I had a Bernette 55 which I bought on eBay and used for several years as my travel machine. When I got a new travel machine, I gave it to my son, and he has had it for 7 or 8 years. For $7, even if you took it to a Bernina dealer and paid the $75 service fee to have it checked out, you got a good deal. You should be able to get feet from a Bernina dealer, and I always used Schmetz 80/12 and 90/14 sharps with mine.