Why is the price of sewing machines such a secret? It kind of seems like buying a car, and I hate that hassle. I really don't want to drive hundreds of miles to check out every machine and I really don't want to haggle over the price. I did buy 2 machines on ebay and at least you can bid the max you have to spend. I love to look at all the new machines on the manufactures websites and on websites for shops that I purchase fabric and supplies from on the internet, if only they could satisfy my curiosity about the price.

I agree with you 100%.

it is annoying

Same with going to the doctors or hospital or buying prescriptions...They should have a price list hanging on the wall for you to see BEFORE you buy or get services.

i agree...at least thy could give us an idea of price

They don't seem to realize that it irritates people to know end. They get mad and don't buy. They have already set the price before they made the item.

I was put out when the Bernina dealer didn't have pricing on the machines. I had to ask. And still didn't get an up front answer. I got the What features are you looking for? and more questions and a push toward the fancier machine models. I just wanted to know the price of what I was looking at. I finally told the lady if she couldn't tell me the price of that machine (finger pointed to it) then I was walking out. She just looked at me so I walked out. I bought a new Janome that had the price written right on the tag.

I absolutely couldn't agree more!! It is like buying a car but at least these days you can go on line and find out what a car should cost. Years ago, I walked out of a car dealership because they were so cagey about the price - just like your machine dealer - what features, blah, blah, blah - and "what's your budget?". It is really ridiculous.

I hope you went back and told the lady you bought a Janome. :twisted:

I agree 100%. I understand that you can haggle with some dealers, but I would like to have an idea of $$ when comparing machines online before I shop.

OK, since we haven't figured out the secret yet, this is what I am going to do, send an email to some of the shops I buy from and ask them for a price on a specific machine. See how that works

I totally agree. They may be afraid the price will make us back off, but I would prefer to know what I am looking at than get my hopes up and find out that there is no way I can afford it with the salesperson trying to push the sale.

Probably because the dealers don't want it known! Some dealers will mark up from MSRP from 10% to 40%!!!! I know car dealerships had that problem with me when I found out you could find out the MSRP of a car at the library (before computers). :) I haggled them till they were THRILLED to get rid of me!

I recently was shopping for a machine to replace my Pfaff 1973, went to my local dealer and was not happy with his answers about a new machine. I did look online for another dealer, and ended up driving 80 miles for a machine, but so much better customer service.

I agree with amandasgramma, having the dealer's cost going into a car dealer was/is one of the best ways to get a fair deal.

I wonder if some machines dealers get markdowns from the manufacturers based on sales? Sell more units, you get a discount. But there's no way to know if they turn the savings back to the cosumer, or just pocket the extra.

For me, I try to look at all the review sites I can that include what the reviewer paid.

I agree.

Totally agree...>!

I agree! It would be great to know if the price was out of range so I wouldn't waste anyone's time.

Mary

My favorite Bernina dealer has the MSRPs and their prices posted :).

I have ALWAYS felt that sellers of sewing machines were as bad as used car salesman!!!

This won't get you exact pricing, but it will give you an idea. Here's a link to a site that lists actual owner reviews of machines (there are hundreds!!), along with the approximate price they paid. You have to sign up to see the older reviews, but that only requires an email address. It helped me quite a bit with the last two machines I bought.

http://sewing.patternreview.com/

Something I found interesting during my reading today about someone having issues with a Janome machine is that the warranty comes through the dealer not Janome. So, if you buy your machine with warranty from a dealer that dealer will honor the warranty but if you are not happy with that dealer for any reason and want to take your machine to another Janome dealer they do not get reimbursed by Janome to do your warranty work. And many of them will not honor your warranty. That doesn't say much for Janome especially in a society like ours where people move from one part of the country to another at the drop of a hat. In my case, my Janome dealer went out of business within 6 weeks after I purchased my machine. Of course they knew they would be going out of business but never bothered to inform their potential customers of that fact. I haven't had any need to have any work done, but I do believe they arranged to have another dealer about 50 miles from me take on their warranty work. One of the reasons I bought Janome rather than another machine was because they were the closest dealer to me in this rural area. And if you purchase on line you may have a warranty but good luck trying to get it honored without having to pack up your machine and send it back to the vendor you purchased it from. Ann in TN

I had a similar experience with a Bernina dealer pushing the high end machine. I, too, walked. I then found a great country BabyLock dealer who was willing to work with me on price (even though his first price was quite reasonable.)

All of you have expressed my feeling very well. With gas prices what they are, who wants to drive 50, 60, miles just to realize they don't like the machine, nor the dealer. Not to mention the price is twice as much as my first car. Have appt. tomorrow with Bernina dealer to discuss trading in my 730 for a 830. Should be interesting.

I hear you!!! I feel the same way, fortunately the dealer that I go to, always has ALL of his machines priced.

so they can tell you it is ON SALE...when it really is not..

do your homework using sights like allbrands.com...find out all you can before you set your sites on the top 3 and go out test driving!

would love to know what the brand new Janome Horizon will be that was unveiled Saturday in Orlando.

