On CL, I sold a vintage Singer I had picked up at a garage sale for a family member. I had it serviced and had the receipt to authenticate that. Woman drove over 100 miles in light snow, arrived 15 minutes early, sewed on it about 2 inches and paid me. She was going to get some breakfast and head for home. Maybe I sold too cheap (LOL) but I was satisfied to get my investment back and happy to see her get it.

Check dealers & get on a list. 1 local Bernina dealer has a list for Featherweights. When Bernina does a trade up sale they get a lot of oddball machines. Some from thrift stores to get the disc. & 1 long arm setup.

I purchased my babylock espire used. Was a lovely machine i purchased from a dealer. I loved it but them upgraded to an embroidery combo but i would definitely do it again

before christmas i ordered an 830 sewing and embroidery machine on eBay it had 34 hours on it. i love it. it works great.
i was a little nervous my first thing i have ever bought on eBay, i ask my husband if he thought they were true to there word
and he said he has order a lot off of eBay. i contacted the company selling it and they have been very helpful in helping me
get use to it.

If you buy from an auction, make sure it comes with the original box. That can save much heartache in preventing damage. UPS and fedex are not careful with the boxes no matter how many times fragile is written on it. I have bought from auctions several times and all good outcomes except 1 where it was not boxed properly. It was totaled, but the seller refunded me and dealt with the shipping insurance.
I have bought a gently used bernina 770qe from a dealer that had used the machines in a class. I love that machine.

I bought my used Janome 8900QE from my dealer...he gave me a great price, 1 year warranty, and 1 free cleaning...I love this machine....

i would be comfortable buying used from a friend or a dealer - assuming the dealer offered some service and warranty perks.
one simple does not ask that of a friend. not if you want to stay friends. lol

i would only order online from a well-known dealer. again if the perks are right.

i would never buy used from an individual i do not know unless they were close enough for me to take it for a test drive and bring it home myself.

I bought my used Janome MC6600P from a small “sewing center” independent dealer//repair place. for $350 years ago. Still going strong and never a lick of trouble. He looked it over and said it looked good, but didn’t refurbish. I’m sure it was a trade-in

I bought a 770QE new last spring but a few months later my neighbor bought the same machine from the same dealer that had been used for demos and I'm sure she got it for a good price. I would check with a dealer about a used one.
I don't think I'd buy one on Ebay, although I've bought a couple of used vintage Singers there.

I bought my Bernina B740 from a dealer. It was one of her classroom models with very few stitches, and I received $2,000 off of list price. I love it.

I also bought an older Bernina from eBay. The seller had excellent feedback. I had it serviced before using it, and it needed hundreds of dollars in repairs... other eBay sewing machines came perfectly sound.