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Permalink Reply by D. Smith on February 17, 2013 at 12:29am

I saw an ad on Craigslist warning people against republic espresso. Whether or not to believe it, who knows. There's two sides to every story. I personally have never purchased anything from them. When you buy used equipment it's like rolling the dice. I have had awesome luck most of the time, but there's the odd time I was burned.

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Permalink Reply by Brady on February 17, 2013 at 4:17am

I'd stick to things you can check out first.

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Permalink Reply by Mickael on February 19, 2013 at 7:36am

I just checked out there site.  what's with the Afghan barber comment??  On the new machine page the have a 2 group Linea for $1000,  this can't be real.  and Oh My all the misspelled words!!!   geez

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Permalink Reply by Bj Davis on February 19, 2013 at 12:24pm

All,

Thanks for the feed back.  I think we will go with a new machine. 

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Permalink Reply by Mickael on February 19, 2013 at 12:26pm

 I always recommend finding someone local.  They need to not only be able to sell you the machine but also service it including taking care of the warranty

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Permalink Reply by Jefro on April 16, 2013 at 7:42pm

Don't disregard these guys from looking at their website - lots of folks with good websites, from experience, don't end up being that helpful.  It's more of the size of their shop and their focus then anything about them personally.  That said, I can vouch for them.  We bought a 4 Group Linea, a Ditting grinder, and a couple Super Jolly's from them, along with a bunch of spare parts (we are in Kaua'i - so we didn't want to have a machine go live without extra parts).  They are two guys, Sky is the main contact, and they are not only good at what they do, they are extremely helpful in walking you through the process of buying equipment.  We had a budget that basically afforded us the Refurb Linea and a Super Jolly grinder, based on our comps.  They were able to get us that, along with the Ditting and another Super Jolly & spare parts/portafilters, with cash left over.  On top of that, they wanted me to explain to them why they should sell me the particular equipment I was looking at (as they didn't want me wasting the $$ if we didn't need that machine), talking through our business plan and taking me around to some of the best coffee shops in Seattle (where Sky seems to know at least one person who is working there) to sample different coffee and methods.  

They sell as far away as Australia and Korea, as well as all over the US.  They also offer 3 month warranties on much of their stuff (they gave me 6 months).  The reason their cost is so low is that they basically run it out of a packed garage in Fremont and they source from folks all over Washington - they often buy from closing restaurants or failed shops or swap machines for tech work with roasting companies, among other things, and then refurb them from top to bottom.  They really know their stuff.  

I just talked with Sky a week back as we are spinning up toward our opening, and he is a plethora of info, advice and help, talking me out of buying one more thing because the one we had was sufficient.  Who talks you out of a sale?  Folks that actually care about their customers.  Good people, small shop, and a respected local Fremont business.  So there you have it - instead of a random craigslist anon ad, you have a live happy customer.

Post me if you want more info.  No. I don't work there.  But I do now consider them friends - which is saying something. 

aloha!

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