Kirby

marcusprit · Oct 24, 2014

Nothing wrong with high price? The Riccar impeccable in the US is retailing for $1500 yet the dealers cab buy them for $500. So that's a mark up of 200%. If a dealer offered to sell a Riccar to me for $1500 I'd tell him to shove it up his arse!

kirbymodel2c · Oct 24, 2014

I..

I see nothing wrong with higher price depending on what you get in return.

People say the same thing with SEBO or Dyson. I have customers say to me WHY should I spend £279 on a SEBO or £400 on a Dyson when I can spend £79 on a Vax,Panasonic etc.... You then have to explain to them the benefits which they will either believe or disagree with...

One of the reasons us small retailers are dying off is there can be very little money in new vacuums.

Unless I was selling them in high numbers which of course is very unlikely.

James

turbo500 · Oct 24, 2014

Weight is subjective

Whilst I agree to some extent that weight is subjective, obviously depending on the person, I don't think there is any argument in the world that, in relation to all other cleaners available, the Kirby would ever be considered lightweight. The tech drive may make it easier to use in operation, but to move from room to room without the techdrive engaged and to lift up and down stairs, not a chance. The thing is damn heavy! Nothing wrong with high price? Well, in the same way you believe weight to be subjective, so is price. What one person deems to be reasonable/affordable will not apply to everyone. But, in the grand scheme of the current vacuum market, the Kirby is over-priced. These days, people don't have thousands of pounds to spend on a vacuum. A new Kirby with the full kit would actually cost more than my monthly salary. No matter how good a machine is, I don't think that anybody can really justify spending over 65% MORE than the current TOL cleaner on offer (basing this on the Dyson DC41mk2 retailing at £400 on average, and the Kirby retailing at £1200 on average).

"I have customers say to me WHY should I spend £279 on a SEBO or £400 on a Dyson when I can spend £79 on a Vax,Panasonic etc.... You then have to explain to them the benefits which they will either believe or disagree with..."

But you're talking about spending well over £1000 for a vacuum. It's one thing to spend £279 on a vacuum - that amount of money is far more justified and easier to spend and indeed easier to get hold of. I wouldn't say it's uncommon for someone with an average wage to be able to spend that amount on a new vacuum, if they had to. But the Kirby could quite easilly swallow someone's whole monthly wage in 1 purchase.

marcusprit · Oct 24, 2014

Well there seems to be quite a bit of money in Riccar with a 200% mark up depending on how many you sell of course. I think Miele are the same over there too.
I believe the Wholesale price of a Kirby is around $550 Dollars?

turbo500 · Oct 24, 2014

We're not IN America, Marcus. We've already had the conversation about wages generally being higher for comparitive jobs in the US than they are here and the cost of living being generally lower (regional dependant, of course), hence it would be far more justified to spend a larger amount on something like a vacuum in the US. Plus, vacuums have always been more expensive on the other side of the atlantic compared with the UK/Europe.

marcusprit · Oct 24, 2014

I totally agree Turbo. We had a Kirby Ultimate G, my wife couldn't carry it up the stairs.Kirbys do last but so do Sebo's and Miele's.

But hey you pays your money and you takes your choice

My personal opinion is in the UK at least you don't need to spend more than £350, £400 tops to get a very good well built vacuum cleaner.

marcusprit · Oct 24, 2014

Yes but what i'm saying is the dealer can buy the Riccar for $500 but sells them for $1500. I'd say $800 would be a fair profit not a 200% mark up.

I'm sticking up for the buyer here

turbo500 · Oct 24, 2014

Sorry Marcus, I missunderstood what you meant.

marcusprit · Oct 24, 2014

No problem at all

If anyone is going to buy a Riccar make the dealer an offer of around $800 my guess is most would accept

dysonman1 · Oct 24, 2014

If you think Riccar dealers actually get $1500 for a vacuum, think again. There's ALWAYS a trade-in. Always free bags and filters. The general population just won't spend that kind of money without an in-home demonstration that makes them feel filthy enough to spend the money. That's why door to door vacuums ($1500 and over) are financed.

