"Used - Carpettome Inlay Cutting System," in the Buy & Sell Flooring Tools and Equipment forum, begins: "Hi Everyone,
I am a new member to your online community.
My Background - From 1996 - 2005, I was ..."
My Background - From 1996 - 2005, I was the founder, owner, operator of a top rated cat furniture design and manufacturing company here in California. All of our cat furniture designs featured beautiful carpet inlays on them. You can see some of our designs by clicking on my profile and then check out the website URL I entered. It will take you to our photo album on Photobucket.com and you can view some the photos of some of our famous cat furniture designs.
Unfortunately, due to a huge fraud/scam perpetrated by a company out of the Chicago area, in which 100's of businesses across the country were scammed out of billions of dollars, my company, along quite few other businesses, were so financially devastated as a result of the scam, that we had no other choice but to close the doors to our businesses.
Many of the victimized businesses got together and we filed a RICO suit in federal district court against the company in Illinois and 3 years later, the Illinois Attorney General finally file suit against the same company for the same reasons stated in our RICO suit, but these kinds of lawsuits take forever. So, any thoughts of getting back our money or our businesses were quickly laid to rest as we were told that it could take years for our case to make it to trial. (It has already been 7 years and we are still in the "discovery" phase)
For several months now, I have been debating whether or not I wanted to sell my Carpettome Inlay Cutting Machine. I was the sole designer of all of the cat furniture pieces in our product line, and usually this meant that I had to make several protypes of the design first and I used my own personal Carpettome machine for the design phase. Thus, I was the only person that used this particular Carpettome machine.
I really hate the thought of selling my Carpettome it but then again, this economy has not been kind to a lot of people, including my own family. Over the course of the past 18 months, I have been laid off twice and my husband was laid off for 8 long months and we could really use the extra cash right now.
I did some research on pricing and National is selling these units (brand new, of course) for $3,495.00. Supposedly, you can buy them brand new on E-Bay for $2030.00 but I cannot confirm that rumor. National has pricing agreements with everyone that buys these units for resale, and the agreement states that they are not suppposed to sell any Carpettome units for less than the price that National sells these units.
So, taking all of that into consideration, I figured that a fair price for a used Carpettome would probably be somewhere between $1,200.00 - $1,500.00, depending upon the condition of the unit. Mine is in excellent condition but I am always willing to negotiate.
I also have a binding brute that I want to sell. The machine has a crack in the cast iron casing and the thread won't feed correctly because it gets caught in the crack. I checked into repairing it but they told me that it is very hard to repair cracks in a cast iron casing like this, so they suggested that I would have better luck finding someone who wanted to buy it for the parts and the working motor.
I guess I would probably put the binding brute up for sale on a "Best Offer" type of sales transaction.
So, I guess my next question is, does anyone here know of anybody that might be interested in buying a used Carpettome machine or a used Binding Brute that you can possibly part out?
You can contact me directly via the "send personal/private email" option.
I will be taking some photos of the two units this weekend and I will upload the photos as soon as I can.
From my research a fair price for a used Carpettome was about 800 about 3 years ago. Didn't have the money then and still don't but would love one. This was just my research.
Yes, I would have agreed with you 3 years ago, but considering that new units are now selling for $3,500.00 that generally means the value of used machines are going to go up in value, also.
The problem trying to determine a fair price comes from the fact that most people don't want to sell these machines because they are work horses. It's a machine that doesn't have a complicated motor or design yet it is a patented machine that is manufactured solely by National. It's kind of like the Singer Featherweight Sewing Machine which was manufactured back in the 1950's by Singer. Singer has owned the patent on this little gem since they invented it. The Singer Featherweight sewing machines just won't quit and their value just keeps on increasing year after year.
The reason I suggested a price range between $1,200 - $1,800 is because I was only able to find evidence of one sale that occurred online and the buyer lived in Australia. The buyer paid $1,000 and the sale took place a couple of years ago.
People just don't sell these machines and I am struggling with the same issues. If I do sell it, I am resigning myself to the possibility that I may never be able to afford to buy another one. This machine is simply one of the best investments I ever made, thus my struggle continues.
Yeh, the Carpettome that is currently for sale on EBay is an example of one of those "deals" that doesn't sound right. Why would this seller state that they are adhering to a MAP agreement with National and therefore they cannot quote a sales price in print or advertising of less than $2030.00 and then turn right around and state that they will sell the machine for a lot less than the printed advertising price?
