Hoover Model 700

[heinzelmann-hh]

Dear fellow collectors,
perhaps someone can help me with my problem:
I would like to buy a Hoover Model 700 with attachments on Ebay. But there is a huge problem to get it shipped at reasonable costs from the US to Germany where I am living.
Main reason for the exorbitant shipping costs (the best offer I could find are more than 600 $) are the dimensions of the package (52 x 17 x 24 inches), the seller told me. But I think these sizes (especially the length) are only because he wants to pack the whole machine in one piece.
But I think if he would disassemble the handle it should be possible to pack the item in a smaller package which would reduce the shipping costs dramatically.
As I haven't seen or handled one of these machines in person I don't know if or how this would be possible.
Therefore I would be grateful for any advice that could help.
Kind regards,
Torsten Spangehl

 

[hoover300]

It is possible. One bolt and a wing nut will undo the handle. Would be cheapest to send handle in its own tube like box. If you need any help getting one let me know, I’ve bought proxy for people in Canada and Germany before.

 

[heinzelmann-hh]

Hello Hoover 300,
and thank you for the advice. I just thought that there should be a way to remove the handle for transport or service reasons. And if I‘m right this little black plastic knob in the middle of the down side of the handle fork one can see is a plug that connects the motor cable with the cable that comes from the main switch an goes through the handle tube. Right? So it should be quite easy to disassemble the handle unless any screws or contacts of the plug are corroded and wouldn’t come of easily.
Concerning the proxy purchase - that would of course be very helpful. I should have known that before when I bought my Kirby Classic III with the help of a forwarding agency. It worked perfectly and I‘m very happy with the machine but the service had cost me a fortune.
How do you manage that usually?

 

[hoover300]

Yes - with the removal of the bolt the handle and plug should come right out. The handle is still long, but can now fit in its own slim box. This would also reduce risk of breakages as less leverage with the handle removed for it to break the fork.

I have never used a forwarding agency but in the future I will need to in order to buy from certain countries. Yes I have heard they are very expensive. In the past, either I or the buyer purchases the product(depending how expensive it is), use my address as the shipping address, I receive it, and prep and ship to the destination for an extra $20 for the packing and whatnot. Sellers here don't always pack items well and my shipping record has been clean since I started selling vacs 6 years ago.

If you don't want to do that I totally understand. Just thought I'd offer, I know getting foreign vacs can be a royal pain especially with shipping.

 

[heinzelmann-hh]

Thank you for the explanation concerning the handle.
Your offer sounds interesting. Perhaps we should discuss this further via email.