Kirby Vacuum

[Taxman10]

Not to hijack the home parties thread, but have you have had a salesman cold call you or show up at your house to sell you something?

My wife got a cold call last week from someone who was offering to do a free carpet cleaning. She said "sure why not?"

The salesperson showed up the next night at 6 and stayed until almost 9!! Showing us the amazing Kirby Vacuum (which we never heard of??) Finally, after cleaning the carpets at 8:15, she showed us the price - $1800!! We both just laughed and laughed. But then she told me she could make the payments affordable if the price was too high!!

**rolling eyes**

I told her that her selling price and my purchase price were about $1700 apart, and I didn't think we'd reconcile.

[kimber45]

Not to hijack the home parties thread, but have you have had a salesman cold call you or show up at your house to sell you something?



Read more: www.notmsnmoney.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=finance&action=display&thread=3872#ixzz1EtNEG9Da

yes, not Kirby vacuums, but aerial photos of our property, meat, educational materials for children (DS is 24), cleaning products, you name it.

I usually let my Rottie and German Shepherd do the talking.

[schildi]

Kimber, why do you include a link back to this page right here ("Read more ...")

[illinicheme]

Feb 24, 2011 11:03:24 GMT -5 schildi said:

Kimber, why do you include a link back to this page right here ("Read more ...")

If you copy text and paste it into your reply rather than clicking the "quote" button, the forum automatically adds that link.

[Deleted]

DH (DBF at the time) took a call from Kirby and scheduled an appointment for Friday evening -- when he'd be at bowling alley!!
The girl was very nice and vacuumed the couch even after I told her there was no way in H-E-double hockey sticks that I would spend that much $$ on a vacuum.

[schildi]

Feb 24, 2011 11:05:31 GMT -5 @illinicheme said:

Feb 24, 2011 11:03:24 GMT -5 schildi said:

Kimber, why do you include a link back to this page right here ("Read more ...")

If you copy text and paste it into your reply rather than clicking the "quote" button, the forum automatically adds that link.

Oh, thanks.

[kimber45]

For some reason, I do not have the "quote" button. I used to when this board started, but for some reason it disappeared . I also don't have any emoticons.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Kirby Vacuum is the source of mysterious ads in the paper for "Call this number, make lots of money!". DH's BIL fell into the trap when he was 18. He sold one vacuum cleaner. .. to his mother.

[Sum Dum Gai]

I sold them for a bit as a teen. It was a pretty fun job really. I wouldn't buy one though, they're ridiculously overpriced. We were selling the G5 at $2k. $400 of that went to me, another $600 went to my boss who was the local manager. I know the regional officer got a cut too. If they'd drop the whole door to door MLM nonsense, they could sell the things profitably at around $1,000 which is still a lot but somewhat comparable to Dyson's and other higher end vacuums. Kirby's really are very good. They're built like tanks and last forever.

[Anne_in_VA]

My Mom had a Kirby when I was a kid. It looked kind of like a spaceship, but it was built like a tank and she had it for many years.

I didn't know they were that expensive. DH used to sell the Rainbow vacuum cleaners and we still have one. I don't like it since you have to put water in the container and empty it out when you're done - it always seems to make a mess when I empty it so I don't use it but it does clean really well.

[Angel!]

I didn't know they were that expensive.

They're not that expensive. That is the price they first tell you, but if you talk to them a bit you can actually get it for somewhere between $600-$800. Then people get all excited & buy it because they are getting such a good deal. Many don't stop to realize they are still spending $800 on a vacuum, but instead they focus on the fact they are "saving" $1000 & how can you pass up a deal like that.

[Sum Dum Gai]

For $600-800 I would buy one in a heartbeat. I took a lot of 20+ year old working Kirby's in as trade ins. Those things really are practically bullet proof. Think about how many $150 vacuums you're going to buy over the next 15-20 years anyway. Ours never last longer than say 5 years, and they spend the last two of those barely working.

Usually they only discount down to maybe $1,500 though, and that's too much. Or at least, that's all the discount we would do when I was selling them. It's been over a decade though, so they might be cheaper now.

[Sum Dum Gai]

Oh and my own personal rant. Like I said earlier for each full price vacuum I sold at $2k I would get $400 and my boss would get $600. When we took $500 off the price, $350 came out of my commission, and only $150 came from my bosses. It was total bull.

