how much should i offer for co-worker's 5150?

[PallarAndersVisa]

Co-worker of mine mentions he has a 5150(block letter), we start chatting. His doesnt work. I get interested. I grab it from his house to take a look. He says he bought it in 1994 and never changed the tubes, amp went kaput 6 or 7 years ago and shelved it.

I take it to my space, open it up, full of cobwebs. Power tubes look dusty and almost matte finish like, something out of world war 2. One power tube is shattered. Pull the chassis out, one of the F 2A fuses is blown. Pre amp tubes look fine. A couple knobs on the front are missing but jacks and everything seem strong.

I was thinking of just offering him $100 to take it off his hands. Is this fair or insulting? FYI I just sold a block letter 5150 for $500, freshly retubed. Im thinking I could pay him $100, order a set of power tubes for $80(give or take) pop a new fuse in there (few $), clean it up and hopefully that's all it will need.

Is it worth the investment guys?

[Cygnus X1]

Well sure.
But wait for him to look it up and start to wonder if he got ripped off.
Start with asking him what he wants for it, then work from there.

[DonP]

Is this fair or insulting?

This all depends on his point of view. If the thing is an eye sore and is taking up spaceand he wants to get rid of it at any price, then no.

But this is a co-worker and you'll have to deal with the fall out if he feels otherwise. Might be a good idea to be honest about what these could sell for if in working condition.

[dvscool]

If he will sell it to you for a 100 bucks then do it and don't look back..

is it an insult?

Maybe.

[BigE13]

Don't forget the work you are putting into it to get it playing again. What would a shop charge to troubleshoot, install and bias tubes and clean it up? Add that to the purchase price and you are getting up there a bit anyways. Let's say $100 to buy it + $120 matched tubes + $100 labor = $320 conservatively...if you sold it for $500 you only make $180...sounds like an OK deal to me. I know you are doing the labor etc but if he hung the amp up because it stopped working he most likely has no knowledge of amp repair, so would have to take it to a shop to fix it. Just my 2 cents...I say go for it.