To Buy factory direct, or not? I bought my machine directly from the factory in China.

[Mike Walker]

I want to make a post about a sewing machine purchase that, hopefully, will help others who are considering a sewing machine purchase and want to weigh the pro/cons. I recently purchased a Jiang Long 341 sewing machine. It is a Juki 1341 clone from Alibaba.com. The main reason I chose this machine was the price. I wanted/needed the machine for certain types of projects, and, unfortunately, didn’t have the funds for Class 26. I considered the level of risk of purchasing directly from China since I am a novice with little to no experience setting up a machine, much less working on one, but it seemed like the only way i was going to be able to get what I wanted, so I went for it. 

It has worked out as I hoped it would. The machine does exactly what I need it to do. So, with that said, if you find yourself in a simular situation as I did and you are considering purchasing directly from a factory, this is what I advise, or things to keep in mind: 

• Are you comfortable assembling the entire machine? (It arrives in a wooden crate)
• Since these machines are most likely a clone of some other sewing machine, make sure you know which one it is cloning. This will help with tips, tricks, maintenance, etc., as you look things up on various platforms. 
• Prior to making the purchase and when chatting with the company representative (Ben, in my case), ask all the questions you can think of. 
• Be mindful of the time difference when chatting with the factory in China.
• Don’t be in a hurry. Give yourself a couple of days to work through your purchase.
• Discuss each item that you want to purchase such as, the machine itself, the servo motor, the table, the light, the speed reducer (a must), wheels for your table (if you want them)(Also, how many wheels you will need), Presser foot selections, other accessories such as edge gauges, etc. 
• Shipping costs. Make sure you have a detailed discussion on exactly how much shipping will be and where the machine going to be shipped. In my case, they shipped it to my house. 
• Once you know the entire cost of everything, to include shipping, it will help you decide if this purchase is your best option.
• If you decide to order the machine, BE PATIENT! It may take 90-days (or more) for the machine to arrive since it shipping directly from the factory in China to your house. Mine arrived in less than 70-days. 
• Check for updates to your order. 
  • The factory sent me videos of my actual machine when they completely assembled it and tested it prior to shipment. Once they tested it, they de-assembled it for shipment. 
  • I also got a few updates about shipping. Such as, I was informed when the factory took the my machine to the ship yard to placed on boat. I got a second notification when the U.S. shipper wanted to schedule a date and time for delivery. 
• When the shipment arrives, they may only take it to the end of your driveway. Make sure you have this worked out with the shipping company prior to the day of delivery. In my case, the driver was willing to place it at the entrance of my garage. ( I live in a residential neighborhood with a standard concrete driveway). 
• Once you get the machine, don’t be in a hurry. 
• The instructions are vague, but assembly was not difficult ( I thought it went together easily)
• As stated previously, they had completely assembled the machine at the factory so the holes where to mount the motor, controls, etc., were unique to each part. 
• The factory rep was responsive to my questions and exchanged videos to give direction to my questions. 

Hope this helps. 

[Tommy217xxx]

That’s great advise. I don’t have a problem with machine work or assembly so I may give it a try. I’d like to get a patcher and a bell skiver at some point.

[AlZilla]

Thanks for this report. It's always a scary temptation but we've had a couple of good reports now.

Maybe a link to the machine and seller you bought? There are a lot of sellers out there.  Sounds like you had a great experience.

[TaperPin]

That’s pretty cool buying an entire machine from overseas.  I’ve bought thread direct from a Chinese company and it was a great value, even though it took a loooonnnng time for the boat to make it to the US.  Lol

On one hand nothing in a machine is rocket science so there’s no reason small shops can’t make machine that are great values.  On the other hand it does take a mental commitment in case it shows up as a fixer upper.

If I didn’t enjoy scrounging around classifieds looking for deals so much, or if living in an area with few industrials I’d seriously consider ordering directly from the mother ship.

[kgg]

On 6/21/2026 at 11:55 PM, Mike Walker said:

I recently purchased a Jiang Long 341 sewing machine.

