# Babylock Enterprise - About to purchase!



## samlee723 (Mar 26, 2017)

Hello,

I'm located in Southern California and went to a store and they quoted me $9,999 for a used Babylock with a hat hoop and brother software. Is this considered a good deal? Is there anything else that I should be asking for ?

They are willing to finance 60/mo with no interest so I am about to bite but want to make sure the price is okay.

I am going to mainly be focusing on Hats but maybe want to venture out to shirts and jackets as well. Are there any other hoops that I need?

(I am obviously just starting out in this industry and want to get all of the help I can)


----------



## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

It's an OK price, not a great price. As an example, I bought a PR1000 2 years ago with the cap frame, software, cylinder frame and extra hoops for $8500, roughly 2 million stitches on it. It should come with all the original hoops and manuals, the jacket back frame is either 7.5x11 3/4 or 7.5x14, most likely the larger one.

Just something to know if you are looking at it mostly for hats, the Brother/Babylock machines will not let you sew any closer than about 1/2 to the brim... They also run at max 600 SPM with the cap driver on. Otherwise, they will run them all day... I have 2 of them and before that, had 2 PR600's.


----------



## chuckh (Mar 22, 2008)

I think you need to do some additional research. I am not familiar w/ Baby Lock, but did a quick search and they seem like a home/arts and craft embroidery machine. They have a number of models so you don't tells us which model you are looking at.

If you want to do this for more than a hobby, check out some industrial machines. There are a number out there and make sure you see them in production.


----------



## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

chuckh said:


> They have a number of models so you don't tells us which model you are looking at.


Maybe you missed the title of the thread? The Babylock Enterprise is a 10 needle machine that preceeded the current Valiant model. And we've been doing this as more than a hobby for 10 years now using these type of machines, as have many home based companies.


----------



## samlee723 (Mar 26, 2017)

I found a used PR650 for $4700 with capdriver hoops and PE software. Do you think that is a pretty good deal?


----------



## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

Without knowing the hours or stitch count on the machine, it's impossible to make an accurate SWAG on the price Samuel...


----------



## chuckh (Mar 22, 2008)

Ted, certainly not trying to put anyone down. 

Where is the title of the thread...I thought it was "Babylock...About to purchase"

Samuel sounded like a newbie to embroidery and just thought he might take a little more time in making a decision about where to put $10,000 and look at all options.


----------



## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

Thread Title: *Babylock Enterprise* - About to purchase!

Easy to miss, not a problem...  

I understand the recommendation for going with a 'commercial' machine, at the same time not everyone needs to start out with the biggest/fastest/best... For someone just starting out, these smaller machines are very easy to learn on, they run FOREVER, they can easily be transported somewhere to have them serviced instead of paying a tech $200+ just to come look at them, etc... I have 2 of the smaller 10 needle machines and a commercial SWF 15 needle, want to guess which ones we use most and have the least problems with? The SWF can be such a pain that we only use it for large flat designs or sequin designs, everything else we run on the 2 smaller machines.


----------



## samlee723 (Mar 26, 2017)

Thanks to the both of you for the feedback. As for the PR650 2million stitch count and 68 hours of use. Seller is selling because he has a tajima 4head and a 6head baruden coming soon.


----------



## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

2 million stitches on these is nothing, not even broken in... I'm still thinking the price is a little high because it's a 2-3 year old model, they were replaced by the 655. Personally I like the Enterprise/PR1000 model because of the built in camera but if the machine does what you need to do and the price works for you, it's not bad, just a little high IMHO...


----------



## kcr0205 (Apr 3, 2018)

Is it new? The price is OK. I paid much more for new, but I understand there is a newer model out there. Remember, BabyLock puts this out as a HOME USE model; there are other machines that are more industrial for commercial use. I found this website because I'm trying to decide how to price my machine (2 yrs old) and was thinking of asking around $7500 including a $900 hat hoop bundle that I bought from HoopTech last year to enable me to do ball caps better. BabyLock admits that hats are not their strong suit. Hope this helps. Good luck with your business.


----------



## jtilden (Sep 30, 2013)

I have said machine for the last 5 years. Do yourself a favor and source a used Baruden if you are wanting to concentrate on hats and even full jacket back designs at some point. Its a great machine for left chest type designs but you are limited to 2.35" height designs for ball caps and the way the machine is made the bill of the cap bottoms out and causes some circle type designs to seem flat at the bottom. I have since switched to the Hooptech fast frame which gives me 2.5" of stitch height, but I still have issues with the bill causing the bottom of the design to distort. One of my screen printing sources that I use to embroider ball caps for recently bought a used baruden, WAAAAAAY better looking out put than my BL. I change my needles and take it in for maintenance annually, it just can't match the quality of a truly commercial machine. I even invested in every size of magnetic hoop frames as well, it a good home use machine, but you can source a factory refurbished baruden for cheaper.


----------

