I Need Help Rescuing A Rare Royal Vacuum From St Louis, MO (Please!!!)

ubergreenguru · Jun 21, 2022

Hello VacuumLand!

 

My name is Justin and I am a 33 year old vacuum cleaner collector from Kankakee, IL -- My collection currently consists of 2x Royal Uprights, over 30x Royal Prince M501 & M5000 Hand Vacuums, 4x Oreck XL Uprights, 2x Oreck Pro 5 canister vacuums (One modified to have wheels), and a Hoover Porta Power canister vacuum.

 

If you've seen my previous posts on the VL forums, you've probably noticed I'm quite fond of my Royal Prince hand vacuums - and it would be safe to say that I'm absolutely *obsessed* with Royal Vacuum Cleaners in general... and have been ever since I was a child growing up in the 1990's.

 

My current predicament is this:

While browsing FB Marketplace, I recently stumbled across one of the evasive "Unicorn" Royal models that I've long been searching for, a Royal 1048 Upright. -- The seller has the vacuum listed for a mere $25 and is located near St. Louis, MO.

 

I have contacted the seller and chatted with her extensively about the vacuum cleaner, during which I have tried to negotiate a deal with her to purchase the vacuum & have it shipped from St. Louis, MO to Kankakee, IL. -- I have offered her rather generous sums of money to purchase the vacuum and compensate her for shipping (up to 5x asking price for vacuum + shipping costs covered in full) in an effort to make it worth her time & trouble to package & ship the vacuum.

 

In chatting with the seller (very nice lady indeed!) she revealed that her baby daughter suffers from hydrocephalus & epileptic seizures - and as a result, requires full-time care. -- She explained that she would be totally be willing to ship the vacuum, but due to circumstances, is unable to leave the house to run errands or go somewhere to ship the vacuum cleaner.

 

I don't currently have a car, so I'm unable to make the journey to St. Louis, MO to pick the vacuum up myself -- and with gas prices the way they are, my roommate (understandably) isn't willing to drive me almost 300 miles to pick up a vacuum cleaner listed on FB Marketplace.

 

 

So! With that said... I NEED YOUR HELP, VACUUMLAND!

 

Is there anyone in the St. Louis, Missouri area that is willing to help me procure this Royal vacuum cleaner? --- I need someone who can meet the seller in person to pick up the vacuum cleaner... then package it & ship it to Kankakee, IL.

 

I would reimburse you for the cost of the vacuum cleaner ($25) + all packaging & shipping related costs (~$60). --- On top of that, I would pay you an additional sum of no less than $75 for your time & trouble.

 

 

If there's anyone here on VacuumLand who's able & willing to help me bring this Royal 1048 home to my collection, please contact me here on VacuumLand or via the following methods:

 

E-Mail: Justin (DOT) Rubner (@) Gmail (DOT) Com

-or-

Call/Text: SIX THREE ZERO - FOUR FOUR ZERO - THREE SIX NINE THREE

 

 

I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to read my "help wanted" thread!

 

Please let me know if you (or anyone you know) might be able to help me in my efforts to rescue this Royal from St. Louis!

 

 

Thank You Very, Very Much!!

 

Sincerely,

Justin in Chicago, IL

 

 

Moderators: Please move this to the appropriate section of VacuumLand if I have posted this in the incorrect sub forum.

kirbyclassiciii · Jun 21, 2022

Justin,

Good as this 1048 is, the one rare Royal I really want to find, other than the 3-501 Prince commercial hand vac that you're also after, is the 311 commercial straight-suction cleaner, which since 1955 was Royal's only straight-suction upright cleaner until its own discontinuation in 1985.

I do wish you luck in trying to save this machine, though.

~Ben

huskyvacs · Jun 22, 2022

Sounds like a fishy story to me on the part of the seller. Sounds like they do not want to ship the vacuum and just invented a story rather than saying they won't do it.

The #1 rule of Craigslist/Facebook/etc. sales is to never do the sale at your own house due to risk of robbery, mugging, scamming, etc. If they can't leave the house to sell something and the level of care is that extreme they shouldn't have put it up for sale because they have no way to leave the house or any time to do any kind of online sales. And of course let me guess they have no relatives that would do it for them either right.

I'd pass on this one and wait for another one to pop up.

There's one here from a year ago in Pinehurst you can see if they still have

https://tinyurl.com/bde3td8t

dysonman1 · Jun 22, 2022

Where in St. Louis is the seller? I have lots of St. Louis friends.

gottahaveahoove · Jun 22, 2022

Justin,

I hope you're able to get that machine, OR another. It does sound "odd". I've had a few run -ins with not so admirable sellers too. Often times, people say one thing. Then, it either never happens or you get ripped off.
I hope this ends well for you.
Perhaps there is a VCCC member near there who can assist you.
Let us know.
John

royalsuper · Jun 22, 2022

Hi justin !I managed to bring a ROYAL dating from 1917 from vancouver to france ! the seller said pick up only !! I offered him double the price for the vacuum cleaner ,and then he shipped off the old royal vacuum cleaner with the help of the company he works for . I had no guarantees! I was lucky

dysonman1 · Jun 22, 2022

The VCCC members in St. Louis are on their way to a convention where they'll be brining me back samples of the swill and rocks.

