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Thread Number: 14996
What's in the vac Shops |
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| Post# 158997 , Reply# 1 11/14/2011 at 17:48 (4,539 days old) by goadie12 () | ||
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Sounds like a great time I understand the dysons being traded in but I don't get what's with the Kirby's you think if some one was going to spend that amount of money on a vacuum they would use if for at least ten years thanks. Zach | ||
| Post# 159013 , Reply# 3 11/14/2011 at 20:39 (4,539 days old) by scvacuumguy (SC) | ||
almost no used machines....
We cut out selling used machines earlier this year. Just no room in our store for used machines to junk it up unless they are vintages on display.
As for Dysons, we get so many in on trade that we normally trash them if they require any sort of service or part (we do keep two on the floor in strategic locations to make people ask questions and start a demo). Kirbys- we end up selling a lot of folks with Kirbys and they consign them with us. Craigslist or a bojack dealer works best to unload those monstrosities. | ||
Post# 159020 , Reply# 4 11/14/2011 at 21:34 (4,539 days old) by bagintheback  (Flagstaff, Arizona) |
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No Used Machines
I too would like to know why no one sells used vacuums anymore. My local vac store, "Sun Vally Sew n Vac" used to have part of their sales floor filled with used vacuums, along with their large section of Riccars and Royals. One time I went in and they had an 80s F&G Eureka for sale, and I begged my mom to buy it. I did not get my wish, and that was the last time I saw a used vacuum for sale there.
The last store I saw selling used vacuums was in Tempe, but the recession forced it to close. Are there too little profitable vacuums to sell? I'd rather buy a used Electolux or Hoover than a new machine, and I am sure many non-collectors would agree with me, especially since not many people want to spend much money on vacuums these days. | ||
| Post# 159023 , Reply# 5 11/14/2011 at 21:52 (4,539 days old) by scvacuumguy (SC) | ||
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I'm not going to junk up my floor with $30-75 used vacuums. A lot of the nicer vacuum stores do not want to sell other peoples' filth. 95% of customers do not want to buy someone's old vacuum cleaner when they come into a specialty store. I'm not sure why you think most people would want to buy a used vacuum in this economy, when the people without money are mainly shopping at Wal Mart and buying the $40 Bissell special.
Although most, if not all, of a used vacuum is profit, I would much rather make a nice margin selling a new machine than wasting valuable real estate on my sales floor with some old vacuum. It really does make a store look like a "used" appliance store when they have a section of used vacuums. We just phased ours out about 4 months ago and have had no complaints. | ||
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Post# 159055 , Reply# 6 11/15/2011 at 08:23 (4,539 days old) by bagintheback (Flagstaff, Arizona) |
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Used Vacs
Maybe used is not the correct word. I would like it if vacuum stores sold refurbished vacuums that they cleaned themselves. When I did see used vacuums for sale, they were all in almost like-new condition with new bags and belts, thus they were refurbished by the store. I think if refurbished high-end brands were sold, not Wal-Mart junk, customers would think even better of your store. You are saving them money, and they will be using a quality vacuum.
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| Post# 159057 , Reply# 7 11/15/2011 at 08:33 (4,539 days old) by scvacuumguy (SC) | ||
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My biggest issue with "refurbished" high-end vacuums is we already carry new high end vacuums. It is a bad use of resources to spend time selling a used Kirby or Electrolux for $500-800 when I can sell them a new Riccar Immaculate or Radiance for upwards of $1300 and make more money selling the new vacuum while promoting the brand.