The one piece of info missing is what you figure you saved, dollar wise, versus purchasing a similar machine from a dealer. 

kgg

[Mike Walker]

I purchased the machine from Alibaba.com. The specific shop was Donguan-Jainglong Intelligent Technology Co. 

 

My total investment, including shipping, accessories, and a speed reducer that I ended up purchased from Ohio, has been right around $1,200.00. I failed to order the speed reducer with my initial purchase, but I’m sure one can do that. 

After using the machine a couple more months I can report that it still works great. I’ve had no problem sewing through as thin as 3 oz, and as thick as 15 oz (a 10 oz and 5 oz being sewn together), with no trouble. 

The one accessory that I purchased that I would not buy, if I had it to buy again, was the edge guide. It tends to be more in the way than a help and it is not easy to adjust. 

The one improvement that I am looking for on the machine pertains to the bobbin winder. Even with a good fitting bobbin, it easily sips when winding the tread. If anyone has suggestions on how I can remedy that, it would be appreciated. 

Edited August 2 by Mike Walker

[Dwight]

I faced the idea twice . . . once for my Cowboy 4500 . . . and once for the patcher I got.

I bought the Cowboy from Toledo Sewing Machinds in Toledo, Ohio . . . as I had done a small bit of business with them before and they did good by me.

That also gives me a very close answer for any "problems" I may have.

The patcher came from China . . . was in the 400 dollar range . . . I set it up . . . put thread in it . . . been sewing ever since.

Buying the cheap patcher I hear is a nightmare . . . 

May God bless,

Dwight

[kgg]

16 hours ago, Mike Walker said:

The one improvement that I am looking for on the machine pertains to the bobbin winder. Even with a good fitting bobbin, it easily sips when winding the tread. If anyone has suggestions on how I can remedy that, it would be appreciated. 

If I'm not mistaken the Jiang Long 341 has a build in bobbin winder. Chances are the rubber wheel inside the machine is slipping under load may or maybe by some oil coating the rubber wheel so you may get away with an adjustment or cleaning. The cheapest, quickest and most reliable method would be to buy a traditional table mounted bobbin winder costing probably about $20 or $30 dollars that would then be driven off the main drive belt from the handwheel to, in your case , the speed reducer. 

A real nice benefit that you may or may not be aware is that while you are sewing you can wind a bobbin at the same time by simply threading up a dedicated spool of thread for your bobbins. Saves having to unthread the top thread to wind a bobbin and eliminates possible rethreading problems.

16 hours ago, Mike Walker said:

The one accessory that I purchased that I would not buy, if I had it to buy again, was the edge guide. It tends to be more in the way than a help and it is not easy to adjust. 

The drop drop edge guide in my opinion is really a adaptation of the drop down edge guides made for the Class 441 machines like the Juki TSC-441 and clones which load their bobbins from the front rather then the top of the cylinder arm. I have always found drop down edge guides to be more of a nuisance then a benefit. With my chubby hand the head space really isn't there as it gets a little cramped sliding the bobbin open / closed to replace a bobbin even with the drop down edge guide raised. That is why I use my own system for attaching standard flatbed attachments to cylinder arm machines.     

17 hours ago, Mike Walker said:

My total investment, including shipping, accessories, and a speed reducer that I ended up purchased from Ohio, has been right around $1,200.00.

That is really good info for someone wanting a new machine but unable to afford the typical (~$3000) new machine prices as long as they are willing to accept the fact that support is just not a phone call away. 

kgg

 

 

[friquant]

18 hours ago, Mike Walker said:

The one improvement that I am looking for on the machine pertains to the bobbin winder. Even with a good fitting bobbin, it easily sips when winding the tread. If anyone has suggestions on how I can remedy that, it would be appreciated. 

Can you post pictures of the machine, and close ups of the bobbin winder? The winder on my Jiang Long 341 works fine, no slippage. 

[Mike Walker]

I purchased the machine from Alibaba.com. The specific shop was Donguan-Jainglong Intelligent Technology Co.