I'll be happy to help with the machine. Just let me know where the seller lives.

gottahaveahoove · Jun 22, 2022

We were told that

everyone was coming to PA. Everyone was going to Ohio to a big sale. But, nope. That, I believe, is called a lie in most circles. But, Justin, I truly hope you are able to get your vacuum. It's great to get a machine you've wanted for so long.

ubergreenguru · Jun 23, 2022

Thank you all for your replies!

Thank you all so much! - I honestly didn't think I'd receive so many responses so quickly!

But yeah... like you guys are saying, I honestly don't know if her story is true or not - but regardless of the details, she made it rather clear to me that she wasn't willing to ship the vacuum.

I spoke with the seller yesterday & she confirmed that the vacuum is indeed still available - as long as I'm able to find a way to pick it up.

As far as location, the seller lives near the "Webster Groves" area of St. Louis, MO.

Thanks Again VL! You guys friggin ROCK!

ubergreenguru · Jun 23, 2022

If there's anyone here on VacuumLand who's able & willing to help me bring this Royal 1048 home to my collection, please let me know!

I would reimburse you for the cost of the vacuum cleaner ($25) + all packaging & shipping related costs (~$60). --- On top of that, I would pay you an additional sum of no less than $75 for your time & trouble.

You can contact me here on VacuumLand or via the following methods:

E-Mail: Justin (DOT) Rubner (@) Gmail (DOT) Com

-or-

Call/Text: SIX THREE ZERO - FOUR FOUR ZERO - THREE SIX NINE THREE

ubergreenguru · Jun 24, 2022

Thank you Huskyvacs!

I messaged the seller who has the other Royal 1048 listed & will wait and see if it happens to still be available.

Thank for the tip!

rowdy141 · Jun 27, 2022

Here in the UK we have sellers on a similar site to Craigslist, called Gumtree. Its an eBay-owned spin-off.

Sellers sometimes offer remarkable items, at attractive prices, but will never manage to complete the deal, no matter how hard you try.

I've offered to pay for post and packing, or to collect, or to send my courier who'll collect it then pack it, meet at a coffee shop...

I think some "sellers" just like the attention they attract. Sitting there on the sofa anonymously, receiving messages, or enjoying the sport of fishing. Seeing who'll bite. Wanting to be part of something but having nothing to contribute. A cry for help.

They tend not to know anything about what they're listing. Only having pictures they gleaned from elsewhere.
Walk away. Consider it non-existent.

rowdy141 · Jun 27, 2022

Rosie on Gumtree.UK is "selling" her Singer K900 Sewing Machine today.
I tried to contact her - nothing concrete. Another hoarder who wants others to admire items they never intend to part with.
She won't list her telephone No.
No direct email
No address
She won't call
and she takes 13 hours to reply by email, whilst avoiding answering all the simple questions.

How much is the attachment?
How much for you to post it?
Can I arrange to view the machine?
Is it running?
Do you have the manual?

Its today's equivalent of that guy down the pub. The one who might have what you're looking for, if you buy him a pint and make him feel special for twenty minutes.

ubergreenguru · Jun 28, 2022

HuskyVacs, I owe you one!

I would like to extend a *MASSIVE* Thank You to HuskyVacs for tipping me off to another Royal 1048 available for sale on FB Marketplace!

Not only is this Royal 1048 in as-good-or-better condition than the one I was originally trying to procure from St. Louis -- But this time the seller was *much* friendlier and I was able to successfully negotiate a deal to purchase the vacuum & have it shipped from Idaho to Chicago!!

It's obviously a dirty from storage, but it appears to be in pretty darn condition. - With a little bit of elbow grease & some TLC I do believe she'll polish up nicely!

So, Mission Accomplished! I will soon be the owner of a Royal Model 1048!

Shout out to HuskyVacs! - I couldn't have done it without you![this post was last edited: 6/28/2022-01:57]

kirbyclassiciii · Jun 28, 2022

UberGreenGuru

Justin,

I do thank him for helping you save this one! And I do hope it will actually arrive at your doorstep.

~Ben

huskyvacs · Jun 28, 2022

Awesome, glad to hear the seller still had it! Good luck and hope it reaches you in good time!

I Need Help Rescuing A Rare Royal Vacuum From St Louis, MO (Please!!!)

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