Testing the waters

[justjunque]

Hi all,

I find myself in a similar situation as some other members have recently experienced.
I'm out of room, and have more vacuums than I can responsibly care for.
Realistically, I should be liquidating most of my collection. However, this is very frightening, uncharted territory for me.
For one thing, I'm definitely not able to ship anything. And, I know there aren't many other members in my neck of the woods. So, that's going to make things more difficult.
I'm thinking; take a look at my collection, which is listed on my profile page.
If there's something you're interested in, and you'd be able to pick it up in person, send me a PM. I'm more likely to see that than an e-mail.
There are definitely some that I'm going to want to hang onto for a while. For example, I'm going to keep the Electrolux/Aerus machines for now.
I'm sorry if this is an inconvenient way to go about it. But, it's taking me way outside of my "comfort zone" just to even write this post. I've never sold off any part of any collection before.
I did sell a couple of my cars a few years ago, but that was different somehow. Plus, someone else handled the sales for me.
Thank you for understanding.

Barry

 

[panasonicvac]

Sorry to see them go, if I lived closer I'd definitely take some of your machines. Usually when I shorten my collection, I'd focus by getting rid of ones that are my least favorite, broken, or aren't rare that I could easily find again.

 

[justjunque]

Thanks, Alex.
Yeah. I'm kind of alone over here.
I'm definitely not looking to get rich off of this stuff. I'll be fair with pricing. I just understand that there's not many other members nearby, and I can't ship. So, this may not end up going anywhere.

 

[real1shep]

MA as in Massachusetts?? Holy cow, you couldn't be any further from me...lol. I live in WA state.

Wished I was closer....you have a wish for metal body Electrolux tanks. I have them back to the 'G' unrestored. I bought a whole collection of Electrolux parts and vacs from a dealer who had been in the business for 45 years.

I'm going through it all this summer and organize it to some extent. I'd list it for sale but the members want you to pack up stuff and do everything....and it better be perfect for little money. The guy I bought the collection from tried to sell it here in Vintage. They broke him of that desire and he was reasonable too. So now I have it all.

Kevin

 

[justjunque]

Hi Kevin.
Yup...that's the "MA". Nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live here. Unfortunately...I'm stuck here.
I've acquired one metal Electrolux, probably a couple of years ago. It's an Automatic E.
It's just the tank itself, and needs a complete restoration.
I get what you're saying about selling stuff. It really needs to be cash and carry, in person.
I shipped a vacuum one time, and I have no interest in doing it again. Especially, now that I'm dealing with mental and physical health problems.
I probably won't end up selling anything. So, if I'm ever going to thin the herd, and make a little more room around here, I'll probably just end up donating some, here and there, to thrift stores or something.
Sure, I'll lose everything that I've invested into them. But, I'm overcrowded and overwhelmed at this point.
We'll see what happens.
Thank you for your post!

Barry

 

[paul]

Barry,

I'm sorry to hear about your mental and physical health issues—that must be tough.

Just wanted to suggest that you do some research on any donations to thrift stores beforehand. I made some donations some time ago without doing checking into the store's policy and never saw the cleaners for sale—so presumably they were just pitched.

I talked with someone at a different thrift store, who relayed that their store typically ends up tossing 60% of its donations for various reasons; one of them being that they want to avoid the image of an antiques store.

 

[dysonman1]

Hi Barry:
I understand. I too am just starting to get comfortable with letting go of a lifetime collection. I'm at retirement age and want to go in a different direction. I've collected vacuums for almost 55 years, have over 600 of them, mostly very rare machines in excellent shape, with their advertisements and owners manuals.

Like you, I don't want to ship. eBay is horrible. You wind up making almost nothing when it's all said and done. Finding boxes and packing materials is a real hassle. People can always say it arrived damaged, even if it didn't, due to buyer's remorse. No thanks. I want my machines to go to someone who actually will take care of them.

I have three years to make this happen. Dispose of my collection as well as my retail store. I'm at retirement age, and don't want to turn a screwdriver anymore.

Good luck with disposing of some of your collection. Hope they all go to people who will enjoy them.

 

[vacmadman]

Reluctant

I too am thinking about selling off many in my collection or collections, Vacuums, ventriloquist dummies, and comic books. I'm very reluctant to sell on eBay due to the tax laws on items sold there. If you make more then $600.00 a year, you are required to pay capital gains tax on the items you sell. It's turned into a lose, lose, situation.

Jim