Inherited darkroom equipment

looking for advice. I inherited darkroom equipment.( been years since I have been in a darkroom.) and I will be moving out of the country, so I am planning on selling this equipment. not listing a classified here, yet. I need to subscribe. thinking on FB or Ebay maybe. I'm a little bummed because I always wanted to have a darkroom. I have a lot of negatives, it's just not possibly anymore.
the system is currently disassembled. I won't be able to test making a print, but what should I test? power/lamp? should I take the time to assemble it?
during my research I believe it's a good enlarger. any advice on what to list it as?
any advice is appreciated. thanks!

Personally, I would plug in the enlarger head, make sure the air ports are clear and that the heat won't affect the surface, turn on the lamp and make sure the C/M/Y filter wheels work and produce the proper color when turned to maximum.

Otherwise, physically check the other items for cracks, fungus and obvious physical problems.

Sell with a description of what you did to test it, but with the proviso that testing was minimal and that there are no guarantees.

You won't get top dollar unless you do the long hard work of testing fully.

You do not need to put them together. You need to connect the power supply box and timer, to the enlarger head unit. Turn on and to test the power supply and the head unit. If they are all good, you can turn the color wheels to see if light changes color. That is all you need to test. Also, you need the mount the lens.

Then see through the lens to see if there is any defect. There are more if you can, such as the frame and head movement on the frame etc. But I doubt there will be any issue.

thanks to both of you for your advice!! I will pull it out and test it.

Welcome to Photrio.
As for the question of an appropriate sale price, it is really difficult to give advice with respect to darkroom equipment, because it is relatively difficult to ship, and prices are generally highly dependent on your location. In some areas, there are a lot more people interested than in others.
It would be worth your while to look for local rental darkrooms or schools which teach darkroom or co-op darkrooms or, if you are lucky, brick and mortar stores that still service the darkroom user's needs. If there are any such resources locally, that is where you should direct your "marketing" efforts.
A subscription here and a Classified listing would be a good idea - there are desirable items in what you have, and there certainly are Photrio members who are relatively near your location.

I also have 3 enlargers to sell now. Two Omega 4x5 and one Saunders LPL 4550XLG. In general, the market is still in large metro area.

Testing as already described would do. Also check all parts so nothing is missing, bent, corroded etc. Very good advise was to state in your listing exactly what you have done to check it with no guarantees beyond that. Print testing is certainly not needed. Future user should go through alignment checks anyways due to transportation alone (local or not) likely knocking things out.

Overall, the enlarger is a good solid model and the lens is also great. I'd guess $600-800 for the whole kit is a decent deal for the buyer, if everything works as it should and there are no other problems. But there may be no takers for this price all the same.

While some items can be easily shipped, the enlarger is hard to ship in it's entirety economically (it can be done, but not necessarily economically). So as Matt said, much depends on location. Your enlarger, if working properly, will have significant value to the right person. There are, no doubt, people in NH and neighboring states that would value the enlarger, but you have to reach them and give them enough assurance that driving to look at it will pay off.

Photrio, the Large Format Forum, and Facebook darkroom groups are the best way to reach those people. If you don't feel you can do some basic testing on the enlarger, consider finding someone who will. Local camera clubs and stores (even if they cater mostly to digital) can be a source.

It would be best to assemble the enlarger to make sure it's not missing some critical component.

Does it have the column to raise and lower? it is not shown in the picture.

i see you are in NH ..
you might consider calling some of the local universities and colleges ( local or a state/2 away )
that have undergraduate and graduate photography programs maybe they
will buy your darkroom items, or you can donate them and have a feel good moment
i had a silkscreen studio and some broadcast video equipment i was given, and i donated it to
a art center, and still 15-20 years later they are using it

good luck !
john

I don't think you'll find a lot of interest from colleges in purchasing darkroom gear. Some might take it as a charitable donation. As others have said, transportation is an issue.

If you're at all close to Brattleboro, I'd drop over to the Vermont Center for Photography (VCP) and put up a notice. They have tons of enlargers, mostly B/W, for sale and gift in their store, but there might be local buyers interested in picking this one up - it's nice model.

https://vcphoto.org/

Give Josh a call and ask if you can put up a "for sale" card. Many Photrio / APUG members are supporters and members of VCP, including me.

Andy from Keene

Rlibersky said:

Does it have the column to raise and lower? it is not shown in the picture.

Click to expand...

yes, it has the stand and tower.

I will be setting this up and testing it.