For most things electronic, one can download for free just about any user manual desired.
For sewing machines (specificially elna 6300q) the mfgr doesn't supply them. Alternate sources want 7-10 dollars for a pdf file.
rant off.
Ugh, I hate those awful sites that hold manuals hostage. It's such a bizarre niche market, and it always makes me wonder how much money is actually in it.
I try my best to get rid of as many manuals as I can. When I get an appliance or gadget, I first try to find the manual online, and if I can't find it I scan in the one that came with it, then put the PDF on Google Docs in a folder shared with my wife. I routinely pull up manuals on my phone to check this and that, and it's far better than my old method of having a dedicated drawer filled with manuals.
But sometimes I still run into these damn pay sites. Most of them seem pretty damned shady, too. I'm never confident that they even have the manual...