That just doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Why would National be selling these machines for $3,500.00 and then say that it was okay for someone else to sell their machines for 2/3 the price that they are charging? Why would they allow someone to then state in writing on the biggest bilboard in the world (the Internet) that they are only quoting a sales of $2,030.00 because they have to and reality they will sell the Carpettome for much less?
It just doesn't add up. It sounds very fishy if you ask me.
Tool4Flooring has it for $2030. InstallerTools has it for $1830, but you have to add it to your cart to get the price. I just Googled it to see what it was and both of those are in the top 3.
I'm still not exactly sure what it is. Does it cut carpet or cut designs in to it?
Why would National be selling these machines for $3,500.00 and then say that it was okay for someone else to sell their machines for 2/3 the price that they are charging?
Lots of companies do this. If they sell direct cheaper than the dealers can, then dealers have no reason to carry the item. It keeps the dealers happy and nets them the occasional sale from someone that doesn't do their research.
It's voluntary, not mandatory. If they want to continue to offer the tool, they have to post the MAP. The manufacturer is not going to monitor every ebay/craigslist/flooring mag classified listing for the tool. In fact, I suspect times are just as tough for the manufacturer as they are for everyone else.
InstallerTools is a well known flooring tool supplier. I have had personal contact with them over the years and they seem to be a legitimate and respected company.
I buy stuff on the Internet and find legitimate dealers that will sell for much less than the manufacturer. Just recently I downloaded a trial version of a graphics program and the "manufacturer" offered to sell me the product for 10% off. A couple days ago I got an email from NewEgg that had the product for less than half price (still couldn't afford it). My point is, this happens all the time with any type of product. If you paid full price for the tool, it's unfortunate. You prob'ly could have gotten it for much less.
A Carpettome machine can cut intricut carpet inlay design pieces out of several layers of carpet, all stacked one on top of the other, and cuts them all at the same time. Have you ever seen one of the giant fabric cutters that cuts pattern pieces out of fabric, about 50-100 layers of fabric at a time? When all of the different pattern pieces have been cut, one cut piece from each stack is then stitched together with one of the other pattern pieces, i.e. to make a pair of jeans.
The Carpettome works along the same principle as it can cut anywhere between 2-6 layers of carpet (depending upon the pile height). When you create inlays designs out of carpet (which I used to do by hand), you cut one shape out of one color of carpet and pull the piece out and set it aside, leaving a hole in your main piece of carpet. Then you have to cut another identically shaped piece out of another color of carpet, and then you take that piece and "inlay" into the hole that you just cut in your main piece of carpet.
Your designs are drawn on the backside of the top piece of carpet because you have cut from the backside just like you do when you lay carpet. All of your inlay designs have to flipped over, or reversed, before you begin drawing your design. When you "inlay" all of the pieces back into the main piece of carpet and flip the carpet over, rightside up, your design will look exactly like drawing. (Hopefully . . . LOL).
I will try to find a couple of photos of some inlay work that I created as gifts for family or friends and post them here. Can we upload photos onto this forum? I just assumed we could, but maybe I should ask first?
This is one of the cat furniture designs that my company used to sell. The "Club", "Heart", & "Spade" shapes are inlays. I would lay a Black piece of carpet on top a red piece of carpet, flip them over, draw the shape I wanted, and then use the Carpettome to cut out one identical shape out of both pieces of carpet.
Yeh, you're probably right on the money, Jim. I just looked at it differently. If I was the inventor of a machine and I still owned the patent on it, I wouldn't want my customers, that buy my machines at wholesale pricing, turning around and undercutting my minimum retail price.
I, too, just did some more searching on the Internet and found those two prices you mentioned.
I don't know . . . maybe I should just hang onto my Carpettome. Maybe I will land a job soon and I won't have to sell it.
I just tried to upload a couple of photos and it didn't work. The best thing to do is to go to my web page.
Just click on my Login name and you will see an option called, "visit my website". Just click on that option and you will be taken to web page where you can see quite a few photos of the carpet inlay designs that were featured on our cat furniture. Some are very intricut and some are very simple. But that will give you an idea of the kinds of things that you can do with a Carpettome machine.
Jewlcatz, as I read your post, I get the opinion you REALLY do not want to sell this nice piece of equipment. I do not blame you. It is a tool you enjoy using, one that helps you move your ideas from your brain to reality.
Now if you sell it, you will be left only with good memories and some money which will be gone before long. If you keep it you will still be able to use it any time you want, and with your talent I do not see you setting wringing your hands waiting for an opportunity to come by. To sell would be giving up and I do not see that in your statements.
After all money is not the answer to everything. Hang in there.
