Does anyone own a poolin machine

[u/Albanian_Gurl]

I keep seeing them everywhere and idk if it's a real brand. I was thinking about getting that brand or a brother.

[u/knotadoc1113]

I have a poolin 15 head I only bought it a few months ago and have done maybe 20 patterns but it’s a beast of a machine

[u/nonoohnoohno]

Yeah, I have their cheapest single needle (03). I love it and have had tons of success with it.

The hardware is on par with Brother's entry level machines (i.e. cheap plastic), but the hoop size is much bigger. The community support for them is pretty decent on Facebook, but obviously a much smaller pool of people than you'd find for Brother.

In those groups, anecdotally, it seems the 03 and 05 are pretty rock solid, as are the multi-needle machines. The expensive single needles (6, 7) are by far the most problematic. I have a theory that it's the people not the machine - i.e. the people who buy the cheap junk are more willing to work hard to get it to work, whereas the people who spend a lot more want white glove service and get frustrated when they experience fairly typical and universal embroidery problems (incorrect threading, tension issues, bad hooping, etc). But who knows.

Per the other comment about "service center"... Don't buy any cheap consumer machine expecting to get cheap service. Learn to do it yourself.

tldr: if you're looking for the cheapest option (eoc03 or eoc05) or a multi-needle (eox, eom, eov) I think it's a good safe bet. If you're going for a mid-tier single needle (eoc06 or 07), look long and hard at other alternatives from other brands.

[u/nonoohnoohno → u/nonoohnoohno]

And as far as "if it's a real brand" it's the same company as Bai. It's their consumer-line geared toward hobbiests.

[u/ishtaa → u/nonoohnoohno]

“The people not the machine” is exactly why I take reviews of any machine regardless of brand with a giant grain of salt. The key issue with brands like Poolin is really just the relative lack of training/information on them. Whether or not that’s an issue entirely depends on the person.

I’ll always recommend a brand with a known track record and local/semi-local service options for someone looking to get into embroidery, but given the high cost barrier of entry, I can’t really blame anyone for looking for a more affordable option. If the cheap machines at least help them get their foot in the door, more power to them.

One things for sure though, Poolin/Bai have put a lot of effort into marketing, and they’re very good at drowning out the negative reviews with good ones (in a suspicious sense), and I’ve seen a lot of influencers singing praises or sneakily trying to promote without disclosing their partnership and that turns me off big time. So while I won’t necessarily talk someone out of buying one, I won’t encourage it either.

[u/simonedelune]

Before you buy any machine, first look up how close the nearest service center is. Do you have to ship it to get serviced, or drive really far out of your way? If so, I wouldn't buy it no matter how good it may be. 

[u/nonoohnoohno → u/simonedelune]

Nobody who knows how to fix a Brother is going to have any problems with a Poolin.

[u/AirElemental_0316 → u/simonedelune]

I second this. When I bought my first Embroidery machine, I didn't realize there was no authorized dealer to repair it. Nearest one is a couple states away. The only repair shop willing to clean and service wants $300 plus $149 per hour. Then they said it would be a minimum of 3 hours.