Chinese Imported Sewing Machines

[chrisash]

They do seem great prices, but interesting on how you eventually select the supplier. are you going to the factory or a agent/retailer

The Australian embassy in China may have some information on what are seen as good machines in their commercial department, maybe worth a email or two

Aussie with 12 month guarantee at £3000 I guess would have cost including shipping, inspection etc close to £2000, so a selling price of 3000 is not that bad of a deal as they probably have other overheads as well

[CowboyBob]

On 11/5/2019 at 7:43 PM, Wizcrafts said:

Wouldn't this also apply to the shipping crate/box?

This only applies to wood like 2x4's ,if the crate is made from plywood or laminated wood is ok since bugs can't live in it.

[dikman]

Interesting, Bob, never knew that. Could explain why some of the crates are made from the cheapest plywood they can find!

Chris, it's a dilemma. The cheapest one has positive reviews and reading their company profile sound pretty good. The dearer ones have been on alibaba longer, but does that make them any better.

[dikman]

Two more prices, $938 and $1269. The hard part is trying to make sure they are actual factories or simply resellers. This is becoming quite an experience . I definitely intend to buy a 441 as I've convinced myself I need it and I've just sold my 111W117 (to make room - well not really but it sounds good).

[DavidMillsSaddlery]

Buy local, support local business... it may cost a bit more up front, but you’ll save in the long run! 

[Bert51]

That is all and good if the prices are competitive, but when there is up to 100 percent difference, then that is save me anything in the long run?

Bert.

Edited November 11, 2019 by Bert51
spelling

[dikman]

tt, while I agree with your sentiments Bert is right. If the difference was $2-300 I'd buy local, but I'm looking at a minimum saving of $1000, and depending which one I buy could be up to $1400 by buying from China. I don't know about you but that's a significant amount of money to me.

[kgg]

I like to buy local when possible as it is great to support local businesses but the prices have to be fairly competitive. The magic number for me is $200 CAD on expensive items else I look elsewhere. The method of costing some items locally of $1 for the item plus a $1 for profit plus a $1 for "dealing with the customer" just doesn't cut it anymore.

kgg

[chrisash]

Trouble is that shops have huge overheads that need paying for and most governments also make them unpaid tax collectors with loads of paperwork

People also abuse the goodwill of the owners where they call on technical information for free and then say thank you and go off and buy the item they want on the internet rather than with the guy who gave free advice

I would imagine in the US the increased import tax has hurt sewing machine sales yet the shops still have the same overheads to pay for 

[kgg]

In my case I ask for a quote for the same model Juki, some needles, spare bobbin holder, extra bobbins, couple of spools of thread, binder with swing arm from a fairly local dealer in Ottawa (about an hours drive) and a dealer in Toronto about 4 hours away. The difference was approximately $1000 dollars in the difference. Both dealers are in major centres in the same province so their overhead / paperwork / taxes etc. should be about the same. Why the difference, the dealer in Toronto didn't sell at a loss so it pays to shop around.

kgg