It's obvious that almost none of you have ever actually sold vacuum cleaners door to door for a living. Offering more than one choice of Kirby (small head, large head, etc.) is impractical. In many instances, the salesman is dropped off from the van carrying up to ten salesmen - knocked into a house by the van manager, who has to demo until the manager gets back to close the sale. It's all about the close. That's why the van manager will use every tool in the book. It's not at all about the vacuum, it's about closing the sale.

I see thousands of people every year at the Vacuum Cleaner Museum. An extremely small number come in looking to buy a vacuum. After talking to thousands of people, I've NEVER met one Kirby owner who shopped for the machine. I've also never met even ONE who would buy another Kirby after having owned one. The only good thing about a current Kirby owner (they ALL feel cheated by the salesman) is the fact that I can sell them an 8 pound Freedom without any problem. It's like going from a horse to a car.

kirbymodel2c · Oct 24, 2014

Hi, The weight of the Sentria II isn't that bad actually. Wheeling around the house in neutral is easy enough.

As I said paying over a £1000 for a vac that will last 30 years and preform better than most esp when you consider the amount people invest in their homes is fine. I get people coming in who are on the 3rd Dyson in 14 years.

So someone who paid £700 for a Kirby in 1988 has got their money out of it.

I also disagree that Miele last as long as they use too. I see quite a few coming in with burnt out motors and PCBs. Once they go there not worth repairing.They wanted to charge me £138+vat for the motor (The Miele in the pic)

I had two Sebo Felix pets in last week. One with a burnt out suction motor which hasn't been repaired and the 2nd just need the cord rewiring. My suppliers has had quite a few DC41s and DC50s come in with burnt out motors and other issues. 

When you can still get spare parts for a Kirbys 30/40/50 years old adds to their value when compared to Vax for example who can make parts for some of their machines obsolete within a few years.

I had a lady who came in a good 6 months ago who wanted a hose for her £95 Samsung she had which was only just out of guarantee. The hose for that was £44.95. They know she won't get the hose and just pop off to buy the next machine they've shipped over.

James

P.S We never used the van system over here. We used the appointment system.

And yes we have had people pop in to buy a new Kirbys. Not in big numbers but it did happen.

Also there are customers who choose to have another Kirby after owning another.

marcusprit · Oct 24, 2014

Yes I can imagine

nycwriter · Oct 24, 2014

Well ...

"But you're talking about spending well over £1000 for a vacuum. It's one thing to spend £279 on a vacuum - that amount of money is far more justified and easier to spend and indeed easier to get hold of. I wouldn't say it's uncommon for someone with an average wage to be able to spend that amount on a new vacuum, if they had to. But the Kirby could quite easilly swallow someone's whole monthly wage in 1 purchase."

Again, that depends on your idea of "justified" -- and how big your budget is.

As has been pointed out time and again, A $2000 purchase for a vacuum that lasts 40 years is far wiser than paying $500 for a new Dyson every 4 years (just do the math). That's regardless of how big your monthly wage is.

It's that age-old dilemma: pay me now, or pay me later. And typically those who cheap out on the front end typically pay multiples more in the long run in just about everything in life.

turbo500 · Oct 24, 2014

far wiser than paying $500 for a new Dyson

That entirely depends.

For starters, it's not uncommon for a Dyson to last. I mean, you only have to look at home many DC01's are still around and they're nearing 20 years old now. Although admittedly, they require more maintenance than Kirby (something I find VERY annoying) and most people don't bother, but it is entirely possible to make them last.

Secondly, a family with 3 kids who's X vacuum has gone to vacuum heaven are not going to have £1000 - £2000 just conveniently lying around to be able to spend on a vacuum, at least not over here anyway. It's not always feasible to spend a large amount there and then on a product that will last and often more convenient for a family to spend less more often, especially these days. Having the absolute best vacuum is not a lot of people's concern. Having a vacuum that picks the crap up off the floor is the main priority. If it looks clean, it is clean. We know that to be not always the case, but Mr. and Mrs. Blogs and there 3 kids usually don't care, in my experience.

sptyks · Oct 24, 2014

The Kirby distributer near me....