Normally anything high-end refurb we sell on CL or to a die-hard customer specifically looking for a certain model. There are strategically placed vacuums in the windows. The Kirby, E-2 Rainbow and Dyson are all there for the simple reason that people walking or driving by will pique interest in the store and know that we carry and repair those machines. I actually prefer NOT to sell my window vacuums because they are mainly there to attract customers. In terms of Wal-Mart and other BBS vacuums, I'm going to try to liquidate them by sending an employee to the flea market with them in hopes that they it will actually make money and not lose money. If they lose money, then they will continue being dumped off bi-weekly when we clean out the trade-in closet. The ONLY way we actually will sell a refurbished high-end (yes we keep some in the back of the store) is if a customer brings in a dead HE vacuum and insists that they replace it with a newer version of the same thing. That results in about a 10 minute sale at maximum profit. I would never, ever demo a used vacuum against a new vacuum and call it a better value than our high-end new vacuums, that's called shooting yourself in the foot. | ||
| Post# 159059 , Reply# 8 11/15/2011 at 09:03 (4,539 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa) | ||
 In Sa you get only a few high end brands , dyson miele sebo vorwerk kirby and Rainbow
We sell the dyson Miele sebo & vorwerk vacuums interestingly we can't get enough refurbished vacuums particularly dysons. we strip them wash them rebuff them and resell them for half the price of a new one with a 2 year guarantee. these machines are pretty expensive here and do not sell aswell as in other country's due to there price.
I have only seen a few riccars and recently did a Voltage conversion on one ( you do not get them here) but they wouldn't sell in SA as they use bags and look a little old fashioned like our vacuums did in the 80's and 90's. They are very nice and I was impressed with them but every thing here has to be the latest and greatest It must look modern or it will not sell , S is very image conscious thats why Audi's and BMW outsell Toyota's here | ||
| Post# 159099 , Reply# 9 11/15/2011 at 17:44 (4,538 days old) by vac_whisperer () | ||
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"Monstrosities" HOW DARE YOU! lol
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| Post# 159558 , Reply# 12 11/21/2011 at 00:20 (4,533 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa) | ||
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hardly ever get Kirbys in for repair??
Do they not sell well in your area ? we mus do about 10 -15 Kirbys a week , mostly sentria s. every thing from the standard busted fan to burnt out armitures & failed powerdrives. Every shop I know both here in SA and in the states has loads of kirby's in for repair , hang I drove out into the farm lands to see a friend who has a general appliance repair store out there the other day , 1 old hoover 3 electroluxes 4 Samsung's and 14 Kirby's( g3,g5,g6 rest sentria's ) in for repair . face it they don't make them like they used to. they used to be good quality well made , I had 2 sentria's last week in with cracks is the brush head aluminium , only when I had a real close look did I see why its paper thin.
they do clean well but for what you pay there is better out there.
When I stopped of at our local Kirby dealership, the owner a nice guy shook his head when I commented on all the sentria's he had in for repair, he told me that most customers ask for there old (traded inn) Kirby's back as the new ones don't last. Thats from the Kirby guy himself !
Don't get me wrong I love Kirby's , they look wonderful all polished up and on display and that's were they'll stay | ||
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Post# 159565 , Reply# 13 11/21/2011 at 04:14 (4,533 days old) by tolivac (Greenville,NC) |
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Most of the Kirby repairs in my area are for broken fans(esp the plastic fans)bad cords,and issues like clogged bag fill tubes or Tech Drive problems. | ||
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Post# 159570 , Reply# 15 11/21/2011 at 06:34 (4,533 days old) by tolivac (Greenville,NC) |
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It would seem that ANY high end vacuum such as Kirby,Filter Queen,Rainbow,Compact-Tristar would be worthy of repair and resell.This may apply to Meile as well.I too,have seen Dysons and other bagless vacuums get traded in toward bagged vacuums--because the user decided that bagless wasn't for them. | ||
| Post# 159606 , Reply# 17 11/21/2011 at 13:49 (4,532 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa) | ||
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Another machine we are starting to see alot of in the repair side is sebo, considering they are not big sellers in SA its a bit surprising to see 5 or six a week. mostly blown circuit boards on the x4 and yesterday our first Felix with a snapped joint. cleaning lady apparently fell on it. ( you will believe it when you see the cleaning lady ) nice machine otherwise.
