# Brother BES 1210AC



## mikewohlwend (Apr 19, 2007)

I found a Brother BES 1210AC for sale somewhat local to me. I am currently not in the embroidery business, but have been wantin to start. Most of the business I do now is baseball/softball uniforms. So being able to do hats as well just makes sense to me. 

Would this be a good entry level machine for me, of should I look for something newer? I know there's a Babylock 6 that I can get for around double the price.


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## TPrintDesigner (Sep 16, 2007)

Depends on the price.

It's an awesome machine but probably about 14 years old. Speak to your nearest Brother tech to find if parts are still available.


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## mikewohlwend (Apr 19, 2007)

What would be a decent price for one?


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## logoadvantage (Nov 16, 2009)

Brother made good machines and even the older ones run quite well if they are taken care of. On average the single heads will sell for around $2500 to $3500. Price depends on condition and what is coming with the machine. The big question is where do you live? There are only a handful of good Brother techs left since Brother got out of the commercial machine business many years ago.


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## LTPEMB (Jul 10, 2015)

I currently own a couple brother machines and part time do phone support or onsite training for some stuff. The value of the machine is between $1000-2500. $3500 if all parts including table, all hoops, hat parts and so on are included. 

Is it a good entry level?
That depends on what your market/pricing/sales goals and use are. I tend to warn people that single heads are harder to make money with on their own without first having a pricing plan. Not impossible but usually in conjunction with other machines/sales numbers. a single head is good for smaller quantities or for personalization projects that would not be practical to use a bigger machine for. If you are doing team stuff a single head would be good for putting the player number on caps and such. But if you are outfitting a whole team with identical caps with just a simple logo on the caps... you'd basically take an entire day or so to do the 10-25 caps depending on the artwork. 

Plus single head cap is okay but the changeover time between flats and caps is killer on the brother single heads so if your swapping between flats and caps a lot that can really hurt productivity/profit margins. 

Is it a good machine? its okay but you have to become really good at troubleshooting and problem solving on your own... support is hard to find. (I keep myself available for phone support but I am not cheap) and the other couple I know are a little difficult to get a hold of and are still expensive. 

Lastly the answer is... its a decent value for how inexpensive it is... but I wouldn't advise investing in it without a full plan/production model planned out.


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## mikewohlwend (Apr 19, 2007)

logoadvantage said:


> Brother made good machines and even the older ones run quite well if they are taken care of. On average the single heads will sell for around $2500 to $3500. Price depends on condition and what is coming with the machine. The big question is where do you live? There are only a handful of good Brother techs left since Brother got out of the commercial machine business many years ago.


I am in NE Ohio.




LTPEMB said:


> I currently own a couple brother machines and part time do phone support or onsite training for some stuff. The value of the machine is between $1000-2500. $3500 if all parts including table, all hoops, hat parts and so on are included.
> 
> Is it a good entry level?
> That depends on what your market/pricing/sales goals and use are. I tend to warn people that single heads are harder to make money with on their own without first having a pricing plan. Not impossible but usually in conjunction with other machines/sales numbers. a single head is good for smaller quantities or for personalization projects that would not be practical to use a bigger machine for. If you are doing team stuff a single head would be good for putting the player number on caps and such. But if you are outfitting a whole team with identical caps with just a simple logo on the caps... you'd basically take an entire day or so to do the 10-25 caps depending on the artwork.
> ...


I understand what you are saying about the time things would take to switch between flats and hats. But for someone just getting into the industry I don't see the need for a multiple head machine. Unless of course they have enough business lined up to justify it. 

The price is listed at $2700, so that's not terrible for what you guys have said they are worth. I know I can get a baby lock 6 for around $4500 as well.


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## LTPEMB (Jul 10, 2015)

I'm not saying its the wrong way to go I am just saying buy it with a plan in mind. A lot of people go that direction with single heads. But the costs usually make it tight. The cost of running a 4 head is only 15% more than the cost of running a single head but divides the cost per piece by 4 (allowing you to stay competitive. (why you find for every used multihead you see for sale there are 4 single heads for sale). 

When it comes to taking on embroidery in-house it truely is... if it makes sense within your model. But I never blindly advise it.


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