used machines, seller says "bought and never used it"????
06-23-2014, 10:00 AM
#41
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Pataskala, OH
Posts: 1,452
This is the exact reason that when I was selling sewing machines I would try to get a feel for what the person intended to do with it. If they had never sewn before I would encourage them to not get the latest and greatest with things they wouldn't use. I've had people say but I have to buy the most expensive to get a good one. I've had people trade up within the first year but Viking has a good program for that with full price toward an upgrade. To me that's the smartest way to work your way up to a higher priced machine and seeing if you're really going to use it.
I wouldn't buy anything off Craigslist unless I could use it and see it and even then some problems are intermittent and you wouldn't know about it. Maybe if they had a clean bill of health from a service tech?
I wouldn't buy anything off Craigslist unless I could use it and see it and even then some problems are intermittent and you wouldn't know about it. Maybe if they had a clean bill of health from a service tech?
06-23-2014, 11:34 AM
#42
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 314
I bought a nice sewing machine for my daughter-in-law from a person who thought she wanted to learn to sew so she bought a machine from a sewing machine store. She used the machine a couple of times and found out she hated sewing. It sat around for several years until she decided to sell it. I found out about it from a friend who knew the person. It still had some of the accessories in their sealed packets and all the sales receipts etc. My daughter-in-law loves the machine. I have sold things on Craig's list and my daughter has purchased quite a few toys and such for her children off Craig's list. Like anything you have to be careful but there are deals to be had out there.
This is why, when a friend asks me what sewing machine I recommend for someone who's never sewn, I tell them to go to Walmart and buy the nicest Brother machine they can afford there. There's no reason for someone who's never sewn to spend more than $500 on a new machine because they don't know if they'll ever use it. A lot of people on internet boards get irritated with me because of that, but I don't care ... if someone is going to learn to sew, they'll do it just as well on a cheaper machine than an expensive one with all the bells and whistles.
06-23-2014, 12:36 PM
#43
Power Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Outside St. Louis
Posts: 38,213
One of my Grandsons was given a brand new, never used, never oiled machine. A Singer 15 Clone. He helped the family move, I bought it off of him. He is a smart young man and knew it was a great deal. It was manufactured in the 1950s for a local department store. After oiling and a new belt it works like new and looks like it. We don't know the history but abslutely brand new.
06-23-2014, 12:37 PM
#44
Power Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Outside St. Louis
Posts: 38,213
One of my Grandsons was given a brand new, never used, never oiled machine. A Singer 15 Clone. He helped the family move, I bought it off of him. He is a smart young man and knew it was a great deal. It was manufactured in the 1950s for a local department store. After oiling and a new belt it works like new and looks like it. We don't know the history but absolutely brand new.
06-23-2014, 12:41 PM
#45
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Here and there
Posts: 1,669
My best friend got carried away at a quilt show and bought a machine that remained in the unopened box until one of her children made arrangements to sell it. I, myself, bought a used machine in a nice cabinet at a garage sale, got it home and decided I hated it and took it immediately to a sewing machine repair shop, after hours. and left it on the sidewalk for the proprietor with a note that said, "Fix it, use it for parts, sell it for junk--whatever you want to do, and take your wife out to dinner on the proceeds." I didn't sign the note and don't know what happened to the machine or cabinet--maybe someone stole it off the sidewalk! People do lame stuff, even some of the people on this board; the ones who don't are probably the ones who don't own seam rippers because they never make a mistake. froggyintexas
06-23-2014, 01:29 PM
#46
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Central Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA
Posts: 7,695
I'm one of the people who bought a quilt machine, couldn't figure out how to put the table together. It had a lot of nuts and screws and small pieces. We had 4 people try to put it together and we were never able to get the table steady enough to hold the quilting machine. The machine is still in the box. I still plan on using the machine and try another table to put the machine on. Just haven't gotten there yet. Time flies, that was 5 years ago. I bought another quilting machine, which was more user friendly, and use the newer machine in the mean time. Thanks for this topic and for a reminder I have this machine and need to get this going.
happy,ab- I wish we were closer, I am the person everyone calls to put things together. I have a weird knack for it. I could have it together. You could try a craigslist ad to find the local "McGiver type person" to help you. Good luck!
06-23-2014, 01:55 PM
#47
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: greater NorthEast
Posts: 3,004
I'm with just_the_scraps_m'am on this one. I'll bet if the cost of all the fabric some have in their stash and will (admit it..)never use, it would be at least $1,500. Probably more. Remember, it only takes 100 purchases at $15 to make the $1,500. Many of us are in that category. So yes, we buy with the best of intentions, maybe even plans, but you know what they say about the "best laid plans of mice and men...
06-23-2014, 05:12 PM
#48
Super Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Texas
Posts: 2,369
I have a friend, who I love dearly, who bought an expensive computerized Brother apparently because her sister in law had that machine (the SIL is an experienced sewer and makes quilts for their church nursery). To date my friend still has not even taken her machine out of the box. Needless to say, she has yet to make her first quilt.
Some people are shoppers, and as Jan said, have more money than, if not sense, then at least good judgment.
Some people are shoppers, and as Jan said, have more money than, if not sense, then at least good judgment.
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