I'm looking for a new sewing machine. I'm looking at the ruby by Viking. should i buy it used on ebay from someone I dont know or spend almost twice as much and buy it new. Any ideas?

I have bought a lot of things on Ebay.
I look for seller feedback. If it's generally good I will buy.
Don't forget, if you pay with Paypal you are protected in case something breaks, etc.
Read the description carefully, ask questions.
I'd buy it on Ebay (my opinion) :D

Welcome to the board from Southern California!!!

I bought my machine from E-Bay. It was pretty scary but I was very fortunate to have purchased a very nice sewing machine for a great price.
I bought a Bernina and I have a Bernina dealer within a mile of my home. I took classes from them and they service my machine for me.

I would try craigslist, sewitsforsale, the classifieds on this board or on patternreview.com first. Machines sometimes get damaged in shipping. It's nice to be able to test drive before you buy. On eBay, look for sewing machine dealers that allow returns at least. I got a Pfaff 7510 from the eBay store of (famously reputable) Brubakers in PA with a one year warranty.

I have bought several from Craigs list.

I'd buy locally. You can get a used machine from your local dealer. Sometimes you can get them to throw in some kind of warranty or classes, or both. You'll get none of those via ebay.

I bought my viking 1 on ebay. Make sure you ask when it was last serviced and if they have a receipt. I took mine in to be serviced and they said it was the cleanest machine they have ever seen! I got a really good deal on it too. Good luck!

That's a tuff question... If you have a Viking Dealer near by....Stop by and ask if they have some trade in's....I got a call 2 yrs ago from my Viking dealer...Someone had just brought in a Designer SE with only 38 min. on it. Person did not know how to use it, by salesperson said that same person bought a Diamond....Hmmm. Can I get my hands on that one when she turns it in...LOL

Anyway, I got that machine for 1/2 off...Look around