Should I buy used?

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When buying used machines, it’s still best to buy at a respected dealership because these used machines always get a tune-up and fixed before ending up on the sales floor. Depending on whom you buy from, they can come with a guarantee from 90 days to a year.

 

The second choice for buying used would be a friend that has a machine and is honest about how much they used their machine. These machines can be slightly used to very used, so you might want to take the machine by a fix-it shop that does free diagnostic estimates, making sure the machine is good to go.

 

Third would be Grandma’s old mechanical machine before computers existed. NEVER THROW AWAY THESE MACHINES! If they need fixing, get them fixed. If you don’t want the machine, give Grandma’s machine to a sewer who will pay to get the machine fixed. If you have no takers, take the machine to a sewing shop and donate it. The shop might fix it and sell the machine “USED” in their shop. These older working machines are considered gold in the sewing world. 

 

For example, I recently inherited someone’s broken Grandma machine from their granddaughter. I got the machine for free, but it cost me $119 to get fixed. This simple one-knob Grandma machine is beautiful, well built, and has all its accessories, including a lovely old manual. Grandma’s machine just needed a little love to get the machine running again. I bought my Hello Kitty Janome for $150 new that’s a similar style, but the quality of Grandma’s used oldie but goodie machine is far superior in quality and costs less.