For me anyway. I’ve been looking for a new sewing machine since 2004. I couldn’t find one that I could afford that had the features and the quality I wanted. I picked out one I thought was just right, and a less expensive runner up, back then, but I couldn’t afford them either.
Just recently, while I was getting some fabric, I noticed a half off sale was going on on some of the store’s sewing machines. There was my first choice, now discontinued, at half off. I still couldn’t afford it! My runner up, or the machine that had replaced it a couple of years ago, was there too, also discontinued. I “test drove” both of them, in case I could figure out a way that I could manage to buy one. (I tried a couple of machines from two other well-respected companies too, just to make sure I didn’t like them better.)
My second choice felt more comfortable to me, but once the owner saw I was interested, even though it was also discontinued, she said she could sell it to me well over the half-price mark. In fact, it was more than my first choice’s current price, and it was a floor model, while my first choice was new. I later made an offer on it, but she still wanted more than I could afford to pay.
I looked on eBay and found a seller, on the opposite side of the country, who was selling both models, both at a price I could manage, and both new in their boxes. I called a second dealer and asked for her advice on the two models. She had my first choice available, used, and recommended that one, saying it had been her most popular machine and said the other was archaic compared to the new models. I agonized all week over what to do, and which machine would be better for me. My first choice had a lot of add-ons that I was afraid would become hard to find, even though it had some features that supposedly made it easier to use. I decided I was experienced enough to deal with doing those tasks manually, in exchange for not having to worry about not being able to get the add-ons for the machine later, at a greater cost.
I emailed the seller on eBay and asked if the warranty would be good, long distance. I might be giving up the first year free labor from the seller, in favor of the convenience of taking it to a local dealer, but with my other Viking, I didn’t need that anyway. He sounded like a decent guy and his feedback was very good.
No one seemed to be buying anything all weekend due to all the economic turmoil, and so I had a little time to think it over. I knew I was swimming upstream in the recent financial current, but I decided to remain optimistic. It was also a chance for me to finally be able to upgrade my machine, and expand my capabilities. Over the long term, I think I’ll be glad I did. The newer models were all out of my range, and I really wanted to upgrade while the Vikings were still being made in Sweden. They are just switching over to China now, but, from what one dealer explained, they simply could not buy land to expand their factory in Husqvarna, Sweden, which is why they moved a whole faction of their employees over to a new factory in China. She hasn’t noticed any difference in the machines, just for the record 🙂
Update and a word of warning: The Husqvarna Viking company will not honor warranties on their machines if they were purchased over the Internet, even if you are able to register your warranty on their web site. So be aware that you will only be able to use the warranty provided by the seller, if you buy your machine online, which means you will have to ship your machine to the seller, if you need repairs covered by his or her personal warranty. Viking claims the company warranties on their machines are null and void, if you purchase one of their machines on the Internet, although there is nothing in my particular written warranty from them about this. I received this information from them in an email, and through another dealer who received it from her regional manager.
