I have purchased many machines on Ebay. As others have stated, just make sure the seller is reputable and look for words like "sews" instead of "runs" and such. Also pay attention to the seller's ratings. I only got stung once when a woman who reportedly worked for the USPS didn't properly pack the machine. I ended up sending in a claim to the USPS because it was beyond fixing - this was before PayPal started their program. Use PayPal and you have a recourse.