I have several brothers all but 2 have been bought at yard sales or thrift shops, I personally love them. I had one that I paid $20 for and used it for 7 years to mend bluejeans, replace sippers on it and never had any problems. I now use it for free motion quilting and its still going strong. All ive ever had sone is a good home cleaning on a regular basis. I dont think you can kill one if you tried.