First Time Typewriter Purchases with Specific Recommendations for Writers

I regularly see writers (or their friends or significant others considering buying them presents) interested in purchasing their first typewriter as a (distraction-free) writing tool. Naturally, unless they grew up with them or have other direct experience, the primary questions are: how much are they?, which ones are the better professional tools?, and where can they get them?

Having written up some suggestions in the past as well as a bit about the state of the current typewriter market, I thought I’d put the two together for future queries as the broad advice doesn’t change very much. This article might also be generally useful for anyone considering their first typewriter, or even getting into typewriter collecting in general.

This won’t cover any of the electric typebar typewriters or the later wedge typewriters, thermal typewriters, or electronic word processors which are similar, but potentially different beasts and markets.

In the Typewriter Market Condition is King

When it comes to manual typewriters, condition is king and a big determinant of the overall price. Sadly this fact is wholly unknown by the vast majority of people selling the typewriter they found in grandma’s attic. Knowing this fact will arm you for a much better purchasing experience as well as when it comes down to actually using them.

Sure there are a small handful of very popular portable typewriters like the Hermes 3000 or the Olympia SM3 which can go for a few hundred dollars even in bad condition, but for the most part a reasonably solid typewriter can be had for $10-75.

Too many people will also use the useless word “rare” to describe their typewriter for sale. This really only applies to some of the earliest typewriters from before 1920 which broadly aren’t as available now. Almost everything made from the 1930s on was mass produced in the hundreds of thousands or even millions, so applying the word rare is silly. Some colors or typefaces may be uncommon, but they are not rare and it usually doesn’t take too long to find multiple versions of the same thing for sale. None of the recommendations suggested here would ever be considered rare or even uncommon by any standard.

Balance of Budget, Time, and Facility with Cleaning machines

Your first typewriter is sure to be the balance of several variables including your particular budget, the amount of time you want to invest finding and then potentially fixing up your machine, and the facility you may have (or not) for cleaning and potentially repairing your typewriter yourself. Self-repair is certainly doable and there are significant resources for helping out the novice, but it does take some time, patience, and a few tools. If, as a beginner, you think that cleaning and repairing your own machine is the best use of your time, go for it, but you may be opening up a can of worms that’s really not worth it.

Budget Range

I’ll split the typewriter space up into the budget ranges based on what the buyer may have for potentially spending on a typewriter. This is NOT a split of historical budget ranges indicating the quality of the typewriters themselves. For example, in its day, an Olympia SG3 would have been at the higher end of the typewriter market while the highly mass produced Brother JP-1 typewriters would have been considered budget models by comparison. Today, with careful shopping, you could foreseeably purchase both in equivalent condition for the same $25, though to the user, the Olympia SG3 will obviously be more performant particularly for longer typing sessions.

Low budget is $10-75. For this range, one can get a typewriter that is generally functional, but which assuredly needs to be cleaned, properly lubricated, and possibly adjusted. (Remember: lesser condition usually means lower price.) To stay within this range, you’re going to need to be both willing and able to do some basic cleaning and potentially minor repairs yourself.

This isn’t to say that you wouldn’t stumble across a near mint Olympia SM3 that you can pick up at a yard sale for $15 and it needs no work at all, but it won’t be an every day occurrence. You’ll likely need to invest some reasonable time in searching for such a thing.

Medium budget might be $76-349. In this range you should be able to acquire a reasonable machine which you might then take to a local repair shop to get a reasonable servicing and repair or adjust any issues your “new-to-you” typewriter may have. This range should cover the cost of the machine as well as the servicing in most cases. Most repair shops charge in the $40-75/hour range and can do some miracles in just a few hours.

High budget is generally in the $350-600 range and for this amount you should be receiving a vintage machine in good to excellent cosmetic condition which has been thoroughly cleaned, oiled, and adjusted. It should function as well as it possibly can for regular daily use.

It’s quite likely that you’ll currently find some solid value in this range as some repair shops will be selling machines like the Hermes 3000 in excellent shape while online auctions for them in dreadful shape are almost as expensive.

Beyond the high range, you’re going to be looking at more exotic machines which are much less common, which have had higher levels of restoration work (usually all the rubber replaced and the platens recovered), or which have less common typefaces (script, Vogue, Techno, Gothic, etc.). As this tends to be more rarified space of collectors or those with very specific tastes, I won’t delve deeper here.

