I have purchased several machines from ebay. There are dealers on ebay that use the machines to teach classes and then sell at a deep discount.

i went to sears about 6 years ago and bought a kenmore on sale for around 200. and have been using it to make plenty of quilts since then, it alldepends on how much you want to spend and what you need it for

I think it really depends on your budget. I have a Janome 1600P C, a great straight stitch workhorse of a machine, but far from cheap. My guess is that you would do better going to garage sales, where you can often get good reliable machines for under $50.

If I was going to buy a new sewing machine, I would get the Singer 160th Anniversary Edition. It looks very nice, and may be worth lots of money some day. Only $299 and free shipping!
http://www.amazon.com/SINGER-160-Ann...rds=singer+160

Well, I've decided to keep my old machine and make the best of it. It looks like we really don't have any extra money, so my budget of $400 has gone down to maybe $50. Ha! I think I'll try a generic 1/4" foot and darning foot and see what I can do. Thanks for all your help and I'll keep your tips in mind in the future.