They probably don't want to have to call the paramedics for you when you pass out on their floor from sticker shock.HeHe

Oh, wait (sarcasm alert for those who don't 'get it')
You are SUPPOSED to be willing to pay TOP DOLLAR for the machine so you will 'get' FREE lessons with it....

or
You are SUPPOSED to be willing to pay TOP DOLLAR for the privilege of asking questions (try it sometime buwhahaha)

or
You are SUPPOSED to be willing to pay TOP DOLLAR to keep 'your local dealer' in business

I could keep going but you get the idea...

Patternreview - a great web site! With car shopping AND sewing machine shopping, i have had good luck calling first with small or large questions. At the used car lot, espcially, we got better attention because they knew we were "serious". With the sewing machine dealer, one call was enough to know i would not be getting that model (a midarm, lol).

I will even call on the cell phone, from the parking lot, if i have to.

I'm in the mkt for an embroidery machine and some have the price and some don't. I figure if I have to "call for details" I can't afford it!

Totally, totally agree!

In the UK, sewing machine prices seem to be totally fixed: it's very hard to get a deal, except sometimes at the shows, which might tie you into a dealer at the wrong end of the country. And I've never been offered the free lessons that some of you mention. Sewing machines seem to be the last outpost of price-fixing cartels and lack of competition. (If anyone can tell me differently about any UK dealers, I want to know who they are!).

When I was looking to replace my machine this spring, I had the same problem. I emailed three shops asking for their prices on a Husquvarna Sapphire 875, and only one answered me directly. The other two shops emailed me stating they didn't sell machines over the internet. I called one of them and said "I don't want to buy it over the internet, I just wanted a price", and after more haggling and it being a waste of my time, I said "No thanks" and hungup. Never did get a price from her. I ended up buying my Sapphire 875 from a little shop about an hours drive, because 1) he answered my email, 2) he was extremely courteous and 3) he didn't give me any hassles or sales pitches. He knew that I knew what I wanted and that was it. Plus he threw in a bag of bobbins, 2 threads to try out , needles and an extra shank. AS well, I get a 25% discount on all Husquvarna products sold in his store for as long as I own my machine. He made purchasing the machine a pleasant experience.

I usually decide on what machine I'm intersted in and call around for prices. I have no trouble getting them over the phone. I saved $100 on one macine by doing this.

OMG! I feel this way too! I tried Googling but even the customers are stingy about what they pay for.

i teach at a LQS that is a bernina dealer and the prices are always kept a secret.

the staff isn't even allowed to release that information over the phone if people call to obtain that information.

i found it so off putting that i have no interest in ever owning a bernina since this policy isn't shop specific its all of them - this is a global decision to deceive its customers.

Thoroughly agree-I Always wait until they have a sale(even if this does indicate that a new model is coming).Being secretive indicates to me that they are over-priced and will put people off if they see it is the same price as a car.

Our Bernina dealer in Penn Yan, NY has all the prices on each machine. It is no secret when you walk in. Buying at a dealership is really the only way to go because they have classes so you do know how to use the machine you purchased. I do not buy from anyone else. I want to be able to take the machine back and ask questions about the one I purchased.

"You are SUPPOSED to be willing to pay TOP DOLLAR for the machine so you will 'get' FREE lessons with it...."


LOL, I bought my Janome 6600 in Feb. still waiting for the lady who gives the lessons to have time to fit me it.

Thankfully I have the basics understood because I don't see ever getting those lessons.

I've made friends with a few dealers in my area, and I've learned a lot. A lot of it has to do with policies set up by the manufacturer, and the dealer is as unhappy about it as the customer is - it's really not a normal retail situation.

The dealer has a contract with the company, which, as I understand it, is far more complex than a standard vendor one. They aren't allowed to release prices over the phone, or if they are, they have to give the standard MSRP - and not mention any special deals. This is so that there is ostensibly no competition between dealers - a lot of them have a specific geographic region that they cover, and no one else in that area is "allowed" to sell the product retail. Not giving prices over the phone is to further this - in theory, it won't matter if you're willing to drive further, or if you're buying it on vacation. Most "specials" on machines (lower prices, financing, etc) are also set by the manufacturer and will exist no matter what store you go to. The reason the warranties are locked to the dealer is, again, to encourage some kind of loyalty *to the dealer.* Similarly, the dealers are forbidden by their contract from posting prices online, much less having the machines or accessories themselves for sale. (Used machine prices can be posted online, though.) They also want the dealer to be to be the exclusive distributor of parts, etc, again, to control prices. High end machines tend towards this business model rather than the lower end white, singer, etc that are available at pretty well any old Costco, Wal-mart or Jo-Anns.

All of this is great when you have a population that settles in one area and doesn't move. And lives in an at least somewhat urban area, with reasonable driving time to a dealer's storefront. Unfortunately, that's not the world we live in anymore, and I don't really see how such a model can be at all sustainable. For example, when I was looking at buying the Bernina 440, I learned that it was several thousand dollars more - retail price - in Canada than in the US. At that point, it was worth it to buy it in Canada, so I did - and I'm sorry I did, because I'm really unhappy with the dealer, who has every interest in making the first sale and no interest whatsoever in providing the warranty service she's supposed to. (I got an especially good deal on a demo machine, or else I would have bought it in the US from the fabulous ladies at the Aurora Sewing Center.) Now, I have to pack up and move from Toronto to Texas, and my very expensive warranty's essentially worthless. And I know more than one woman in a similar position.

It's really quite frustrating.