Typewriter Recommendations

In another article, I’ve gone deeper into the difference between standard typewriters, portable typewriters, and ultraportable typewriters. In this section, I’ll focus primarily on recommendations for writers who are looking for one (or maybe two) high quality typewriters for regular (daily or weekly) and heavy (several hours a day) use. This means these machines will tend toward the higher end of quality and manufacturing in the middle of the 20th century at the peak of typewriter engineering and manufacturing from the 1930s into the 1970s.

While some of these recommendations may be useful to collectors, there is such a much wider space of collectible typewriters and reasons for collecting them, that such an analysis is a much bigger topic. For those just dipping their feet into the world of collecting, I’ll recommend Richard Polt’s excellent book The Typewriter Revolution (Countryman Press, 2015).

Standard Typewriters

If you’re a serious writer, you’re sure to find a smoother and better experience with a standard typewriter, but they’re slightly larger and heavier (~30 pounds vs. ~15-22 pounds) than the portables. The benefit is that they almost always have the broadest range of features that a writer will ever need. These are usually the ones I recommend if you’re typing for several hours on end and have a dedicated space for your writing. Standards aren’t as popular with most collectors, so they also tend to be less expensive as a general rule.

For longer writing sessions, one of the additional subtle reasons to use a standard machine is that its larger size will take up more of your field of view. This can tend to help hold your attention for longer periods of time and aid in reducing distractions, which is often one of the reasons writers prefer composing on typewriters over computers.

I personally really love my fully restored Royal KMG, Royal HH, and Royal FP, as well as my Olympia SG3, my Remington Standard, Remington Super-Riter, and Remington 17 which are all rock solid writing machines. I’m still on the hunt for an Olympia SG1, which many collectors consider to be one of the best typewriters ever manufactured.

Here are some of the other more common standards for serious writers to consider by a knowledgeable restorer:

Portable Typewriters

I’d generally endorse most of the advice on the lighter, portable models you’ll find in the following resources. They are geared specifically toward writers, and all three have lots experience and reasonable bona fides to make such recommendations.

In this space, you may want to take some care for the particular models you consider as not all of them will have features like a tabulator (tab stops) to make indenting text easier, especially if you’re a screenwriter or playwright who needs this sort of functionality every few lines. (A tab button on the keyboard is a solid enough indicator that a machine has this functionality.)

Among the most commonly recommended portable typewriters are the Olympia SM2, SM3, and SM4 (all very similar, but slightly different in their tabulator functionality or lack thereof in the case of the SM2), Hermes 3000, Olympia SM7, Olympia SM9, the Smith-Corona Super and Smith-Corona Silent Super (5 Series machines), the Adler Tippa and Tippa S, the Royal Quiet De Luxe, and the Remington Quiet-Riter.

Ultraportable typewriters

While these can be interesting and pretty as well as easy to carry, most serious writers are not going to love typing on them for extended periods. They might be a nice secondary machine for traveling around and getting something done, but I wouldn’t recommend one as a first or second machine for most writers.

Typewriters you assuredly don’t want

Many newcomers will ask if a particular typewriter is a “bad” one or is generally known to have problems (aka a “lemon”). This is usually folly as most typewriters built into the 1980s were generally solid and not just meant to last, but were built to be repaired. Naturally the ones built of steel in the 50s-60s will be the most sturdy and the aesthetics will vary dramatically over the decades.

The one major caveat you’ll hear from almost any typewriter enthusiast and collector is to warn people against purchasing one of the brand new Shanghai Weilv Mechanism Company typewriters which variously go under the names: Rover, the Royal Epoch, We R Memory Keepers, Royal Classic, Maplefield, and The Oliver Typewriter Company. I’ve written about these manual typewriters elsewhere and included some reviews and things to know about and be wary of if you’re planning on buying something new instead of something either vintage or antique (over 100 years old). Professional writers will abhor these machines.

Where to buy a typewriter?

Repair shops

Your very best bet for a first typewriter (and even subsequent ones) is to go to a repair shop that also sells machines. Doing this will give you the chance to put your hands on them, try them out, ask lots of questions, then buy your favorite from a variety of machines. Your shopping time is worth money and productivity, so buy something you like out of the gate and you’ll save a lot in the long run. You’ll probably be happier and better off in the long run with something in the $200-600 range serviced from a repair shop. It will also give you something you can start using right away to get work done rather than faffing about with cleaning or potential small repairs, which can take up valuable time for the new and uninitiated.

