Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

I would like to throw this question out........

If you are not a vacuum enthusiast or professional in the business.

What would you pay for a vacuum cleaner[please disregard being sold by high pressure sales or hyped promotional advertising]

$5.00, $ 20.00, $ 150.00, etc. I'M trying to see how the public in general sees this industry..........

Thanks

MOLE

Hi Venson, the market sets the prices, Your Kirby was bought at less than 50 lot wholesale from kirby,that was a great price you got,although its not very uncommon now,a lot of distributors are bailing out and just selling their inventory for WHAT THEY CAN GET, A  lot of manufactures and dealers are having FIRE SALES,if you have the CASH, they will bend to your price,if not someone else will,

As you may have heard the dtd brands cant even get people financed because all the credit lending companies are either bust or dont do business with them anymore,all the lifelines have been cut off.

Times are a changing,back to the way business use to be done,no more smoke and mirror shows.

MOLE

What I am about to say will not answer your price question Venson but you do have to consider into the price by dealers the cost to do business, rent, hold inventory, gas &amp; elec. maintain a service dept etc and the willingness to take risk in starting a business. Capitalism offers those who take risk the right to reward.... from the company that invests into research and development, the workeres in the plant to, Distributors and Retailers. <BR><BR>If your going by the rule of cut and dry of course your vacuum seems overpriced but there is much more behind it. In a new world of the impersonal internet we take things for granted WAY TOO MUCH.<BR>Just my opinion of course.

HARDSELL wrote:

Hello HARDSELL:

I'm not anti-dyson.  I bought one [unlike you].  I was anti dyson shills who hawked/hyped dysons and bashed all other brands on Forums for months before dyson launched in the USA [Kudos to MOLE who got it right away].  Now, dyson shills are useless.  Most are long gone.  Still a few lurking.  Why?  Dyson has a legacy now:  Big box store venue; fair to middling performance; spiffy colors; false and exaggerated claims; exorbitant prices; refurbs galore; and a host of copy cat competition just as good for less. 

I got the pun my friend but you still missed the point.  Big box stores are fine for vacuums that cost $200/less and customers who know what they want.  If you enjoy a business challenge and have some real money to spend you are better served by shopping/buying at the independent vacuum stores.  You'll get your money's worth.  Any one can buy at a big box store.  It takes an educated business person to buy at a vacuum store.  Of course you have to be up for the challenge of seller/buyer negotiations [hemorroids, as you say].   You obviously aren't. 

Carmine D.

Hi Venson et al.

There isn't a simple pat answer on same brand wholesale prices fro independent vacuum stores.  Cost to the dealers vary depending on a alot of different factors working together simultaneously, like models, quantities and promotions.  

Brand selling prices among the independent vacuum stores vary too depending on the factors that Lucky1 and MOLE talk about.  Wholesale pricing is irrelevant for buyers doing business with independent vacuum stores.  Why?  They have no bearing on your actions to get the best deal you can on the vacuum you want. 

My advice is shop around.  Find a store owner/operator/location where you would like to do business [word of mouth helps].  Then get informed and know the products well.  Consumer Reports is an excellent source and starting place for vacuum shoppers.  Never ever feel you should buy UNLESS you are confident you made the best deal you can on the vacuum you want.   

Carmine D.

Lucky1 wrote:
Hi Lucky1,

Thanks for your reply.  I am not asking that vendors sell merchandise with no mark-up.  I thoroughly understand the cost of overhead and having to pay salaries plus all the other things that end up eating up money and that all must be reflected in the pricing of merchandise.  I simply want an idea of pricing to help in deciding where to buy from -- namely vendors whose pricing leans more toward fair as opposed to what the market will bear.

The plight of vendors -- especially independent ones does not escape me.  However, consumers have their own special  plight  which no one appears to be concerned about -- being able to buy what they need.  In such cases, informed shoppers are  prepared to do the work start looking for ways to save.  By way of the internet, we can now bettter investigate quality and price. 

As an instance, I've been looking for new tires.  I did some searching and investigating and decided on a tire with a good rep that should well suit my needs.  (Like vaccuums, everybody has his favorite tire too.) However, price was as much as an issue s quality.  Between lowest price and highest, the range is about $70.00 per tire.  I have solved the problem.  I am buying the tires I've chosen online and will chuck them into the back of my car and have them installed by a small but reputable shop in my community (instead of a big commercial entity) where they will be properly mounted and balanced for far less the price offered by the big kids.  AND even with shipping cost included I will aquire the tires at a better price.

