So I've always drank a lot of coffee but resigned myself to not being able to for out the price for an actually good machine...until a week ago.
Went in to Cash Converters looking for a rattle gun for my car, saw this coffee machine sitting there and noted it said "Sunbeam Cafe Series". I don't know much about coffee at all and have never used one before but a girl I dated was a barista and so I picked up a few things and this stuck out - that and it looked expensive.
So I looked up the model number, EM6910, found this forum, realised it's a genuinely good machine. I asked the guy if it came with all the accessories, which it did (Half of which were still sealed in plastic) and the cleaning wheel is still taped to the inside back door. So I then asked what was wrong with it - he tells me nothing that he's aware of and asks why. I showed him the David Jones listing for a new one listing it at $799 (I realise its a bit cheaper at other places) and say "Well it looks like its new still, and it's a very expensive machine compared to the price you guys are selling it for". The price on the sticker was $115, hell there was a pod machine there for more than that, so naturally I assumed a huge flaw.
He says he'll speak to his manager and I overhear "Shit, well, if that's what it says on the sticker we really don't have a choice, we just have to sell it to him for that". So I bought it and on the way home think "wait a minute, why would the previous owners have accepted the $50 or whatever they would have got?".
Turn it on and I immediately see why - I get 4 loud beeps, an angry blinking red light, but everything seems to work. A quick google tells me the float is the problem, check and sure enough it's doing less floating and more sinking. Stick a 5c piece under it to test and the error goes away, light stays off. $10 and a new float later, the machine is perfect. I'd be surprised if it was used even a handful of times before now.
I also only have a cheapy crap blade grinder, which has sufficed, but I really wanted the EM0480 - chucked an $80 max bid on a well looked after one on ebay with all the accessories that had 4 bids, 1.5 hours to go and was at $60 expecting to lose...
...except I won.
$205 later I have an as new EM6910 and a perfect condition EM0480.
I also purchased the Hot Chocolate Syrup Flavour Pack from Alchemy Cordials seeing as I drink Mocha, will be ordering the Coffee Syrups too in a week or so.
Been having a great time learning how to use it, and when I made coffee for my workmates at my night job, they said it tasted just like the cafe stuff - so I mustn't be doing too bad. Looking forward to getting actually good at it and not just "workmates don't know the difference" good, with how much money I spent on coffee before this machine will have paid itself off in 5 weeks and is WAY more fun
Anyway, it's a bit TL;DR but I just thought I'd share my story here as the excitement of making my own real coffee hasn't worn off (And probably won't
). I doubt I will top this purchase for the rest of the year
Went in to Cash Converters looking for a rattle gun for my car, saw this coffee machine sitting there and noted it said "Sunbeam Cafe Series". I don't know much about coffee at all and have never used one before but a girl I dated was a barista and so I picked up a few things and this stuck out - that and it looked expensive.
So I looked up the model number, EM6910, found this forum, realised it's a genuinely good machine. I asked the guy if it came with all the accessories, which it did (Half of which were still sealed in plastic) and the cleaning wheel is still taped to the inside back door. So I then asked what was wrong with it - he tells me nothing that he's aware of and asks why. I showed him the David Jones listing for a new one listing it at $799 (I realise its a bit cheaper at other places) and say "Well it looks like its new still, and it's a very expensive machine compared to the price you guys are selling it for". The price on the sticker was $115, hell there was a pod machine there for more than that, so naturally I assumed a huge flaw.
He says he'll speak to his manager and I overhear "Shit, well, if that's what it says on the sticker we really don't have a choice, we just have to sell it to him for that". So I bought it and on the way home think "wait a minute, why would the previous owners have accepted the $50 or whatever they would have got?".
Turn it on and I immediately see why - I get 4 loud beeps, an angry blinking red light, but everything seems to work. A quick google tells me the float is the problem, check and sure enough it's doing less floating and more sinking. Stick a 5c piece under it to test and the error goes away, light stays off. $10 and a new float later, the machine is perfect. I'd be surprised if it was used even a handful of times before now.
I also only have a cheapy crap blade grinder, which has sufficed, but I really wanted the EM0480 - chucked an $80 max bid on a well looked after one on ebay with all the accessories that had 4 bids, 1.5 hours to go and was at $60 expecting to lose...
...except I won.
$205 later I have an as new EM6910 and a perfect condition EM0480.
I also purchased the Hot Chocolate Syrup Flavour Pack from Alchemy Cordials seeing as I drink Mocha, will be ordering the Coffee Syrups too in a week or so.
Been having a great time learning how to use it, and when I made coffee for my workmates at my night job, they said it tasted just like the cafe stuff - so I mustn't be doing too bad. Looking forward to getting actually good at it and not just "workmates don't know the difference" good, with how much money I spent on coffee before this machine will have paid itself off in 5 weeks and is WAY more fun

Anyway, it's a bit TL;DR but I just thought I'd share my story here as the excitement of making my own real coffee hasn't worn off (And probably won't
). I doubt I will top this purchase for the rest of the year

Somehow bargain finds make the experience so much more satisfying!
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