Here, Richard Polt has done some excellent work at aggregating a huge number of typewriter repair shops arranged by country and location.

Online Shops

There are a variety of online shops, many associated with repair shops, as well as individual sellers and antique stores that sell typewriters on independent websites. These can be particularly good as they’ll often have a level of expertise and experience in cleaning, repairing, restoring, and shipping typewriters.

I personally don’t have direct experience with any that I would specifically recommend, but they’re definitely out there and are usually marked by providing an abundance of photos and useful information about their wares.

Online Auctions and Sales Sites

An important caveat: The vast majority of sellers in the typewriter market with machines in the $40-300 range have exactly as much knowledge about them as you probably do (which for the non-collector/non-repair shop audience is to say little to none), so be incredibly wary of accepting claims that “it works” or “it just needs a new ribbon” without video and photographic proof. Most are pricing their less-than-stellar typewriters based on the higher prices repair shops are selling their best serviced machines for. Don’t fall victim to this ubiquitous ruse because the seller doesn’t know better.

In this segment of the market you’ll find a huge range of potential sellers from some incredibly professional typewriter repair and restoration specialists who deal primarily online to clearing house thrift stores all the way down to typewriter flippers (those who buy a dusty, half-functioning typewriter at a yard sale for $5 and then list it on Etsy for a 1000% markup without doing any additional work) who use AI to write flashy, nostalgic descriptions of typewriters that bear no resemblance of the particular machine they’re selling and then to your neighborhood gadfly trying to sell grandma’s vintage 1950’s Smith-Corona Silent as a $3,000 antique because he “knows what he’s got” yet somehow misstates the date of manufacture as well as the model. (And if you happen to be reading this Marvin, no typewriter on the planet has the serial number H123456L, that’s the setting indicator for the touch control functionality.)

This means you might spend some time checking out how specialized the particular seller is in typewriters by looking at their past sales. Do they only sell typewriters, do they sell lots of things, or are they new accounts with only one item? The best ones will have lots of good photos of machines and cases from a variety of angles including close ups of the typeslugs, typesamples of the machine’s output, and even video of the machine in use. Serious typewriter sales people will list the serial numbers and the dates of manufacture, though many less serious sellers and “typewriter flippers” will have posted their machines to an online forum to crowdsource this information which they wouldn’t otherwise have.

This segment most deserves the warning: caveat emptor (buyer beware). If someone is selling a $500 machine that “works” without any proof and who says it “just needs new ribbon” (a simple purchase of $10 or less) hopefully shouldn’t be fooling anyone but themselves, yet I know it happens.

Facebook Marketplace is almost always local individuals, but can also include some pro shops from time to time. Prices can often be 2-3x what they ought to be, but you can visit machines in person, try them out, and negotiate things down based on the actual condition.

Craigslist.com is a reasonable space and often very much like Facebook Marketplace with a poorer UI.

eBay is an online auction space where some very professional repair people auction off their work along with thrift stores, antique stores, and the general public. It requires a bit of due diligence to suss out what’s being offered and the condition, but usually doesn’t allow the ability to actually test out the machine and see the exact condition first hand. There is a bit of protection if the shipped product doesn’t live up to the hype. Be careful of inexpensive “buy now” listings with exorbitant shipping prices in the $100+ range.

Etsy can have some excellent listings from a range of sellers, but it also tends toward the more expensive pricing end of the spectrum for what you end up receiving. Again, you can’t try before you buy here.

Offerup is a broad platform similar to Marketplace and Craigslist with some reasonable listings. Sadly some of the listings can be old and out of date or the seller is no longer paying attention to their account.

ShopGoodwill.com is a platform run by Goodwill that usually has a wide variety of dozens of machines every day from across the country. In addition to not being able to try before you buy, it can be very hit or miss to attempt to judge a machine’s condition solely on just a few photos. The level of expertise on typewriters is generally abysmally low here, so the level of detail about the machines for the non-expert is equally low and the packaging and shipment can be a problem in 10-20% of orders. This being said, one can get some excellent deals on standards on a regular basis in the $10-30 range and portables in the $30-60 range, particularly if you purchase from a local Goodwill that will allow the arrangement of an in-person pick up. This gets around $20-50 shipping fees and the potentiality of damage in shipping. Some of the higher end portables like the Olympia SM3 will go for $120 in unknown condition while the Hermes 3000 can go for $250 or more. At these rates, you’re far more likely to get better value by buying at a local repair shop.

