I've sold 11 utes recently all made at least a $100 ,didn't paint them but I gave up selling 2 stroke rear discharge mowers years ago Norm ,I would have to sell them for $60 and still it would take weeks to sell ,even if the Victa had an alloy base.The collectable models do ok though. The rear discharge 2 stroke is still impossible to get a decent price for here at the moment ,I've listed a few .
The utes took a fair while to sell ,if i was selling 4 strokes I would have sold 4 times as many in the same time.
"Dealing with the idiot factor" I mostly don't get that problem because I won't fix their mower for less than a shop would charge ,but will sell a complete mower cheaper than a shop.