Embroidery: New or Used?

[ITL7]

We are looking at bringing embroidery in house.  We have talked about it forever but finally starting to get serious about it.  I have done a little research and priced new machines but I'm not very deep into it yet.

Is embroidery something that you can get good deals on used equipment or is it worth the extra money to buy new so that you know what you're getting?

A four head or maybe even 2 heads would probably be fine for us now but I'm looking at 6 heads to allow for growth. 

Any advice or tips will also be appreciated.

Thanks for your advice on this and all the other helpful advice y'all have shared on this board in the past.

[Croft]

A friend of mine picked up a Tajima 6 head lately , he already had a machine that was about 5 years old so knew basically what he wanted . He may have lucked out but got a really good machine that needed a basic install by a tech.
Only issue he had was they may have used a mist spray in the past to hold something in place when emb. and he had to wipe the machine down.
  The machine was across the country , he had a local dealer send a tech to assess the machine and with a good review he also had the tech go back and prep it for shipping which only cost him about $800 in total. There are deals out there right now.

[3Deep]

I was in your boat about 8 or so years back looked at many used machine and the best advice I got was from a lady selling her equipment, she ask me have I every done embroidery, I said no, then she said buy new so you know what your getting and it might come with some training and warranty, but with that said if you've done embroidery in the pass or have some experience buy used.  I bought new, got some training, took full advantage of the 1 year warranty, and that  is my 2 cents worth.

[whitewater]

I bought 3 machines used. a single, double and a 6 head.

Single and double are fine - 6 head sucks ass.

could go either way.

[inkman996]

We bought a used single head barudan about 5 years back, all I can say is we are ext5remely lucky I have years of experience with those machines. It was a nightmare of a machine, obviously neglected and not well taken care of with dailys if ever. After that experience we would never ever buy a used machine again, no matter what the brand or price is.

[Pangea]

We got a single needle home based machine (PE770) to learn the ins and outs before going for a real one. Then bought a used Babylock 6 needle and, while it looked like it was in great condition, the lower shaft locked and needed repair. Then we got a single head Barudan and the woman who owned it took the training, bought it new and trained me for 3 hours. Now we're getting a used 12 head Barudan that has a few years before it goes out to pasture. Gonna have to spend a few days going over it and getting it up to snuff but too good a deal to pass.


Used EMB machines are always a gamble but if you're willing to learn the oil maintenance and tensioning you could get a good deal. As always, make sure you see it run before purchasing anything.

[LuckyFlyinROUSH]

New. Who knows how many times a machine has been crashed and how maintenance has been. Unlike a press you cant easily see wear points. You can't readily tell how shitty it sews unless you sew items with it all day and know what to look for.

[ITL7]

Thank you all for the advice.  I think with my very limited knowledge, new is the way to go.

[BrazosDesigns]

My experience is to buy used only if you can check it out, or have your tech check it out. I may be driving 6 hours tomorrow to check out another used machine (or 2) in operation.  You can get a good idea of the machine status by talking with the person that ran the machine.  And whatever you do, don't wire money to someone who will ship it to you....pay credit card and get it insured!