Hi buddy. I don't know what the market bares in your area, so I can only speak to my experiences here in Ohio. In my opinion there are two ways to sell mowers.
1st. Get a mower. Spend a few moments making sure it starts and runs, snap some pictures and try to sell it
2nd. Get a mower. Spend some time completely checking out. Top to bottom. Replace or repair anything that needs it, or show signs that it will need replaced or repaired in the near future. Service the mower: spark plug, air filter, fuel filter, sharpen & balance blade, clean deck. Take some really good pictures. Write a detailed add stating all of the things you have checked and done.
I have tried selling mowers both ways. In the beginning I tried the first and experience has lead me to the second. It seems that the 1st attracts more buyers that are just looking for a good deal and a lifetime warranty. The kind of people that just want to haggle and waste time. When I sell a mower now, I follow the the second. Things like a new plug, air filter, fuel line, sharp blade, cleaning, lubricating cables and rust points cost almost noting ( maybe $10) Fixing or replacing things that need it or may need it in the future helps both sell the mower and keep your phone from ringing after it sells. Doing all of these things helps take away negotiating points. I hate to haggle. Usually the customer will try to pick out things to use to bring the price down. " it needs a new plug" " that belt looks questionable" etc. etc. If you leave nothing for them to point out then it helps your end game. It also helps establish a reputation as a stand-up mechanic which in turn, leads to making a decent buck. I have never advertised outside of passing out business cards and some "for sale" ads on CL, and I very rarely get "caught up" I am usually at least a week or two behind.
The last piece of the puzzle is waiting for the right customer. I try very hard now to never be in a hurry to sell something. Even if I am, I try to not act like it. To one person your Duraforce may be only a $50 mower. They may say, it's 2-cycle, it's not self propelled, its a steel deck, blah blah blah. But the is a person out there that has done their research and is thinking: I need a very light, but powerful push mower. I need it to be 2 cycle because of the terrain, I don't want a self propelled etc etc. That person has also done their research on pricing. They will step over a mower that is 50% cheaper to buy one that is truly "turn-key". It has been my experience that these kind of customers don't like wasting time. They will read and compare several different ads. Most ads are written very quickly and leave a lot of unanswered questions. If in a pile of those ads, they find one that is well written and tries to answer most of the common questions one would have, then that ad gets bumped to the top of the list.
Now to answer your question on price. In my area I would sell that mower for $125 without batting an eye as long as it starts, idles, runs and mows appropriately, and needs nothing. It may not sell in a day or two but it would sell nonetheless. I have sold somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 Duraforce mowers in the last 4 or 5 years. The price has ranged from $100 up to almost $1,000 (commercial models) I have sold many standard steel deck, self propelled models (like a 10323) in the $200-$300 range. But again, those have all been completely gone through. They all have been really really pretty, I mean clean clean. I try to equip them all with a rear or side bag, mulch plate, and side discharge plate. Each one also came with a business card containing my name and phone number with the assurance that I would answer my phone if they called. There are some guys out there that will say "that's way to high for that mower" My response is there is a lot more to a "good deal" than initial price. There is a difference in paying a higher initial price knowing that the mower was truly inspected and repaired and buying one at a really "good price" and then dumping time and money into it fixing all of the things that did not initially show. The big one being the anger and frustration that comes with the latter. If a customers only concern is price, they are not someone I prefer to sell too. I find no shame in saying that out loud. I don't normally sell mowers to guys that fix them either. Simply because I want customers that will bring their equipment to me for repairs too. I do buy,sell, trade, and give parts to the guys in my circle, I just don't go after retail sales that involve other mechanics.
I will bring an end to my incoherent rambling with one final thought. If memory serves me, you said in another post that you are 16 years old? I was a bit younger when I started this too. I found that a lot of people tried to exploit that when buying something from me. They would use their "life experience to educate me" which means "talk me down on price" The only way I found to combat that was to increase my experience and education. I could not change my age, but information is out there for the taking. I read every single book and manual I could get my hands on. Not just the how to repair books, but theory books too. Most of the Lawn-Boy service manuals are available free from Lawn-Boy / Toro. They cover a lot of really good material. I spent a lot of time taking engines apart to visualize what I had just read in a book. I went to through the Briggs MST program. I tried to do everything I could to educate myself. Knowledge builds confidence. Confidence builds character. Those things together help when dealing with someone that tries to pull "angles" on a deal. I am not afraid to say no either. I have let more than one person walk away over a few dollars.
Ok. I am done rambling. I hope only to share my experience. Take what you like and leave the rest. When I was new to this I had someone that took me "under their wing". It was that foundation that has lead me being successful in this line of work. So I try to pass that on whenever I can.
