I got myself a Brother embroidery sewing machine, but it doesn't just stop there. You will need a software package for your computer, and a card reader/writer so that your sewing machine can have the images applied to the card through the programme and then read by the machine. Or, you can just go with the pre programmed cards but they cost a fortune and are difficult to alter to fit your garment or fabric.
I bought mine with the intension of taking the ebay personalisation world by force, but in reality it doesn't pay you at all. People like the idea of something personalised, but are not prepared to pay too much for this, and it takes a lot of effort and time to produce things that are of a good standard. You also need stabiliser for the back of the fabric to make the embroiders work well and thread that is up to the job of going in and out of the fabric about 1500 times (for a small pattern !)
It's more costly, time consuming and complicated than it looks, HOWEVER, I love my machine and I have done loads of stuff for my friends and family - napkins, table cloths, christmas cards, names on fleeces, patches etc....