Online Retailers
 

So .... do you have a favorite online retailer for particular things related to quilting?

What about sewing machines?
Would there be ANY reason to steer clear of Sewing Machines Plus?

I "get" that buying local comes with local support, but the price I am quoted by SMP, I'm pretty sure my local dealer would not touch.

Give me the good or bad about Sewing Machines Plus, if you have an opinion.
I've never ordered from them, but I'm (so far) impressed with their sales & promise of service.

Many local dealers will not support machines bought on line. No lessons... and some give a hard time with warranty issues.

I would at least give local dealer a chance to match. It is a little unfair to say they would not if you did not ask. Then I would be interested if they try to match. I have heard that they sometimes can add so many accessories that it makes a pretty good deal. then you have someone local to help when needed

I have gone to the store a few times and had good results. I was not there to buy a machine. My friend wanted to look at a few and was continually directed to the machines way beyond her means. When she said she would have to go to another store then they were willing to discuss the more reasonably priced.

Check out the BBB reports on them.

I do believe in buying local - they have to look you in the eye if there is a problem.

I have had only good from them when purchasing online

I would at least give local dealer a chance to match. It is a little unfair to say they would not if you did not ask. Then I would be interested if they try to match. I have heard that they sometimes can add so many accessories that it makes a pretty good deal. then you have someone local to help when needed

I'm not opposed to asking. Our LQS isn't known for being flexible this way, but yeah, it can't hurt to ask. In fact, it'll give me an opportunity to try out their machine again (it's been a while). They did give me a $5000 price for the demo Baby Lock that they have which is over a year old and a bit more than I can get the new, latest, machine for from another dealer. The mgr. of the sewing dept. is new, but not new to the store. She knows that I am considering one of these machines because I saw her at the quilt show. We even talked then and she said "yes, our demo is $5000."

I'll let y'all know how this comes out.
Thanks for your ideas.

Online stores don't give classes, and don't really give support other than mail you out the machine. Consider that in your pricing comparison.

When I bought my machine, he matched the online price. It's worth asking.

The dealers in my area will not match prices even each others. It's like they are doing you a favor letting you buy from them.

I know we have had one QB member post they were not treated well. I did a google search of ratings from this store and found a few.
http://www.resellerratings.com/store...achines_Plus_4
http://www.bbb.org/san-diego/Busines...ints#breakdown
http://www.yelp.com/biz/sewing-machi...s-san-marcos-5

For lower-end machines, I have purchased online. But my more expensive machines (Janome 6600 and 8900), I purchased from a dealer. That being said, I never took any classes from him nor have I received support but that's one me, not him. I'll be curious to see what your dealer says after talking to her.

By buying online, you will not be able to get any of the free "new owner" classes offered by every local dealer I've ever known, nor will you be able to build a personal relationship that may just get you some added perks down the road. The dealer is a major factor in where to buy a machine, and price is not the main reason why.

If price is the only reason you're thinking of buying online, by all means give your local dealer the chance to compete.

I bought my machine from Sewing Machines Plus with no regrets. I have no local dealers in my area. I buy everything online, even my fabric.

Maybe you should try a different dealer, the machines (new and used) I've bought from the dealer will ask you what you're looking for in a machine and won't try to sell you on a machine that has all the bells and whistles if all you're looking for is a very basic machine.

I had a great experience with this company and can only say good things about them. When I had questions I talked to the owner and he explained and answered my questions without hesitation and with no salesmanship or pressure involved. My purchases were all done and the service was excellent. I think on the ratings above, it is hard to get much information from so few of people. Mine was a large on line purchase of which I am totally happy with.

The several people I had talked to on the phone were all nice and helpful as well.

Having read this thread I'm struck by the variation in reviews. It almost sounds like different stores, stocks and personnel. I DO believe that more often it is the unhappy customer who writes a review; most of the happy ones just consider the good service they received as "business as expected". There are so many considerations to spending big bucks for a new machine that I'd want the opportunity to try out the item before making a large investment. If I'm going to do that I feel almost compelled to buy locally. I have no issue with buying from the internet but do feel that the vendor that provided the information used to make my decision deserves to get my business. If the price difference is substantial, I "might" consider buying online but certainly would wonder why and expect answer to why there is the major difference in price (other than the implicit differences in vendor cost between an internet only company and one having a retail building). Joyce in Delaware

That is exactly what I did when I bought my Bernina 1530 !! Would you buy a car online?? I have always used what I learned from purchasing cars and use that info in purchasing a DSM.

