Selling an Asbern Proof Press in Netherlands

I think the German eBay might be your best bet, all the presses I have seen listed there have been at decent prices and they have sold.

Maybe Jens (bogtrykkeren) has some good suggestions? He posts a lot of photos on his flickr of presses I believe he spots for sale in Europe.

If I hadn’t already bought a Vandercook this year, I’d start planning a road trip to The Hague :) That press looks beautiful, and in my experience with Asberns they are wonderful machines.

Why not start on the site of Drukwerk in de Marge first. There are several hundreds of members there, in the Netherlands, in Belgium and in Germany. People all over Europe (including Jens) are checking the site out as well. Had you posted it there, I probably would have reacted and might have had a buyer for it. And what height is the press? Dutch height, German/French height, a price would be helpful as well… I have brokered deals for years now, with presses going to Germany, Belgium, France and Finland.

I think I can remember the eBay sale of this press ….. how much are you asking for it? If the price is fair it should be possible to find it a new home. I assume that the height to paper is 23,56, unless you have changed the height, and that you therefore will have a better chance to get it sold properly outside Holland – in Germany, France or Scandinavia. I would recommend an eBay sale.
Gott grüß die Kunst
Jens

Thank you very much for your advice kimaboe, thomas gravemaker and bogtrykkeren. I bought the Press in 2011 from Herbert Wrede who is located in Bremen Germany for 1,700€ (not including shipping) and he threw in some extra goodies, which I would of course include as well. The Asbern Press is from 1962.

The Press is still in excellent working condition and is very well maintained. The only thing is that one of the rollers (due to a novice error) has around 1.2 cms strip missing, but it is on the very far end of the roller so I’ve never had to replace it as I never ink that far out. I could provide a discount for that, not sure how much. (please see attached for photo of the missing strip)

I will try Drukwerk for sure. I’m not sure whether or not I can post to Ebay.de as I do not have an address there, but could try. Ebay.nl is pretty non existent.

The type-high is European and 23.67mm…I think that it might be Belgium? The roller heights can be adjusted as well. I have a gridded base custom-made by Jamie Garrison’s husband (I think he is known on this forum) which is exactly 23.56mm and which I use with the Boxcar 94FL plates and which brings me exactly to the type height I need. The base is made in 2 smaller pieces (6”x13” and 12”x13”) to fit the bed. This cost me 425USD.

I have other items for the press such as hard-packing materials (from NA graphics) and a brand new rubber blanket (for a Vandy but that fits the Asbern)

I also had the Seller convert the Press from 380 volts to 220 volts for a price.

Any suggestions as to what would be an appropriate asking price for this press in the European market and also if you think I should try to sell the accessories together with the Press? It wasn’t really used with Photopolymer prior to myself, I don’t think.

It is an amazing machine and I would really love to find it a good home.

Many thanks in advance for all your help and advice!

FullSizeRender_2.jpg

FullSizeRender_1.jpg

you can contact Claudia Schneebauer in Germany, she continues to run the Netzwek Drukgrafik: [email protected]
And post it on the Vanderblog
A nice press in good condition, but the price tag attached to it will probably frighten European buyers.

and I forgot to mention Dafi Kühne’s list: http://proofpress.ch/equipment-for-sale/

Thank you so much for all of your suggestions thomas gravemaker! I really appreciate it. Any thoughts as to what would be a reasonable asking price for the press given what I paid for it and it’s current condition? The press has been regularly maintained by one of the Drukwerk technicians as well. And he said that it is one of the best maintained presses he has seen! (Mr. Mast, you might know him too). Thanks again!

Mmmm ….. 1.700 + shipping + 425 ++++ Sometimes, if not often or always, you are ending up with a press which has cost you more than you can sell it for. A new owner has to in-calculate shipping, maybe new rollers etc. etc. Together with that you can still, with a little luck, find a nice Korrex Hanover or Berlin for EUR 600 to 800. I would, and that’s not an offer :-), be very happy with EUR 1000 to 1200 – Sorry.
Gott grüß die Kunst
Jens

I would check out hugo bos of polymetaal.nl to see if he knows of anyone seeking such a press….and in uk there is quite a shortage of cylinder proof presses….so it is even worth putting on uk ebay…….holland is only a ferry trip away, and vandercook FAG type presses can reach 4000gbp on a very good day if there are competing bidders……perhaps 2000-2500 gbp try a best offer could get someone intrested……yes uk type high is .918 inches but if a printer is doing just polymer that won’t matter…..incidentally Hugo regularly travels to uk so could maybe be intrested in taking it as a delivery job too……..

Thanks very much for your advice and suggestions Jens and Jonathanjeclipse. The 425$ was the cost of the base but if the person doesn’t want to use polymer of course I’m happy to offer just the press itself, which was 1,700€ and yes I would be willing to negotiate. The shipping costs and logistics are always a hassle, I know…for a 500 kilo machine!

What do you guys think would be a reasonable discount for the one slightly damaged roller? As I said, it’s still very usable with the roller as it is, you’d had to really want to ink all the way out to the farthest bleed. But still, I understand if someone might want to be able to do that…

I also think it’s quite rare to be able to find a Press which is in excellent, fully working condition complete with a base and ready to be used? I had to order the base from the US and brought it back with me on the plane as it is very hard to find bases like this in Europe. I’m not sure if this counts for something…maybe not :-)

Anyway, thanks again, if you think of any other suggestions please feel free to message me. Much appreciated!

It’s a beautiful press and I’m sure that someone would love to have it. I have a rule that says: New press new rollers. Maybe you are lucky and the old rollers are good enough, but you have to in-calculate new rollers, together with shipping, in your maximum price when buying a press – otherwise you are ending up with a far too expensive item in your studio. Regarding the base – well, it depends on the new owner of the press. If he or she is for plates it might have an interest, but if it’s a real type person as I it has no value. Sell it separately or use it as a bait in the sale.
Give it a shot on eBay – maybe UK eBay. Set a minimum price and see what will happen? If Jonathan is right, you might be able to sell it well. Difference in type height should not be a problem –this way. It would be a bit trickier to sell a British press on the Continent, because of the lower type height used in UK.
Good luck & Gott grüß die Kunst
Jens

Thanks very much for taking the time to share your advice with me Jens! Could I just ask you if you can recommend a good transporter of Printing Presses within Europe if you know of one? I can’t remember which transporter brought my Press to me from Germany as it was organized by Herbert, the seller. I did pay around 150€ for the transport costs, though. And the press was dismantled so that we could get it into my house! Many thanks again! Elisa

Kinelo,

How did you go with the sale of this press?? I will be moving from Melbourne to Croatia in May an i am looking for a press like this!