Beginners machine

[Linus]

Greetings,
Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! I have a lil cousin who is just starting out and the price for a EP1 or EP4 is still too much $$$. Anybody have any good ideas for a beginners setup for embroidery? Type of machine and digitizing software?

Thanks,
Linus

[oldkush]

The "cheapest" embroidery machines will be the low end home models. Depending on your cousins needs [items being stitched, hoop sizes, amount of use, etc.] you may wish to check some of them out.

If you are looking for a commercial machine at a very low price, then an older used machine will be your only choice. Try sites like www.embroideryyellowpages.com

However when looking at used machines, it is important to realize that repairs can be very expensive should you buy a "bad" machine.

Bob

[The Embroidery Authority - OLD]

Linus,
If your little cousin in considering making money in embroidery, then the expense for the equipment, software and accessories will all be part of a business expense and the business should be able to pay for itself if he does his "owning a business" homework.
If he just wants to do this as a hobby, then stick with a single needle machine under $500 from any local sewing store. Just know that if he ever wants to "run with the big dogs", he'll probably have to start all over again with everything involved as the home machines are not designed to keep up with the rigors of daily sewing nor is the software as expandable as customers may demand (for example: # of fonts available).
I know a couple of ladies who started a business and are up to 4 home machines. They are beating their heads against a brick wall trying to handle everything.
Good Luck,
Ed

[Steve]

I'll add my two cents in...
Another option is to call your Melco tech and ask him if he has any EMC10's for sale or knows of anyone that does have one for sale. I know my tech Hugo had a couple of them a while back. Those are older Melco machines but are workhorses. Add EDS3 or EDS4 and you can get started at a cheap price. I wouldn't buy a machine that does not do caps. EP1 and EP4 do not do caps and you will be kicking yourself for not get getting a cap capable machine. The EMC10 does do caps at CCF but not WACF.
Maybe some techs can chime in with prices for you if they have one. I do not know who the tech is in Texas but an EMC can be crated and shipped UPS Freight.

[Linus]

Many thanks to the replies. My cousin is a junior in high school and has quite the talent for Japanese anime art. She belongs to a few clubs and would like to digitize her art and make / sew patches at various shows and other events. If I understand her correctly, she is looking to have something small for now, but help finacially when she goes off to college in a couple of years. She is at the beginning stages of her research, so I am trying to help her where I can. She has looked at a few other machines (Brother, Pfaff, Bernia, etc) and to start, it may not be a bad idea to get one of those until she sees exactly what she will need. In either case, thanks again for your inputs.

Linus