Surely there are many other online options not listed here. I’m sure people will mention a few with caveats and reviews in the comments.

Yard Sales & Estate Sales

You can find some really great machines at yard sales and estate sales, but the trade off is the time and effort you need to invest in searching for them, particularly if you have an idea of something specific you’re looking for. Here you’re trading the cheapness of a working $10-20 machine for a lot of searching time. Naturally this option probably isn’t the best one to take if you’re getting a typewriter as a gift for someone’s birthday this weekend. You’ll want to plan ahead and give yourself several weeks or months to hunt around for the right thing.

Sometimes sellers will think their machines are more valuable, but usually the $50-100+ machines can be negotiated down to a more reasonable $5-25 range. Usually if it’s out, it’s something they want to sell or get rid of.

With this route you can also directly put your hands on machines and at least test things out pretty thoroughly before committing to buying. If something is dirty or broken, you’ll see that pretty quickly compared to attempting to buy something poorly listed online. Be sure to bring your own paper and maybe even ribbon for testing if this is what you’re shopping for.

Thrift Stores and Antique Stores

These can be a great source for inexpensive and functional machines. Depending on the outlet, Antique stores will have a somewhat larger markup and won’t negotiate down as much as they ought to.

Type-ins

While in person type-ins aren’t terribly frequent, they can be great places to meet other typewriter afficionados and get the chance to try out others’ machines to see what sort of typewriter feels best to you. It’s not uncommon for participants to buy, sell, and trade typewriters at these events.

Typewriter Service

Beyond the basic regular maintenance of keeping dust out of your machine and occasionally changing your ribbon, you may require the service of a professional shop for your initial purchase. This can be a relatively quick and inexpensive way to bring a machine up to fighting shape after decades of dusty disuse. It also does a lot more to support the broader art and craft of repair and the typewriter community.

If you’re handy and have even a bit of a mechanical bent, you can take advantage of a wide variety of online repair manuals [1][2] and cleaning advice, repair resources and advice including a huge number of YouTube tutorials for almost every typewriter out there. Doing this can be incredibly cost effective, but it always helps to have a relationship with your local shop for potential repair parts or maybe even a loaner if you need one.

Other Inspiration and Information

If you’ve got a favorite 20th century author of which you’re enamored and can’t make up your mind about a particular machine, perhaps you might consider a similar typewriter make and model to the one that person wrote with? Richard Polt keeps a long list of writers, authors, and poets along with the typewriters they were historically known to have used along with photographs.

If nothing else, it can also be inspiring as writer (or if you’re giving it as a gift) for the new typewriter’s owner to have an idea of other writers who have used that machine in the past.

As an example, I find it inspiring that the Royal KMG I use regularly was manufactured from 1949-1952, and was known to have also been used by writers including Saul Bellow, Edward Abbey, Joan Didion, Elia Kazan, Arthur Miller, Mister Rogers, Rod Sterling, Carl Reiner, Grace Metalious, Wallace Stenger, John Ashbery, and George Sheehan.

Most typewriters aren’t sold with their original manuals, and if this is your case, then you might try checking out Dr. Polt’s site to see if yours is available.

Beyond this, Just My Typewriter has a few short videos that’ll give you a crash course on Typewriter 101. This includes some short videos on buying them (what to check for), using them, and even cleaning them. I’ve also compiled a list of some period typewriter usage and typewriter maintenance films to level up your typewriter “game”.

A Note about Shipping Typewriters

For the first time buyer, particularly with time constraints, it may seem like shipping a great looking machine is an excellent idea for the pittance of $20-40. Poor packaging of typewriters by untrained or ill-educated online shops is one of the leading deaths of typewriters. Even reasonably well packed machines can be dramatically damaged in shipment, so unless you’re purchasing from a shop that has lots of experience in shipping typewriters, save the money and hassle and buy something locally that you can pick up.

If you want to go deeper into the world of typewriters, collecting, using, repairing or even talking about them, I keep a list of useful typewriter resources.

Questions?

Hopefully this has been a reasonably thorough precis of all the things I wish I had known before buying my first typewriter and encapsulates a lot of basic typewriter knowledge I’ve accumulated throughout the first fifty machines spanning my typewriter collection. If you have additional questions, feel free to ask below.

In the meanwhile, just jump in and start looking around. Good luck and happy hunting!