I have bought parts from Sewing Machines Plus and was very happy. The last time I bought from a dealer I never bothered going to the classes, so I don't consider that when buying. Ultimately price matters more to me. I even bought a machine on amazon. I did order parts from another online place once and was really disappointed. What I did get took forever to get here and I never did get part of the order, although I did get somebody else's, so make sure if you buy online to check reviews first.

I bought my longarm from them - on lay-away even - and never had a problem at all.

I have bought two machines online, both were from Ken's Sewing in Alabama. The first time we drove from South Carolina over to his shop in northwest Alabama to pick it up and got to see his shop. He is one of the authorized Brother salesmen for online purchasing. I have also ordered other things from him.

I have bought many accessories from Sewing Machines Plus and have had absolutely no problems. What I mean by accessories, is sewing machine feet, extra screws to keep the various feet screwed on, a couple of extra
shanks. Never had a problem.

I bought my longarm from them. I have not had any problems with the machine I bought from them. I do not have a local dealer so was happy there was a place that had a good rep to buy from. I will do business with them again in the future.

Had no problem having my local dealer do a warrantee servicing. Why would they turn it down? This is covered by the manufacturer and they will be paid. Its like if you buy a Honda, do you have to have it serviced at that same dealer? You can go to any authorized Honda dealer -and once outside the warrantee, "Joe's Japanese car Repair" will be happy to do the work. They want the business.
I do think it is worth checking to see if the local dealer can come close to the price. When I did that, however, they would not give me an answer over the phone and told me I would have to come in person (an hour drive). I purchased online and never been sorry.

I many years I have never taken a class even when buying from a dealer, so that holds no weight with me and the few we have around here are expensive and being retired money is very limited so price is deciding factor. They come with manuals and that is all I have ever needed. I am very mechanical and good at figuring things out for my self.

Jackie, I recently bought the floor model demo Baby Lock Tiara from my local dealer. It was about a year old and I paid $4500 for it because it was the demo. I did not get the Stitch Regulator, which would have added about $800 onto that price. The updated Tiara has a timer on it so you know how much time you've put into quilting something for a customer and something that warns you when your bobbin thread is running low. I decided I didn't need either of those. The original warranty is good on the demo. I also get a class that I've scheduled for the middle of this month. I was tempted by the pricing at Sewing Machines Plus too, but decided to go with the demo instead. It was already set up and I knew it worked well.

I bought my sewing machine online but I wasn't spending a huge amount but the place I bought it from was great about an issue I had. the needle threader was broken during shipment and they mailed a replacement immediately, no questions asked. of course I didn't need lessons or anything and ive even bought accessories from them since but I live in a rural area and the nearest dealer of any kind is almost 100 mi away that's probably why I haven't invested in a high dollar machine that's a long drive for a couple lessons. I bought lots of stuff online because its a pain to have to get in the car and drive 50-100 miles to buy something I can have shipped in a couple days.
Carla m

oh the retailer was kens sewing machines in case anyone was wondering.
carla

I have never heard of Sewing Machines Plus, but, I have ordered many items online. Except for one person on E-Bay, I didn't have any problems. I have ordered sewing machines, rulers, fabrics. you name it. Except for that one time, it went through fine.

I've always bought my machines from the local store and I'm glad I did. The classes were awesome. I learned about a lot of things that I probably wouldn't have figured out on my own. Plus, their service is great. I want them to be around when I need them so I'm buying from them. If I have to pay a bit more, I'll just wait a little longer and save up the money. To me, its worth the extra to keep the local guys around for support.

Here is my recent shopping for a new machine experience.

I live in SoCal so you would think I had a lot of choices...but when I narrowed down the brand I wanted I had much fewer, so I expanded my search area and found a few more. I went to 5 different stores. I drove over 50 miles to one.