According to our Kirby guy the sentria has outsold every other Kirby by a hefty margin so that could be why we see so many in our shop , There are just allot more out there.Still not my favorite kirby though. | ||
| Post# 159611 , Reply# 19 11/21/2011 at 14:21 (4,532 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa) | ||
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we do allot of dysons and the number one hassle , blocked filter. not blocked from not cleaning it but blocked by improper cleaning and not letting it dry. the filters are so cheap we just fit a new one. they are even cheaper than most Electrolux /eureka filters.
Most of the vacuums we get as trade inns just need a new belt or filter | ||
| Post# 159630 , Reply# 21 11/21/2011 at 17:21 (4,532 days old) by scvacuumguy (SC) | ||
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and it is not easy to make one look like it is worth any mon
You are exactly right Robert.
It is not worth my time to make people who can't afford anything pay what its worth to buy a rebuilt machine. Its already $54 to service/change filters/ belt on a Bissell that only costs $48. We still have plenty of customers who spend that money blindly...I'm not going to invest that money into a used machine when I can throw it away even cheaper. We would not want to advertise the cheap used vacuums on Craigslist either, because that attracts a customer that we do NOT want in the store. That is part of my decision to get rid of used vacuums. We try to keep our average ticket very high, and attracting the "used" vacuum market is not something we intend to do for long term growth. You come to my store to buy a nice vacuum, get your existing one repaired, or buy parts for your vacuum. You don't come in to buy some old piece of junk that was formerly owned by a stranger. That said...we do have such a collection of used sticks right now, I am considering sending an employee to the flea market next week to liquidate them all. I'm sure we could sell off 50% of the 50 or so machines we have accumulated over the month and trash the rest. Even at $20 per machine, thats $500 to be made. | ||
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Post# 159654 , Reply# 23 11/21/2011 at 20:43 (4,532 days old) by bagintheback (Flagstaff, Arizona) |
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Used Sales
This is a very interesting topic. I am glad to hear some more vacuum store owner's opinions on used vacuum sales.
Other than what was brought up about selling a stranger's vacuum, I still can not find a reason NOT to sell a used, or seller refurbished, cleaner IF IT IS A HIGH-END BRAND. If you get a good Electrolux, Rainbow, Kirby or other high-quality brand, why not sell them? Of course you would not sell a used Bissell. I am also not asking vacuum stores to give me a sales pitch on a used vacuum. That would be bad business. If you have a used vacuum in good shape, why not sell it? Trebor says "People want ease of use, lightweight, and no maintenance, as well as indestructibility at low cost". That is exactly what a used Electrolux/Aerus offers. There is very little reason to not sell refurbished vacuums. -Nathaniel | ||
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Post# 159679 , Reply# 25 11/22/2011 at 00:51 (4,532 days old) by tolivac (Greenville,NC) |
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A customer that buys a quality used high end vacuum-just may return in the future to buy one of your "main" product line ones.Just remind the customer that you have a line of new machines to sell.Don't force though-the customer will spin on his heals and walk out-probably not to return. | ||
| Post# 159691 , Reply# 26 11/22/2011 at 05:03 (4,532 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa) | ||
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we do sell allot of rebuilt vacuums but it is a different market hereto you guys in the USA, mainly dysons & vorwerks but you do make more money off new machines in the end when you factor in labour &parts.
what toilvac said is also true , we have had a number of customers buy a rebuilt machine for there son or work and then comeback and buy a new one for themselves.
Every machine that comes in our shop for repair gets completely stripped down , steam cleaned polished and reassembled so the rebuilt ones follow the same route. we offer a 2 year guarantee on our rebuilt machines.
