague, (my boss!) is someone with whom I hope to work for a long time. Just couldn't see them every day knowing that I had in some way deceived him. Oops sorry for the moral divergence!

Anyway, what I am really mulling over is a fair price, for the said fifteen year old machine, would seem to be in the $300 - $500 range. My instant thought is that for that money I am getting awfully close to a new/slightly used La Pavoni. I happen to currently be using a borrowed Europiccola and love the results. So I suppose the question is, what potentially do you all think I would gain, (if anything) with an old Cremina versus a much newer, (possibly Millenium generation) La Pavoni?

If you consider that a 15 year old cremina is nearly identical in all but a few minor aspects--pressure gauge, anti vacuum valve in the lid--to a new $2200 Cremina, you are comparing a $2200 machine to a $700 machine. With the Cremina you have nearly eliminated the overheating issue and portafilter sneezing. I am sure the 1st 2 shots between Cremina and the LaPavoni will be comparable; however, shots 3 through 8+ will not be. The Cremina wins hands down here. The materials and craftsmanship are unparalleled. Olympia is only able to produce enough Creminas to send only 160 units to the US each year. I think that most would agree that the Cremina is the home lever machine of choice if you can afford one or find one used. This brings us back to your boss's used machine. Just tell him that you have seen them go on Ebay for 300 to 600 dollars and tell him that you don't know whether you will be able to afford it. He might just give you a great deal. Either way you were honest and he will appreciate it, and give you a great deal on the machine or it is more than you can afford and you just come off as honest without the machine--a win win.

ian2kris wrote:Thank you all for the very helpful advice/info. I am still struggling with a decision. I "could" tell my colleague that the machine is fifteen years old and just not worth that much, but I am not that type of person. Plus this colleague, (my boss!) is someone with whom I hope to work for a long time. Just couldn't see them every day knowing that I had in some way deceived him. Oops sorry for the moral divergence!

Anyway, what I am really mulling over is a fair price, for the said fifteen year old machine, would seem to be in the $300 - $500 range. My instant thought is that for that money I am getting awfully close to a new/slightly used La Pavoni. I happen to currently be using a borrowed Europiccola and love the results. So I suppose the question is, what potentially do you all think I would gain, (if anything) with an old Cremina versus a much newer, (possibly Millenium generation) La Pavoni?

Will you buy this already! Make an offer within the range you call fair with a proviso to deduct from the price any expenditures you might need to make to get it into decent working order. Shows your boss you're being fair to him AND you can negotiate to protect your interests.



MichaelB

I have an Olympia Cremina serial # 8828404.

Can anyone tell me from that how old it is? And what its worth?

Lloyd