Pick a machine and see the lowest current prices on eBay, where most of these are sold because a hobby moved on rather than because they wore out. Prices are pulled live, so what you see is what sellers are asking this minute.
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Browse the full range of used embroidery machines on eBay → Prices move fast. See the biggest price drops across every category this week →Hoop size is the specification, everything else is detail. The maximum embroidery area decides what you can actually make: 4x4 inches covers pocket logos and small motifs and nothing else, 5x7 covers most of what people buy these machines for, and anything larger is for jacket backs and quilt blocks. A larger machine will always stitch a small design, so buy the biggest hoop you can afford rather than the newest model, because this is the one limit you cannot work around later.
Embroidery-only or combination. A combination machine sews and embroiders, which sounds strictly better and often is not: the embroidery unit is bolted to a sewing machine, so it tends to have a smaller hoop for the money, and you lose both functions when it goes in for service. If you already own a sewing machine, an embroidery-only model gives more hoop for the same outlay.
Check how designs get onto it before you bid. A USB port is the answer you want. Machines from the 2000s used proprietary cards and dongles, and while adapters exist they are scarce and the software behind them often needs an operating system nobody runs any more. This is the single most common reason a cheap machine turns out to be unusable.
Multi-needle is a different kind of tool. A single-needle machine stops and waits while you change thread for every colour, which is fine for one shirt and painful for twenty. Six and ten needle machines change colour themselves and run unattended, which is why they cost what they do. Buy one only if you are selling what it makes; for everything else the extra money is better spent on hoop size.
These sit unused, and that is the real risk. Far more of these are sold because a hobby moved on than because they wore out, which is good for supply and bad for condition. Ask when it was last serviced, ask for a photo of a design it stitched this week, and treat "used twice, like new" without a recent stitch-out as untested rather than immaculate.
Budget for the consumables. Stabiliser, thread and needles are ongoing, and the machine is not the whole cost. A reasonable thread set and a roll of cut-away stabiliser will add most of a hundred dollars before you stitch anything, so a listing that includes them is worth more than one that does not, and a bundle with hoops is worth more again.
Live eBay listings. Pick a model and it fetches the current lowest-priced listings in real time, with the listing shown beside each price, so nothing here is an estimate.
5x7 inches suits most people. 4x4 is genuinely limiting and only covers small motifs and pocket logos, and you will hit that ceiling quickly. Larger than 5x7 matters if you want jacket backs or quilt blocks. A big machine stitches small designs happily, so hoop size is the one thing worth stretching the budget for.
If you already have a sewing machine, buy embroidery-only, because you get more hoop for the money and you are not without both machines when one goes for service. If you have neither and space is tight, a combination model is a reasonable compromise.
Usually, because most are sold when a hobby moves on rather than when they wear out. The risk is not wear, it is a machine that has sat unused for years with old oil and a dry hook. Ask for a photo of something it stitched recently, and treat any machine the seller has not run as untested.
On anything modern, a USB stick. Older machines used proprietary cards or a cable and software that may not run on a current computer, and the media can be hard to find. Check this before bidding, because it is the most common way a cheap machine turns out to be unusable.
Only if you are selling what you make. A single-needle machine pauses for you to change thread at every colour, which is fine for occasional work. Six and ten needle machines change colours themselves and run unattended, and they cost accordingly.
Stabiliser, thread and needles, and probably extra hoops. A thread set and a roll of cut-away stabiliser is most of a hundred dollars before the first design, and hoops run $30 to $150 each. A listing that includes hoops and thread is worth meaningfully more than one that does not.
A daily snapshot of the lowest genuine eBay price for every model we track, and how good that price is right now versus its usual level, updated automatically. Prices last refreshed 12 October 2026. Tap a price to see that model's cheapest listings on eBay, or tap a model name for the full live list here.
These are second hand prices, listed by sellers as used or pre-owned, taken from live eBay US listings in US dollars. In collectible categories a sealed or unworn item is sometimes the cheapest genuine listing, and it is included. The same number works both ways: it is what a buyer pays today and the resale value a seller can realistically ask. Every model also carries a price history, the daily record kept since tracking began, which is the part to read before you buy or resell. On a day when a model has no listing that passes these filters, its row keeps the last price we recorded rather than inventing one, and drops off this table if that goes on for more than a few days.
Under each model is the actual listing that price came from, so you can see whether it is the thing you want or a bundle, a variant, or an accessory that happens to share the name.
Over the period we have tracked, this category is down 3.6%, while the used market as a whole is down 0.3%. See the Used Price Index, which is built from these prices and published as a free CSV.
| Model ↕ | Cheapest now ↕ | vs typical ↕ | vs recent |
|---|---|---|---|
Brother SE1900 Brother SE1900 Computerized Sewing/Embroidery Combo, LCD Screen, Free Arm | $400 lowest yet | 43% under | new |
Husqvarna Viking Designer Topaz Husqvarna Viking Designer Topaz 20 Sewing /Embroidery Machine G1387 | $500 | 17% under | steady |
Brother PE900 Brother PE900 Computerized Household Embroidery-Only Machine | $800 | 6% under | ▼ 6% |
Brother PE535 Brother PE535 Computerized Household Embroidery-Only Machine | $225 | about typical | steady |
Brother SE700 Brother SE700 Computerized Household Sewing & Embroidery Combo Machine | $380 | about typical | steady |
Singer SE9180 SINGER SE9180 Computerized Sewing/Embroidery Combo Free Arm Auto Cutter | $400 same 24 days | about typical | steady |
Brother PE800 brother pe800 embroidery machine | $550 | about typical | steady |
Singer Legacy SE300 SINGER Legacy SE300 Computerized Sewing & Embroidery Machine Hoops Accessories | $550 same 49 days | about typical | steady |
Baby Lock Verve Baby lock verve Sewing & Embroidery Machine. | $650 same 52 days | about typical | steady |
Janome Memory Craft 500E Janome Memory Craft 500E Embroidery Machine | $1,050 same 21 days | about typical | steady |
Janome Memory Craft 400E Janome Memory Craft 400E Embroidery Machine | $1,150 same 36 days | about typical | steady |
Janome MB-4S Janome MB-4S Computerized Household Embroidery Machine, Portable | $3,200 same 44 days | about typical | steady |
Brother PR680W Brother Entrepreneur PR680W | $7,000 same 28 days | about typical | steady |
Brother SE600 Brother SE600 Computerized Combo Sewing and Embroidery (pedal included) Read | $350 | above typical | ▲ 18% |