You need to think about "digitizing" as well, professional software (Wilcom Hatch 2) for example is $1100. There are cheaper options and some professional machines come with software, but not all of it is "digitizing" software, it may only be a simple program to manipulate images you buy or add text to graphics. I went through a online training course, like John's, by a company
www.digitizingmadeeasy.com, excellent instruction and well worth the time if you are thinking of spending $5~6K on a machine. For that money a Janome 4 or 7 needle machine can be had new, or you may be able to find a used machine, but be very careful. I just bought a "happy embroidery machine" used and it was destroyed in shipping by UPS. I am now trying to get the claim processed. You can do a lot of good looking work with a single needle flat bed machine, I bought the Janome 500e and have been able to use it to make patches, logos on tee shirts, etc. It is not for a commercial business at all and is only good for "flat" vs "tubular" materials. It will not do hats, etc, without a lot of work. The more needles a machine has the lest labor it takes to run the machine, professional machines generally have 12-18 needles (colors) retreading an embroidery machine is a big PIA. You also have to really understand tension, as each needle is it's own tension issue. You can find machines cheap from China, or some brands like "Redline" are inexpensive, but for non continuous use could work well. Happy, Tajima, Melco, Burdan, ZSK, and a few others are the top machines for continuous production and have a good dealer/ repair network to keep the thing running. Generally a new machine starts at $12k and goes up very fast. I saw a few listings on Ebay for a dealer in OK who is selling Melco Bravo's for about that price new, without digitizing software. They are decent machines, if you want to pay less there are a lot of used ones, but unless you are buying from a dealer who can get it working for you, with the right drivers, etc. It could be a big pain. Embroidery machines are computers first and sewing machines second, so they have all the problems of old computers! Best of luck, Malcolm