I'm not asking for goods at next to nothing.  All I want is a decent price.

Venson

Hello Venson:

Do you know the age of the tires you are buying on-line?  Did you factor that age issue into your buy decision?  With the slowdown in the economy and auto sales, tire sales are way off.  Shelf life of unsold tires is increasing drastically.  In some cases by many years.  These old in stock tires have risks associated with their use that tire customers may not know and/or are not told by retailers.  Especially with on-line tire purchases where you can't see the tires to see the dates they were made.

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:

I see you watched that tire story also.  Slow auto sales should actually cycle auto parts inventory at a faster pace.  Keeping a car longer means more repairs and replacement parts.

What % of the consumers do you think have ever looked at the date on a tire?  Better yet, what % even knows it exists or where to find it?

Venson wrote:

Venson,  be sure that the small shop has had a profitable week and do not have the tires installed on a late Saturday evening.  Otherwise you could become a victim of higher prices if the dealer shares Carmine's business ethics.  Of course any reputable dealer would make it up to you by always giving you free air for your tires.

HARDSELL wrote:
Hi Hardsell,

Tires are also moving because of some municipalities' failure to maintain their roads and highways and that matter will probably worsen as cities and towns all across the country begin to cry poverty.  The new tires are being bought because the Brooklyn Queens Expressway and streets in more bereft parts of Jersey City have been left unattended despite all the work crews you see and assume are "doing something."  Whatever they did, they never got around to fixing the pothole that caused a dent in the inner lip of a wheel rim that caused the flat that I discovered the next morning.

New York, Jersey City -- assumed relatively financially better parts civilization.  Hmm . . . Istanbul was better kept.  I might as well be riding a buckboard here.  Anyway . . .

I took the car to my local over-priced garage who can do everything except fix a wheel rim OR recommend a local shop that could.  ($75.00 per hour for prolonged yet minimal labor.) BUT -- they were more than ready to sell me a new one.  Of course I said, I don't think so. 

As I'd already found a very compentent and affordable mechanical genius for maintenace there (you don't go to him he comes to you), I went straight back to Craig's list found a place out in Farmingdale and the wheel is now fixed as good as new.  It certainly was a job done affordably and well and my budget is not battered.  However, I was cautioned to used the old tire only as a spare for short use as the sidewall strength appeared to be compromised.  The owner of the establishment that fixed the wheel does not sell tires so there was absolutely nothing in it for him whether I buy no tires or ten.

I haven't owned a car since a long while before this one so I'm learning lesson by lesson but a lot of the stories are still the same as before.  One such is that you can't buy one tire in a case like this.  You buy two or all four.  Safety is a big concern and as I have no desire to kill myself (yet) or anyone else for that matter, I'm getting new tires.

My car also had decent suspension until road conditons, not devil may care driving, have upped my maintenance expenses.  Worst of all there's no way to be more careful.  In this reat city there are lanes and lanes of highway peppered with potholes and asphalt patches that make it feel like you're riding over a washboard.

Mechanics and auto parts sellers are going to be doing booming business in my neck of the woods for sure. My only recourse is to either buy as carefully and smartly as affordably possible or give the darn car away.

Venson

Hello HARDSELL:

No, can't say I saw the story you speak of.  I raised the issue for Venson because of a personal experience related by a friend who bought 4 new tires for his 2005 Acura MDX recently before making a cross country road trip with his grand daughter for the Holidays.  He got several quotes from tire retailers with large price fluctuations.  Turned out the cheapest quote, when he went to buy the tires and have installed, were the oldest.  He decided against them.  He's a retired auto mechanic who owned and operated his own business in Connecticut for many years.  Now owned and operated by his son.  Tires, brakes and wheel alignment.  He shared his story with me so I passed along. 

BTW, air, if you can find pumps nowadays at stations, is no longer free.  If you use nitrogen in your tires, like I do, filling can cost you anywhere from $25 to $100 for 4 tires.    Getting it free from the vendor is a customer benefit!

Carmine D.