myvacsrock - there is no reason to be that sensitive about something so trivial. There was nothing at all posted to get that riled up about. Who was anyone supposed to know it was you selling it? We ain't psychic. Of course, now we know because you brought it up. But if you get this agitated over someone pointing out flaws in your eBay auctions - and rightfully so for that price - how do you function in public? Imagine if your boss calls you into the office and talks to you and points out your flaws in job performance - how would that go? Imagine selling a house and the buyer calls in a home inspector to look it over, and finds numerous flaws with it and tells the buyers not to buy it - would you kick them out? A buyer has every right to inspect and pick apart an item they see and look for flaws with it and to test the seller, to make sure they are on the level and nothing is amiss. Keep your composure and address their critiques.
electrolux137 is 100% right on this one. You are portraying this vacuum as being "Absolutely stunning and restored" and "This machine functions exactly as it should!" which is not true. The video clearly shows it slipping and sliding across that carpeting more than it is being pushed, and it is not spinning up smoothly and has a worrying amount of rattle. At several instances in the video you can see it lurching jerkily as it is being pushed, which is the gear cog slipping and skipping teeth. From what I can see, the rubber is missing off the wheels, and who knows if the tension spring and wind up mechanism is still good - was that addressed and lubricated after 100 years? On this "Restored" vacuum? If no, then it has not been restored and cannot be claimed as such. Just polishing something is not restoring it. A vacuum being "restored" is something like chicagomike does, where everything is taken apart down to the last screw and washer, and precision cleaned, lubricated, and reassembled. Including the motor down to the windings. Nothing missing, skipped over, or left broken. In that same breath, a classic car can not be sold as "restored" when its all pretty and cleaned up freshly repainted and layered in Simoniz but the engine is locked up solid and it doesn't run. Notice the Vacuette that sold previously, it had the rubber on its wheels still (which was not cracked or flat spotted so far as I can tell). It was all intact and original.
When listing something, before listing it, do all the homework you can on it, make sure what you are selling is complete and intact and if there is anyhting you have a concern about or believe is missing - state this in the auction. Make the buyer aware of it so they know what to expect. Also - no eBay item should ever be posted "as a joke". eBay is a serious business platform. If you are selling it - sell it. It's not OfferUp or Mercari or whatever people use now where they can just list something, take the money, then decide if they want to ship it or not. As a buyer of eBay items - I get sick of people that list things "as a joke" that I am serious about buying and then have them cancel the sale because of some trivial reason. If I bought that vacuum and found out the rubber tires were missing and the spring tension was gone, on something advertised as "fully restored", I'd be properly cross. I was cross when I bought a Concept Two, and the seller said it "worked perfectly". I paid over $100 for it, but when I got it I found out that the transmission was shot, and the cord had a short at the end of the plug that almost electrocuted me when I grabbed it to unplug it. I at least got half a refund out of it - another one for the project pile.
PS: What something is being bid up to and going for - or final sells for - does not mean that is what it is worth. People bid on things just to say they won it, and they also use bot accounts to drive bids up and then they will never pay for it at all. It will get relisted again, and the process repeats until the seller gets tired of the games and stops listing it altogether and it gets pawned off to an antique store or Goodwill box. I recommend that for high dollar items like this, if you see it sold for that price, wait about 1 month after it sells, then contact the seller about it, and ask them if the buyer actually paid for it and completed the sale. I would not be at all surprised if they said "no". Nobody is attacking anyone here - just being truthful and pointing things out. If someone is paying over a grand for an antique vacuum, they have every right to critique it.