Our cheap tradeinns we send to the flee market and atleast recover the trade inn, Like scvacuumguy said it is not worth keeping cheap used vacuums on valuable floorspace and at one stage I just kept them in a storage room. the end of last year I decided to send them to a flee market, we cleaned them up made sure they were working ok and sent them down, I made just over $2000.00 in the weekend, not bad but in reality I think I just broke even on time labour and what we traded them in for.
Its not a money maker its money recovery.
If they are unrepairable we send them for recycling they make plastic posts and various other things from the plastic shells . Im not a fan of just dumping stuff i have kids I want them to grow up on a clean planet | ||
| Post# 159693 , Reply# 27 11/22/2011 at 07:02 (4,532 days old) by scvacuumguy (SC) | ||
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When you walk into a vacuum store, especially one with over 60 machines on display, nobody wants to see an additional 20 used vacuums.
I like to consider myself a good businessman, here is how we handle pricing and moving people up and down. The last thing I want to do is sell someone a "quality" used vacuum in the $150-300 price range. All that will do is cheapen my store, and cause someone not to be back in for 5+ years. My goal on new vacuum shoppers is to sell them the best vacuum they can afford. Our prices start at $69.99 and go all the way up to $1529. If you take uprights, for example, the "lower end" of uprights (under $300) would follow this pattern: $69.99 1 Unit $89.99 1 Unit $119.99 2 Units $199.99 4 Units $249.99 2 Units $299.99 3 Units $349.99 3 Units $399.99 2 Units Notice there are 18 units total in the "lower end." Those make up close to 1/3 of our collection of new vacuums. Each price point has a specific number of units so that we may step people up. Notice the $199 price point has 4 units- this is about the easiest low-end price point to sell because of the selection. We also stock sku's by features. So if you are looking for an upright that does carpet/bare floors, we offer everything from the Premium Radiance all the way down to the Hoover Bagless PET and the Hoover Bagged Pet. You can move down to the $119.99 machines for those who need that feature. If they want something a little better, you can move them up to the Hoover Air Max, or if they want a Royal, move them to the Royal Rewind. After the Royal Rewind, you would enter the Panasonic range, and then after Panasonics, you begin the Riccar Vibrance line. The biggest thing is to carry enough new stock so you can move people up down sideways, but never backwards. At the point that the customer only has $120 to spend, we do have a "new" vacuum to sell in their price range. We can also confidently tell the customer that they are getting the BEST $120 vacuum on the market. All vacuums are tested by us, by our friends, cleaning services, etc in order to find the best value for the money. We sell them the $120 vacuum, and also give them expectations. By selling them the best "new" vacuum that they can afford, we have left a good taste in their mouth. In 2-3 years when and if they can afford something nicer and more expensive, they will remember my store as somewhere that sold them the best new vacuum they could afford. Not as the store that pulled out some used vacuum cleaner. If we had sold them a higher-end used vacuum cleaner, they would not be available to come back into the store in 2-3 years to purchase another machine. The profit margin is hefty enough on the lower end vacuums that we pretty much make close to the same on a used vacuum. Like I have said, we do have the occasional customer who insists and asks directly if we have any used vacuums. We do have a back room with our trade ins, and I do not hesitate to sell a cheap stick for $40. We will never ever clog up our floors with that horrible looking stuff again. When people come in my store, I don't want them to see things they can get everywhere else. They need to see shiny new vacuums that they are not used to seeing in big box stores (ie: sanitaire, panasonic, riccar, royal- our main lines). | ||
| Post# 159695 , Reply# 28 11/22/2011 at 07:57 (4,532 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa) | ||
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I suppose thats the advantage of the owning a business in the USA. In Sa we are limited by brands, no royal , saintitare riccar ,simplicity panasonic is a cheap vacuum here , think kenmore.
Its very difficult here to own a vacuum store and do only new vacuums. miele dyson sebo are all the top end models that you get so if you can't afford them there is just this huge gap between entry level uprights and premium ones. Nothing in between.
There is a enfisis on Canister vacuums here but they do not have pn's . My clients want something to take care of there carpets so it has to be an upright.
