Jim's Gem

I got my Bernina 630 on E-Bay just over 2 years ago. I was scared to death but it all worked out great. The seller of mine was some lady who had barely used it, not at all on the embroidery unit, who took it to one of those "I Sold It" Stores.
It was boxed in the original box inside another padded box and came with no damage. I think it came by Fed Ex too. It is a great machine and I got it at for a lot less than buying a new one.
Since mine is a used machine, I do not have a warrenty on it. I do have a Bernina dealer about a mile from my house and have it cleaned and checked on there.

nellebelles

My DH and I have purchased many sewing machines through ebay. The very first one we purchased was a Viking Designer SE. UPS was the shipper and the box came in the door rattling... I was totally freaked out. I told the driver that he needed to inspect the box. Basically, he just said if there was a problem that ALL we needed to do is file a claim. :roll: Well...sadly, the machine was VERY broken. :evil: We filed a claim and to make a long and very frustrating story short, we were paid back for most of the cost, but we got to keep the machine. My DH, being a sewing machine technician, was able to fix the machine by buying parts and reconstructing it. Works like a dream now. Since that time, we always do business with sellers with 100% positive feedback and many sales, and let them know that we prefer FedEx for shipping. All of that should protect you, but not a guarantee. We recently bought another machine off of ebay, and not too many days later, got an email from a detective, telling us the machine we bought was stolen! We have to give the machine back (of course!!!), and we were worried we would be out the $999 we paid for it. Fortunately, we have the buyers protection from PayPal, and we always pay our PayPal with our Visa card and have buyers protection from them too. So, we will get our money back from one place or the other. There was no indication anywhere on that listing that the machine was stolen. The seller didn't know it was stolen either. He bought it from some clearing house in Chicago. I guess, words of wisdom are "Buyer beware", and if you can, pay with a credit card through PayPal and you will be protected from losing your money.

sewjoyce

I bought my Bernina 200 on e-bay. I was really scared to death also but it turned out to be a very smooth transaction and I love the machine!!

amma

The only thing that I can add is if you do buy a machine that has a warranty, check out the closest licensed service shop to you. I found out that I have to take my machine on a 3 hour drive or pay to have it shipped there to maintain my warranty. Buying a used machine does not guarantee that the balance of the warranty transfers to the second owner.

2wheelwoman

I purchased a Centennial FW and a old Singer hand-crank machine and my Elna all on eBay. (all shipped via plain old post office) The crank was from an eBay shop sort of place, so there was a good feedback rating established and we got just what we wanted and it was packed well. I took a real chance on the FW and Elna, as both were from private parties and brand new sellers. The FW was from a man cleaning out his mother's things after her death. I had researched the 'net and found a great site that spelled out in detail how to pack one and he followed that to the letter and I got a great little machine with no problems at all. The Elna was from a private party who got it, started quilting, and immediately wanted a top-of-the-line machine. They still had all the original packing, and the doodads that came with it, and even included the original receipt. I've been very satisfied with all the machines. It is a "buyer beware" environment, but can be quite successful. I did a lot of emailing with the sellers prior to bidding, asking why they were selling and do they know how to pack it, etc. I know they can lie about it, but I believed them and have been very happy with my purchases.

tuesy

My son bought my first ever Sewing/Embroidery machine on ebay. Brand new. No problems with it at all. Since then I've bought a NV1000 Brother combo machine for my DD. Works like a dream. With my other 3 machines, I bought them from a dealer.

Lisa T

I just ordered a Bernina 430! I am not getting a steal on it or anything ($1999), but I am buying it locally which is important to me. I should get it next Monday- yay! I am excited about it as this is a HUGE upgrade for me. I have never had a Bernina before but I liked a lot of stuff about it. If you get the 430, you can add the BSR later which is the only difference between the machines, I think.

I ordered one sewing machine in the past from e-bay. I had borrowed a friend's Kenmore machine and broke it. Rather than pay to have it fixed, I ordered one exactly like it from e-bay. I paid about $130 or so for it, because it was listed as "Like NEW!" and when I got it, it was really dirty and even smelled funky- they must have had pets. Also, the person who packed it used little foam pellets and they got all over inside the machine. One other issue- the thread holder pin was broken, which I believe was done during shipping.

So much for saving the repair cost- I had two broken machines at this point, but the one from ebay had not been used much so it was worth putting the money into it.

I brought both machines to a repair shop and the guy put the thread holder from the old one on the new one and cleaned it up for me. He said the machine itself was in great shape, so the seller did not lie about that. Overall it was an ok experience for me, but I would hesitate to do it again, especially for a high dollar machine that you will use for 20+ years. The only reason I did buy from e-bay in the first situation was because I wanted to replace the exact machine and they are not sold anymore. I probably spent more replacing this machine than it was ever worth brand new, but it avoided any hard feelings so it was worth it.

For my new machine, I am a firm believer in buy it where you will get it serviced. You are building a relationship with your serviceman because you are going to see him at least once a year for a looong time. They are going to treat you better if you buy from them.

hulahoop1

I bought my Featherweight on eBay about 6 months ago without any problems whatsoever. Seller was quick to respond to emails and willing to ship to Hawaii. Item was everything it was advertised and was nicely packed. I fully agree with all that has been said here about watching sellers' feedback, etc. etc. That said, I purchased a BSR for my Bernina Aurora 430 last summer and received an empty box. I immediately contacted seller and they made it right. Probably helped that I wanted a replacement BSR and not my money back. Got the money back anyway, oh well.

crazyquilter

I have purchased 3 machines from EBay, a $900. Pfaff 2056, a $1100 Husqvarna Rose, and an old $50 Singer. The Rose was from an individual about 100 miles from here, so I arranged to pick it up in person. Fantastic machine! Like new condition. I only use it for embroidery, but the field is only 4x4 so have since bought a Janome 350 E (embroidery only) which I use most of the time. Pfaff came from a dealer in NJ, no problem except dealer was a little slow in shipping. This is my main machine. It has obviouly been used, but was well taken care of and runs like a dream. The old Singer, size up from a featherweight, was a disaster. Portable case was almost demolished, is unusable. It was laid in the box on bubble wrap, and a layer of bubble wrap placed over it. I had asked for and was willing to pay extra insurance which wasn't taken out. With some help from DH, it runs, but there was no reason it had to be beat to death thru the mail. No recovery on that one! So I guess we just take our chances! Overall, I've been quite happy with ebay...

juneebugs

I bought my quilting machine on line but it was a local buy. There's so many scamers out there that I would be very careful. My opinion: Try to wait for someone in your vicinity before buying on line.