Who would sell on a tool if they were completely satisfied with it?
Why are there hardly any Salzburg grain mills on the used equipment market?
The answer has now been given to us by an enthusiastic user of our grain mills:
“It struck me with your devices that virtually no used devices are available, (in contrast to competitor products), and when an ad does ‘pop up’ the savings are virtually negligible and the ad is gone relatively quickly. Taking this into account, I have often come to products that are more suitable for me than when I rely on test reports that are essentially adapted to mass products. Who would sell on a tool if they were completely satisfied with it?
The fact that our natural stone mills can hardly be found on the second-hand market has often been pointed out to us by interested customers. But the reason for this has never been so to the point.
Yes, if there is ever a used mill of ours on the Internet, it is usually 30, 40 years old or even older. The owners can often remember the year of purchase only by the occasion on which they got the mill.
Buying a grain mill used can be a real bargain, but it can also be the opposite.
If you want to buy a mill used, then you should find out how long the mill has been in use and/or how long it has now been unused. A long stay in the cellar or box is not always beneficial. Difficult for us is to give information on the purchase of a used mill. We can often determine an approximate age of the mill from pictures, but not its condition. We can only see the condition of the bricks very inaccurately on pictures – and the performance of the engine can only be determined here in the company. It should be remembered that the engine can be decades old and how long it will continue to do its job well cannot be predicted. This depends on how the owners of the mill it was previously used.
If you can buy a mill used cheap and tested it at home, you may get a nasty surprise:
The mill does not grind really fine or stops independently during grinding. Then it is necessary that the mill comes to us for a “full service”. Plan the costs for this already possibly with the purchase price.
There are a few reasons why a Salzburg mill will pass on again:
Life circumstances may have changed and baking bread and cakes and to grind them yourself has become too complicated and time-consuming. In this case, a mill is passed on after a short time and could be a real bargain. Often serious strokes of fate are responsible for the transfer, for example, when the owner of a mill seriously ill or deceased. Or the family has downsized considerably, the children are out of the house and the mill is now too big. Divorces also contribute to the disposal of a mill and we are always pleased when on the occasion of a wedding or christening we are asked for a new mill – of course it has to be a Salzburg natural stone mill again.
So buy a really old Salzburg mill only after you have tested it. Or you can confirm the eventual refund of the purchase price. The quality of the mill is proved by high age, but who proves, guarantees you that the mill will work well for more decades?
Here is another hygienic aspect:
If you buy a used blender, then you can thoroughly clean the most important part that comes into contact with food, the funnel. Remember, the parts of the mill, especially the grinding chamber, are made of wood and must not be cleaned with water. Other parts of the mill are not accessible to you.
The writer of the lines, why there are hardly used mills from us, amazed me with his clever way of thinking. He didn’t read any reviews or listen to the various forums and bloggers to find out which mills were really good. He looked at the second-hand market and logically concluded: If almost no mills are offered by a manufacturer, and if they are offered at unusually high prices, then this speaks for quality and longevity. These are quality statements without payment, without influence, without gifts, without friendship services.
We can only confirm that decades-old mills, come to us again and again for the first service.
As if it were a family member that one would not want to miss, concerned owners take care of THEIR mill. With a lot of experience, we then do our part to send the old lady home from the well-deserved service cure, technically corrected and visually polished.
So again, thank you! And I wish you a good day yet and a good week.