Originally Posted by
Cari-in-Oly
One of the gals at the Toga paid over $100 each for the Japanese hand crank machine and a long bobbin machine just for this reason. They were serviced and ready to use, she could just sit down and sew without having to fiddle with or fix anything. And she was happy to spend the money on quality machines.
Cari
If she's happy, then that's what matters. I assume she's a rational person and that the machines were worth more to her than the money she paid for them, thus the exchange: $100 ea. in exchange for serviced machines. She's better off (in her mind) and so is the seller (in his/her mind).
Sorry if I came across too strongly. As I grow in knowledge (baby steps, in my case), I'm becoming more aware of what I can do for myself rather than pay others to do for me. I can perform the very basic servicing of a machine fairly quickly and easily, so I'm becoming more critical of the sewing machine marketplace. In no way did I mean to imply that the eBay seller discussed above is dishonest. I'm just not sure how much 'servicing' she actually performed; from her pictures and from my knowledge of 15 clones and Kenmore machines generally, probably very little was needed. That's OK -- no doubt she puts more time/effort into other machines.
And no one's being forced to buy.