Skittl1321

My Bernina dealer has prices with trade in and without, they are listed on a card, and they don't negotiate- no cash discounts, no added accessories, they stand firm. I'm pretty sure the "with trade in" is a way to offer a price below MSRP. I traded in a Kenmore that cost $200 5-years previous and got a $600 discount on my purchase for it.

If I were to buy another machine from them, it would make more sense to buy a new machine at Walmart rather than trade in my current machine... (I don't know if they would offer a better price on a machine they could resell- they send their trade ins to a charity)

Another dealer (Janome) I went to appraised the trade in and only took machines she could sell. Mass market or low end machines were not taken.

So you need to figure out how the dealer handles trade ins to decide whether it would benefit you or not.

romanojg

Some LQS don't want machines that they can't resell and alot of them only sell higher $ items. I had the offer from mine for them to buy back my Mega quilter but I had only had it less than a yr and had hardly used it and would have lost 1/2 of what I paid for it. For me, it wasn't worth losing that much on it. I kept it plus I kept my regular sewing machine that was only a few yrs old. My new machine is very heavy so it only goes to classes when I need what it has to offer/embroidery, etc. If my other machine can do the job then it's what will go with me. Plus when I have the embroidery machine going it's nice to have the other machine on the other side of the table that I can use. Unless you need to sell it I would keep it. Then you have a backup incase the new one needs to go into the shop or has something going on it; like embroidery. I'd sell it on Craigslist for at least $50 if it's worth 100 on ebay. LQS don't compare the value to where it's sold elsewhere, they decide how much they can re-sell if for and make a profit and then offer you a %less than that.