[sesfw]

Mom had a Kirby when I was a young teen and I thought it was too heavy then. I still think they are too heavy and too expensive. The last portable vacumn I had was a Hoover that my MIL had and we used for many years after she passed.

Right now I have central vac and it's the only way to go.

[kansasflower]

Love, love, love my kirby vacuum/carpet cleaner. With three pets, the carpet cleaner is used at least twice a week. Replace the belt every other year and replace the $20 plastic container that holds the water every 3 years and it is good to go.

[queenofcorona]

My mom is on her second Kirby in something like 30 years. I was so disappointed when she gave her first one to my brother & SIL (opted not to do the trade-in), because yes it is heavy and unwieldy, but they darn sure last forever and keep their suction. I still can't see shelling out that much, but I would love to have a good vacuum. My next one will probably be a dyson - I wish Kirby would sell for $500ish.

[2kids10horses]

It looks like you can get one for 300-400 on ebay.

[sunflower64]

Funny - I got a Kirby. Couldn't believe the price, but it came down after I said no quite a few times. I do like it for the pets and it replaced like 3 or 4 vaccuums I had laying around the house. The thing I don't like - is how heavy it is carrying it from 1st floor to 2nd floor. I've been tempted to buy a Hoover again to keep on the 2nd/3rd floor.

[Taxman10]

Feb 24, 2011 23:44:56 GMT -5 2kids10horses said:

It looks like you can get one for 300-400 on ebay.

Yeah - i saw that too.

The sales girl said she could go down to $1500 - that was the lowest (this was after we had already made it perfectly clear we wouldn't be buying at any price)

Her commission was 1/2 of everything over $1200, so at $1500, she'd get $150.

It seemed like a tough gig to sell, she was doing it for 6 weeks. The first few weeks, she was doing door-to-door, traveling around in a van. That sounded horrible.

[Angel!]

Feb 24, 2011 19:00:12 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

Usually they only discount down to maybe $1,500 though, and that's too much. Or at least, that's all the discount we would do when I was selling them. It's been over a decade though, so they might be cheaper now.

I had a friend who supposedly just bought one for $600, but she could have been lying on the price.

DH & I bought one about 4 years ago right after we moved in together for $800. It was a big misunderstanding though, we were watching the sales demonstration & we each thought the other really wanted the vacuum, so we decided to buy it with each of us thinking we were making the other person happy.

After they left we starting talking & realized neither of us had really thought the vacuum was worth $800 (don't get me wrong, they are good vacuums, I just have better things to do with $800 at this point in my life). Went through hell returning the thing, but got our money back, so we were happy.

We also decided we would never buy stuff without having a private conversation & some time to think about it in the future because the whole thing was ridiculous.

[The Home 6]

DH, back when he was DBF, bought me a Kirby vacuum cleaner after the guy knocked on my door. In retrospect, I don't know if I should have been of the mindset that "aww, he spent so much money on me before we were married" or "Man, this guy sure knows how to waste money!"

I still have the vacuum, but it is HELL trying to take off the front of it to put the hose on. You posters with the Kirbys know what I mean. I always manage to jack it up.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

I know Kirby's are great and versatile vacuums, but you can buy a Dyson vacuum (the best I've ever had) and a shampooer for less than half the price.

[8 Bit WWBG]

...:::"Think about how many $150 vacuums you're going to buy over the next 15-20 years anyway.":::...

This is one of the lines I used to convince myself to spring for the tempur-pedic. I'm glad the warranty lasts the 20 years they swear the mattress will last.

...:::"Ours never last longer than say 5 years, and they spend the last two of those barely working.":::...

Agreed. Stuff is made to be disposable these days, which is a darn shame. Although I understand that some things simply cost almost as much to fix as to replace, I'd think a vacuum is not one of them.

...:::"so we decided to buy it with each of us thinking we were making the other person happy. ":::...

A professor at my university published this theory as "the Abilene paradox" and has a whole story about going to Abilene purely on the basis of making someone else happy

Dysons always seem to have quality issues too. My parents had one, and it performed far worse than my $150 kenmore.

[schildi]

We bought a Dyson for $220 at Costco. It works fine. If it works good for say 5 years, I am perfectly happy with it. It sure looks cool, all yellow.