To give you an idea ,
Eureka/electrolux 3200 series $133.00 bissel pet earasor $256.00
Dyson dc25 $565.00
then the miele s7 sebo and a few other dysons
That massive jump means plenty of market for a good rebuilt machine , but to be honest allot of the are shop soiled damaged box machines
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| Post# 159701 , Reply# 29 11/22/2011 at 08:39 (4,532 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa) | ||
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This is a dyson dc15 that we rebuilt,Please excuse the writing I had edited it for advertising purposes. The rebuilt ones have ther own stands aswell so it looks better , we offer a 2 year guarantee as well as 2 free Anual services on our rebuilt models. It keeps customers coming back to the store and that ay they will buy something else aswell.
The only hassle is that they look so good after been rebuilt many customers wondered why pay more for a new one. so we now always make sure that the rebuilt ones are of a different colour or spec to the new ones. That is a problem but I make the same profit off a new dyson as I do off a rebuilt one so it doesn't hurt me financialy at sale but it does hur new sales which inturn hurts overall turnover but untill there are more brands in SA there is not much I can do about it.
However , if I had the choice of brands like you guys do then I probibly wouldn't do rebuilts either , It just does not make sense if you have that many brands so I do understand why the shops stopped doing them. 
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| Post# 159828 , Reply# 31 11/23/2011 at 08:44 (4,531 days old) by scvacuumguy (SC) | ||
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| Post# 159867 , Reply# 32 11/23/2011 at 13:49 (4,530 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa) | ||
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Miele availability of parts is a bugger Oh so its a world wide problem then? Miele SA recently asked us if we would sell there vacuums in our store, we had been considering it, I bought a s7 upright to test out but when a supplier asks you then you have a bit of an advantage as far as getting what you want. One problem I have always had with Miele here in SA is that spares are not always available when you need them but then a hose costs about half the price of a new miele vacuum as-well. What are the spares prices like there? I do like the machines though and am glad they have asked | ||
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Post# 159930 , Reply# 34 11/23/2011 at 21:35 (4,530 days old) by bagintheback (Flagstaff, Arizona) |
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Lloyd (sarasvacshack)
What is it on the Riccars that seems to be built with low-quality? I have always thought of them as durable machines. My neighbor owns a Riccar 8000s series from the 90s that he uses to clean houses that he rents out. The plastic used is not the greatest but all the stress points are metal.
I am enjoying reading your opinion on this topic. You seem to have a good idea of what people want in a vacuum. | ||
| Post# 159980 , Reply# 35 11/24/2011 at 08:15 (4,530 days old) by scvacuumguy (SC) | ||
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They are very durable machines. You obviously have had absolute zero experience with the American Made canister from Simplicity and Riccar. I certainly hope you get to go by a real vacuum store who carries new brands like Riccar or Simplicity so you can check out the latest from Riccar.
There are a lot of new things coming out very soon that will shock you in terms of the Riccar product line. I can't wait to share it with everyone on here! | ||
| Post# 160054 , Reply# 36 11/24/2011 at 20:02 (4,529 days old) by fan-of-fans (USA) | ||
In my area I don't think we have vacuum shops anymore. I used to see a few but I think they all closed up. When I went to them they sometimes sold used vacuums. I remember one shop sold Riccar uprights and the Sanyo Transformax machines. I guess most people don't have their vacuums fixed anymore and buy a new one instead.
I'm sure the larger areas have the stores that sell Miele, etc, but not here. | ||
| Post# 160074 , Reply# 37 11/24/2011 at 23:48 (4,529 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa) | ||
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many yers ago we had vacuum repair shops at nearly every shopping centre. some sold new vacuums but nothing like how you guys have it. Trouble is Cape town is beautifull city and is very popular with wealthy internationals and movie stars , they all own houses here. the problem with that is it pushed the property market thru the roof, greedy landlords did the rest and many of these shops closed due to rent.
