I have a nice Janome 360 QDC which I was thrilled to pay $600 for and thought it was the fanciest thing I'd ever seen. I figured it would do what I needed - let me make quilts in my spare time, and maybe drapes or grandkid stuff.
If I knew then what I know now, I would have blown off all the 30-odd embroidery stitches I never use, the cute little needle threader I can't make work, the thread cutter button which cuts the thread so short it sometimes pops out of the needle, and gone for 10-11" throat space and a more powerful motor. But when I went looking recently I couldn't find one without adding at least a $1K to the cost of my Janome.
In looking around, I recently found out you can buy a $10,000 Bernina sewing machine. It does everything but bring you a cup of tea while you quilt LOL but that is a professional machine I assume.
I think a basic machine with a big throat for hobby quilters would be a good seller and I am not clear on why the space from needle to hand wheel increased by 5 inches increases the cost so much.
Any product managers for Juki or Bernina or Pfaff listening in to this thread?