How to Sell an Embroidery Machine
This article features tips to help sell an embroidery machine for top dollar.
Inventory
Take a very detailed inventory list and take pictures of the inventory. This lets the buyer know exactly what they are getting and there are no misunderstanding once the buyer receives the machine.
Its very difficult to sell a machine without quality pictures. Pictures are now practically free so the more the better.
Find any old paperwork such as invoices when the machine was purchased, tech invoices, parts invoices, etc. This lets the buyer know that the machine was well taken care of.
Value
There is no such Blue Book of embroidery equipment. Most people looking for used embroidery equipment are looking for used embroidery equipment to get a deal. Embroidery equipment depreciates immediately upon arriving at the original buyers location. Things like warranties and software might not be transferable and might not be worth anything to the next owner of the equipment. Also most of the inventory such as threads, backing, etc are worth very little on the used market. Embroidery Designs are almost never legally transferable unless the original owners and original creators both give consent. Buyers need to beware when embroidering and profiting off these designs. Its also hard to put a dollar amount on a customer database. Most buyers are going to be out of the city, state or even country. If one embroidery company closes down and a new one opens, most customers are going to go to the new shop anyways assuming the reputation is as good if not better than the previous company. There is not a huge demand for used embroidery equipment at this time due to NAFTA and most embroidery work going out of the country.
As a seller, the price needs to be set realistically or its almost a waste of time trying to sell the machine. Time is money and the longer it takes to sell, the longer it takes to recoup the funds that could be better invested in other ventures. The seller needs to keep in mind as well that if the price is not low enough, then a buyer is better off going directly to a embroidery machine company to buy equipment with warranty and everything else included that is usually not included in a private sell. The price has to be lower enough to motivate a buyer.
Shipping
The Shipping Portal gives a lot of tips on how to ship both large and small commercial embroidery equipment. Shipping is usually preformed by the buyer where the seller is in charge of crating or palatalizing the equipment if it has to be shipped.
Payments
If the machine is being listed on public websites, the seller needs to be very aware of scams. Do not ship the equipment to private individuals without full payment in hand or without confirmation for someone at the receiving bank if a wire is made. Wire transfer and PayPal are probably the best forms of payment other than cash. Checks should never be accepted unless cashiers checks or known business checks.
Risks and Warnings
People selling used embroidery machines are a perfect target for foreign and local scammers for many reasons. These scammers know that people selling the machines are usually desperate to get out of the business, to get out of their leases, to get out of a rented building, etc. Also these machines usually have a pretty big price tag and are not small ticket items. Most embroidery machines are NOT resold locally just due to the low demand on embroidery equipment. Therefor, scammers understand that most people looking to sell machines, understand that the buyer is probably not going to be local and might not even be in the same state. Most people use the internet to post ads of their machines which makes it easy for anyone in the world to contact them.
Great risk sometimes has great reward but caution should always be taken when reselling to the general public.
Other
TheEmbroideryWarehouse buys and sells most every make and model of industrial and commercial embroidery machines located within the continental USA. They also purchase parts, parts machines, salvage machines and most everything else related to embroidery equipment. TheEmbroideryWarehouse has been buying machines for 10+ years