I was in a supplier today and there was a skip full of these (photo attached). 

The guys on the counter seem to think they are Electrolux after-market handles that are no longer in demand. The hose end had a thread in that a hose could be wound into. 

They could just be stuff from China that was made wrong. 

I have shot the MD an email asking what they are and why they are there. I *may* get an answer before the scrap man comes and takes the skip if he is in the country. 

If anyone recognises them, do holler. I can maybe save some before they go for scrap if of any use. 

The comment about China referenced where such stuff is manufactured. If something gets made wrong, colour, design, etc. One does not send it back. One puts them in the skip. 

I just heard back from the owner of said items. He said they were for Australian machines similar to Electrolux, and are about twenty years old. I guess he has had them long enough so they are going. 

One of the lads on the counter bagged me a handful before they went. I've got about ten. 

If any of you chaps want one, you only need cover the postage. I am happy to pass them on to folk who want one as a one off. 

Use the link to shoot me a mail if you want one. 

Back in my retail days we would often find boxes upon boxes of obsolete spares while stocktaking, which had been ordered over-enthusiastically long ago by previous staff members. We knew they were never going to sell anytime soon, and were only taking up valuable space in the warehouse (not to mention the time and staff resources spent on inventory control), so we struck up a deal with a local vac shop owner. He was in a better position to sell such items and would buy them from us at a reduced price. This meant we could at least claw some of the money back, instead of writing off the entire value. Had we hung onto them for five or ten years, even he wouldn't want them and we'd have ended up fully depreciating the entire lot. 

As Spiraclean says, we get stuff from one of the after-market manufacturers in a similar way. We have a bunch of Kirby flexes that were made in the wrong colour (they are lavender so we use them on Dysons with lavender fittings), we had a load of Oreck brush rolls a while back that were all black instead of with red bristles, and we have a slew of purple Dyson stair tools that are really cheap as I took about 500 of them and made them into a cheap offer. 

We have the mechanism to sell odd stuff like that - they don't so easily. 

Similarly, we have stuff like Vax filters that are full of dust because nobody comes in a Dyson shop for Vax filters. Why the girl ordered them is anyones guess. 

Had these been Dyson-related bent ends, they would have offered them to us before they saw the skip. 

I just don't like to walk past a skip full of swag........ 

OBSOLESCENCE . It how company makes money they cant make parts for old machines for ever . They don't care about collectors its your job to stock up on parts while they are available. Company's would go out of business catering to a few vacuum collectors.

Dan is correct above as well.

We were selling armatures for DC01 YDK motors for ages, then suddenly one day without warning they were no longer available. When I asked the question, it turned out there was only us buying them. They ran out - no cause to order more. 

I can get them if I buy 1000 of them. For 1000 they will make a production run. But we would sell two or three a week, so that 1000 would take a decade to shift. And on that basis, they are gone. 

I don't remember what they cost, but lets say four quid each. Do I want to be the guy who sunk four grand into DC01 armatures that will take a decade to shift? It is simple economics that creates obsolescence.