The prices varied but not really all that much. 2 did not do trade-ins and 1 has a monopoly in the area by having a lot of stores. They were my worst experience because it was most like going to an auto dealership.

One was nice and friendly and thought I wanted to buy from them even though they were about 30 mins away. However, trying to get them on the phone was a real trick. I finally talked to them again and agreed on a price, then they didn't have any in stock, was going to find me one locally and call me back....I called twice to see what the status was and then I got tired of wondering and figured I better move on. I did...and bought one at a different store (one that didn't do trade-ins)

Turned out they gave me the same price w/o the trade-in and now I have my other machine to sell and when that happens I will have gotten a very sweet deal. BTW - that store called me about 2.5 weeks later to say my machine was in....they ordered it new. Told them sorry...you never returned my calls and so I assumed they didn't like me. :)

Overall - machine dealers are very much like used car salesmen in my book. I hope to never buy again.

I bought my Janome 11,000 SE from SMP. I got interest free for 5 years, that's why. I found them totally unprofessional. I bought it through contact with a salesman who told me I had the latest version. I found out it should be the latest version elsewhere. He didn't know a thing about it. The upgrade is a separate pkg. that comes with different hoops.

Anyhow, I took a day off to get familiar with the machine. I got the book out and worked through it. I tried to change to a different stitch or length or something, and the machine wouldn't do it. As a newbie I was worried so I called tech support. Then I sat for six hours waiting for them to call back.

Then I called again and got put on hold, then I wrote my salesman, and got through and he said that the tech said he called me. YOU THINK? I was sitting by my machine all day!

Anyhow, the answer was so easy, all I had to do was push the pedal and it would move to the next mode.

I can't remember all that I tried to communicate about, I think the main thing was my sales guy said the latest version would be installed, and the fact that no one else would discuss it.

I wrote to the owners, they didn't bother to respond. The last time I wrote them I told them I was going to my local store to buy the 15000 and if they could communicate with me I would buy it from them. btw I didn't buy it, I think my 11,000 will do as much.

OH, here's the kicker. I called my local store to get lessons to use my new machine and THEY said they could have done the five yr. thing. I told her I called and asked and they said three.

It really stinks that the market is such that you can't trust anyone.

Bottom line, I would not buy from Sewing Machines Plus unless you are close enough to walk in and demand satisfaction.

I want it all, and I want it now.

CD in Oklahoma

When I was looking for my Janome 6600 I googled the shops that sell them in my area then went to each one to see their prices on it. Forgot to say the cheapest price I found on internet was $1,599.00. Out of the 3 shops in my area there was 1 that had the same price & were wonderful ladies to talk to, one of the shops wanted $2,399.00! I ended up buying it on Ebay (the machine is in perfect condition) for $1,029.00 with free shipping and no sales tax so ended up saving around $748.00! I am a happy camper. I know I don't get the warranty or the free lessons but from my research it is a well build machine & I can always pay for the classes which would still end up cheaper than buying it whole sale.

Just know that the sewing machines that you buy in "Big Box Stores" and the ones you buy CHEAP on line......are NOT the same quality that you get from a sewing machine dealer. And you get service and support from your dealer. That alone is worth so much !

I bought my Juki 2010 sewing machine, my Juki MO-735 serger and my Brother PE-770 embroidery machine by ordering online from Sewing Machines Plus. I also ordered my Janome 7700, my Janome CPX 900 coverstitch machine and my Brother PQ1500s online from Allbrands. Both places were excellent, good customer service, my orders arrived quickly and were packed really well. Both of them are dealers, they just happen to sell many machines online, however, I do know that some machines are sold only in their stores but I think that has to do with their agreements with Janome, for example. But, the machines I purchased are exactly the same as if I had walked in a bought one. All excellent quality. My online machine buying experiences have all been good and each machine I got a better deal than if I had gone to a local dealer.

This is the online shop I purchased my Juki TL 2010q from. My experience is that they have outstanding customer service.

http://www.icanhelpsew.com

She also has a storefront, "The Sewing and Vacuum Center".