We now own the only Vacuum shop in the whole of SA that is not tied to one brand. Even we had to make a move a few years ago when rent got so out of hand in the shopping centres I could of been paying off a Ferrari for the amount of rent I was paying, No Jokes Its true for a medium sized shop. Thsts why we built on a shop at opur home and then extended further.
Its sad to think that many stores have closed due to bbs stores. Its changing here people are sick of the bad service you get at bbs stores but now we need to improve our range of vacuums and get more machines like Royal, and the tacony brand of vacuums here but importing here is an entirely other messy game | ||
| Post# 160102 , Reply# 39 11/25/2011 at 10:03 (4,529 days old) by scvacuumguy (SC) | ||
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Again, we have a full display room of many different brands. We carry all major brands except Miele. There is no loyalty, except what sells. I was simply updating you on some information concerning the American Made canisters. When I used to bo-jack used machines like you are doing, I was not up to date on the recent developments in the new vacuum world. I seriously doubt you will see many of the newest American made canisters in for awhile, unless you buy a load of trade-ins from a REALLY good Kirby dealer.
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| Post# 160103 , Reply# 40 11/25/2011 at 10:22 (4,529 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa) | ||
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| Post# 160127 , Reply# 43 11/25/2011 at 17:11 (4,528 days old) by lunchboxsean () | ||
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Well, we've talked about the new vacuum market, the used market, the repair market, and now the parts market. I tell my friends that I handle vacuum cleaners and they laugh at me. Look at all the great ways to make good money doing it!!! | ||
| Post# 160131 , Reply# 44 11/25/2011 at 17:20 (4,528 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa) | ||
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Kirbykid63
I must admit we do the same thing here with our Kirby and rainbow trade inns, especcially the g range of kirby's , While I like the look of both machines I won't resell its not my market, I rebuild the motors on the Kirby's , new bearings brushes and resell them , I turn enough of a profit just on selling the motor , the cords sell well aswell due to them been very expensive new, One of the Kirby branches in a city near the north of SA is one of my biggest clients, sentria Motors and cloth bag s & handles sell well for me too.
Rainbow is even better , there agency here is Nuts , a power hose on a SE will set you back $450.00, I trade rainbows in for about $20.00 I have a supplier who can sell me the hose ( no ends ) with the wire in it we then refit it onto the ends and sell it at $ 120.00 which is still alot but customers are happy with that rather. Nice thing is that the new hose we fit in is better quality so it lasts and we can make the hose longer two , we buy 20 m rolls at a time .
Breaking up a Kirby or rainbow will net me about 3 times the profit I would have made reselling it as a whole unit. its also faster to sell parts. people already have the machine they just need it working again | ||
| Post# 160132 , Reply# 45 11/25/2011 at 17:27 (4,528 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa) | ||
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Sean let your mates laugh , I started fixing and selling vacs while I was in school , working for Electrolux in my holidays too. all my mates laughed but in our last year we all got cars, they had old Toyota corrola's, Mazda and golfs , I bought a demo model Audi A4 2.8 quatro , they stopped laughing then | ||
| Post# 160135 , Reply# 47 11/25/2011 at 17:35 (4,528 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa) | ||
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| Post# 160142 , Reply# 48 11/25/2011 at 18:27 (4,528 days old) by kirbykid63 (Wilmington Delaware) | ||
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I rebuild kirby and electrolux motors I rebuild and sell kirby and electrolux motors,I also part out kenmore canisters and rainbows that I find or are sold to me from other pickers.I sell the whole G series motor and tech drive units refurbished and bench buffed to a nice shine. | ||
| Post# 160160 , Reply# 50 11/25/2011 at 22:47 (4,528 days old) by scvacuumguy (SC) | ||
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| Post# 160195 , Reply# 51 11/26/2011 at 09:31 (4,528 days old) by Blackheart (North Dakota) | ||
What about | ||
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