But the seller is asking $2499.99 for them! Holly overpriced appliances Bat Man! At this price can anyone legitimately say they're really for sale? Even at half that figure they'd be grossly overpriced. Now the listing does have that little "make offer" button, so if anyone wants to give their negotiating skills a work out and try talking this guy down out of the clouds, by all means have at it. But this listing is posted here for its entertainment value more than anything else, and since you don't see this color all that often perhaps a few of you will want to visit the listing just to gawk at the pretty pictures. They are rather nice looking machines after all. Then again, perhaps someone here has far more money than sense and finds the asking price to be a mere pittance, in which case I would happily accept a small donation to my bank account as a token of gratitude for my assistance in uniting you with that cherished set of turquoise Maytag's that you just can't live without. 

This set reminds me of the infamous pink set that was for sale in Florida, eons ago. 

The cabinets aren't in tip-top shape on this set.  I've got an almost identical washer, in similar shape (and works!) for sale, but at a much more realistic price.  LOL

Ben

And welcome to AW. I believe most folks wouldn't find this set tempting until it got down to the $350.00 and under range, but opinions vary. In looking over the photos the cabinets look straight and the chrome seems to be in reasonable condition. It's also nice to see that the dryer door gasket looks like it's still usable and the black rubber gaskets that sit between the control panel dog house and the top panels are still present.(They sometimes go missing when people remove that panel for maintenance) The washer still has its Bakelite agitator and the lid isn't rusted in the forward corners as they so often are. The only visible flaws are faded and scratched up paint, and the missing copper toned center caps for both control knobs. In other words, nothing major. But I'd still want to learn more about the working condition of both machines and I'd especially like to know whether or not the three solenoid Dole water valve is still present on the washer. Those blasted things are darn near impossible to find without a great deal of persistence and a big stroke of luck.

I think Ben is on to something with regard to the legendary pink Maytag's from Florida. When I picked up the pink set in Spokane for Kevin, the seller was well aware of that Florida sets sale price, and it definitely influenced his initial asking price. Fortunately, Kevin was able to negotiate them down to a more realistic figure and a deal was made. That being said, I have this set in yellow. I paid two hundred dollars and a trip to Chico and back for them, and I wouldn't  dream of trading them for this pair. So now you know where I would value them.

Hi Robert, welcome... also!

What part of CA are you in?   Anywhere near the SF Valley?

Kevin

P.S.... boy David, you sure are hung up on those water valves.... LOL 

P.S.S.... These do look to mostly complete and in generally good condition, but that pink is in nearly perfect condition.   These look to have a lot of dirt or perhaps some rust between the cabinets and the top.   I would really like to know how well these function and sound, even w/o being connected to water and gas.

P.S.S.S.... I would be seriously pusuing these if the price were not so obsurd.

Ben, but as I recall, your turquoise washer DOES NOT have the original WASHER in the cabinet.... 

There was a 1957 Pink Filter-Flo pair that went to one of our members in Fresno for over 5K several years ago. It was one of those rare collector's dreams-come-true: a mint NOS pair that sat on some elderly couple's front porch for over 50 years unused, because, for some reason or another, they just never got around to installing them. The sale occurred right before Messrs.' Bush and Cheney and their buddies destroyed the US economy to make the world safe for the top .5%, so maybe a 4-figure price won't be realized again for a while.

Like it or not, we are in the antiques market and if there's one thing I learned from my uncle and his partner, who ran an antique store on Second Avenue for many years in the Sixties, the price of any item is decided by the market collectors create for it. Remember the Dutch and their tulips in the 18th (17th??) century. The world's first stock market and the world's first stock market crash.

I think a sale with an extraordinary price is sometimes good for the rest of us because news of it can get around and encourages other people to consider not just trashing old appliances. Having the good sense to save old treasures deserves some reward.

While I can see the point you're making, it bears mentioning that the law of supply and demand determines prices, even in the antique market. Since most antiques that people collect are either able to be used for their intended purpose(think clocks, vases, furniture, etc....) or they're small enough to display on a shelf or in a curio cabinet, demand for these items remains fairly strong. But in spite of this fairly strong demand, the dramatic increase in supply brought about by the advent of eBay and other sites like it has hammered prices for such things pretty hard. Now to make things worse, the vast majority of people view vintage washers and dryers as junk. They think I'm nuts for buying the pair I have, and when I mention the pair I picked up for my parents it takes me twenty minutes of explanation before they can start to see the logic of it. Even then I'm sure they go off and tell their friends about the nutcase they had a conversation with that replaced an old washer with an even older one. I can't see that perception changing any time soon. Especially  since these same folks simply refuse to accept that a forty year old washer is still going to be usable for much longer, and if it can't be used they don't have the space or the inclination to display it. So though these vintage machines may technically be antiques, the only thing "antique" status does for them is make parts harder to find. Their value is still determined by the simple rule of supply and demand, and for the next ten years or more as baby boomers continue to downsize or pass away, and the stuff they had crammed away in the garage and basement continues to find its way into the market place, supply will continue to greatly exceed demand. There just aren't that many people looking for vintage washers and dryers. Of course when something unusual happens, like the discovery of a desirable pair of vintage NOS machines in a rare color, all bets are off as far as price goes. But that's also a result of supply and demand. The combination of rare and desirable machine, rare and desirable color, and extremely rare and desirable condition, would naturally increase demand and therefor price. But in the case of these Maytag's, we have common machines, rare color, and common condition. Hardly a justification for the price being asked. So while I can certainly appreciate your larger point about an increase in selling prices resulting in an increase in preservation, I still think $2499.99 for this pair is getting a bit carried away.