I did buy a used copy of a quilting book listed through Amazon but was very disappointed. It was not in good condition as listed and had an offensive odor. I don't buy their books anymore. However, I have shopped in local stores and made some very good buys.

I have purchased items from goodwill.com. however I only purchase from the one that is in my town so I don't have to pay postage.. I have gotten 2 machines but I was able to go look at them first them I bid accordingly. I have gotten some fabric also. I think the workers are getting better at identifying fabric content. I won a quilting fabric lot once and it was more junk than usable. Old faded sheets etc. But now they seem to know what they are doing. Whenever I when a fabric lot I take a laundry basket with me. I take the box full of fabrics to my car and sort thru it in the parking lit. Whatever I won't/can't use goes right back into their box and right back into the donation door. What I keep goes directly info the washer when I get it home.

I have bought two machines from Goodwill in Ohio. One machine turned on and did not sew (the stitch length was on 0) it works great. The second just needed to be oiled. It was clean, but was really tight. I oiled it overnight then cleaned the extra oil off, and it works great too. The first one I gave to my daughter and the second one I am using with 4H students that want to learn to quilt. I think I paid $30 for the first including shipping and about $50 for the second with shipping. Great buy in both cases. I have also bought fabrics and quilting books too. Also old sewing baskets. What you buy does go to a good help others and a good cause.

I have purchased two machines from them, and no problems. I got a 15 clone, and it is a beauty! I did get to chat with someone, and discussed the packing. They were on the ball. Nice job, and machines arrived well packed.

I have purchased used machines repeatedly from www.shopgoodwill.com for our charity quilting center at church. I've probably bought at least 15 machines. Only twice have they been damaged in shipping and the entire cost of the machine was refunded to me. I try to read the description of the machines to make sure the bobbin case, pedal and cord are included. I also limit to Kenmore, White or Singer machines. The one thing you must watch for is the shipping. You can enter the zip code of where you live and you will know exactly what you will be charged for shipping. I have gotten really good mechanical machines on this site for as little as $15 plus $15 or so in shipping. The weight of the machine is crucial to what the shipping will be, of course. Sometimes they had a $2 fee for handling which I assume is packaging materials. The two times a machine was damaged in transit, I was refunded the purchase price and was able to get the machine repaired locally, so it was a win-win situation.

I also purchased my white Featherweight on the Goodwill website two years ago. It was shipped perfectly.

I have bought several books from them via Amazon and have never had a problem

Yes, I buy from shopgoodwill all the time. I have bought dishes or dolls mostly. I have always been satisfied with with what I got. Have gotten some really good collectable dolls from there and dishes. I collect china cup/saucer sets and snakplate/cup sets and tea pots. They usually pack dishes really well. I have only recieved one broken item, a teapot lid. I have been buying from them for years, much to my DHs dismay!!!

I have bought from shopgoodwill. Shipping was more than the price of the milk glass vase I bought. I love looking at the sewing machines but shipping would be hard to take. I definitely would order stuff again, wish I had the money, lol.
brenda

Heavens - I had no idea they had that site - what a place.

Marysewfun

I purchased a Singer 290C sewing machine off this site, sold new in the 1980's. They packed it well; no damage in shipment and it came exactly when they said it would. The machine was "as is". The motor ran and the needle went up and down, but hadn't been tested on fabric. I was so excited about sewing with the machine. I sat down with my fabric scraps, threaded the machine, went to lower the presser foot.......it was frozen. My DH who is a genius with machines took it all apart; cleaned and oiled and adjusted until he was satisfied. He put it all back together and Voila! It sews like a dream. I was also able to find the owner's manual on line at Singer.com. Moral of the story.....if you don't have someone who can fine tune the machine for you, pass on it. Personally, I'd buy from them again knowing that my DH can make it sew.