The Brother Laura Ashley models are feature laden and have received great reviews on Amazon. They come with lots of feet and can handle heavier fabrics. Although some machines go on sale for Christmas, they're usually the "best sellers" so to speak for Amazon. For example, Brother CS6000i or Brother Serger 1034D.
If you're looking for something right now, the most inexpensive options are
CX155LA and
CX205LA. I purchased the
CX310LA earlier this summer. It was at a historically low price of $234. If you have your eye on a certain model set up a price tracker through
Camel. That's how I scored the deal on mine.
In respect to shipping, the machine arrives in the same packaging the manufacturer used when delivering it to Amazon. I've purchased my sewing machine and serger through Amazon and both were well protected. Brother made certain they were well secured.