Does not use the door to door method. They use the appointment system and it works very well. I know this because my Daughter in law used to be the appointment setter. She would make calls to people in affluent neighborhoods and ask them if they would like a free carpet shampoo, then she would make the appointment for a demo. A sale is made for approximatley one in every 4 to 5 appointments she would set. This system works better because the potential buyer is expecting someone to come to their home at a convienient time for a demo.

turbo500 · Oct 24, 2014

<h2>"This system works better because the potential buyer is expecting someone to come to their home at a convienient time for a demo."</h2>
No. The CUSTOMER is expecting someone to come to their home at a convenient time for a FREE CARPET SHAMPOO, not an intense sales push. That's exactly how my parents AND in laws ended up with a Kirby salesman in their house who wouldn't leave.

Incidentally, my in laws already have a Kirby and were contacted because they had a "loyality reward" of a free carpet clean. When the guy arrived to do it, he had the Sentria 2 with him and went through the usual sales push after cleaning HALF of 1 room and refusing to do anymore until my MIL bought a new one. Needless to say, the salesman got the boot.

kirbymodel2c · Oct 24, 2014

We...

said you get a free complementary carpet shampoo (1 room) all we ask for is you take a look at what the machine can do so when your ready for a new vacuum you can keep us in mind also if your impressed with what we show you pass us on to family and friends. Getting referrals was a important part so even if that customer didn't buy their friends etc might. Also it helps keep the sales people friendlier as your more likely to pass on more referrals if their nice. Demos was suppose to last between 1 and a half and 2 hours depending on what questions you got asked and how well you knew the demo. You didn't want to be there much longer as you normally had another demo booked after and you would have to travel to that.


Same goes for sales. People buy from people they like. Their are some A*******s in Kirby as there are in any sales force be it Rainbow,Tristar,Filter queen or even window,fascia board, or car sales people. But you can't tar everyone with the same brush. Also bad news travels faster than good. 

I was told at my job at Tesco when I went to college. If your bad to one customer they tell 10 people how horrible you are. If your nice to them they might tell one or two people if you lucky.

James

marcusprit · Oct 24, 2014

Yes that is true. I'm self employed so I bend over backwards to keep my customers happy.

vintagerepairer · Oct 24, 2014

James

I thank you for the reply to mine. I knew only of Vorwerk and even then did not know they were sold door-to-door. I knew of people who had purchased them at private meetings and parties etc, but not on the knocker, so thank you for this information.

I cannot deny that Kirby is robust and cleans well. But lets say I buy one for £1500. Is it going to last as long as 6 cleaners which cost £250? One Dyson for £250 comes with a 5-year guarentee, so assuming this offer continues, the Kirby would need to last around 20 years, if I allow for inflation. I have nothing against any brand, but it's not a done-deal to simply say the Kirby will last longer.

Interestingly, in my shop I always sold cheap cylinder cleaners. Back in the day they would have been refurbished 2nd hand models, but as time progressed they became cheap imports. Anyway, I do recall several people telling me they were buying one of my cheap cylinders to supplement a Kirby as they found attaching and using the tools rather troublesome. Good news for me as the retailer of course, but ironic too I thought that one spends all that money on a Kirby and then finds out they really need something else as well.

kirbymodel2c · Oct 24, 2014

Hi

Benny, I take your point but yes a Kirby will quite often see a 20 to 30 years.

If you look on Ebay for Kirby Legend IIs(1989-1992 in the UK) there are about 14 compared to lets say Hoover Turbopowers from the same kind of time there are 1. Or the Electrolux dolphins...again none. Well except one new in box.

Again this isn't definitive but does show what is tending to survive/last. And when you take in to account they sold more of these vacuums than the Kirby's you would of expected more of the Hoover TP1s etc to be around than there is..

Also take in to account that allot of manufacturers tend not to supply body parts for allot older machines.

Some only after few years old. Dyson don't supply any spares for their DC01/02.(Well except belts because later models share them.)Better than some manufacturers granted. But still you see where I'm going.

James

Kirby

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