I bought my first Featherweight off eBay. Looked for a seller close to me. I'm in Oahu and he was in California instead of East Coast. He had good feedback and was responsive to emails. He was going to send it insured UPSP and I asked him if he would send it Priority Mail if I made up the difference in shipping costs. We did and I got a great machine. I figured 3 days of shipping damage was lots better than 6 weeks by slow boat.
My second experience was the purchase of a BSR for my Bernina. When the package arrived, the box was empty!!! Spent $500 via Paypal. Seller didn't believe me until I said I wanted the BSR not my money back. She did refund without too much trouble.