Ultra Premium vacuum pricing... wtf filter queen?

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godfreys_guy

godfreys_guy

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Messages
169
Location
Melbourne, Australia
$3398 USD, holy mackerel!

What is it that justifies this extreme price - the MSRP for a kirby is something like $1400 USD isn't it?

I have a filter queen and it's a nice vacuum - but my rainbow e2 black and av avalir would both be much closer in worth to that if I was to buy new. In Australia the RRP for the Kirby package is around $3500 (varies with each dealer), and the rainbow is around $4000.

Please fill me in on some pricing from your country!

Here for used vacs -
Rainbow e2 around $1000-1500
Kirby Avalir - $500 - 1500
Filter Queen - $300 - 500
Sauber Intelligence (Aerus G Platinum) - $400-$800
 
Actually...

Here in the States, new Kirby pricing starts at about the same level as that Filter Queen. You're actually doing pretty good to get them down to $1,400, and some even manage to get them under $1,000. The price is always negotiable, it just comes down to you outlasting the salesperson. Still too much, IMHO, which is why I only buy used ones. You can get a gently-used Avalir with attachments and Rug Renovator for around $400 all day long. Heck, I saw an Avalir in said condition on Facebook Marketplace for just under $300! Decent Rainbows are usually around $300-$400. Used Filter Queens are usually $300 or less, from the few I've seen for sale locally.
 
I paid $5 for a Filter Queen at Goodwill a couple of years ago and spent another $40 or $50 to fix it up. Even that was too much for what I ended up with. I've long maintained that manufacturers like Kirby and Filter Queen are largely competing against their own used products. I mean, why the hell would anyone pay four figures for a new Kirby Avalir when a used one in great condition can be had for a tenth the price--or less. My absolutely pristine Sentria, for which I paid $110, is functionally identical to the latest Avalir 2. For that price, I'll take a gray and orange color scheme over black and blue in a heartbeat.
 
I saw a Kirby ANNIVERSARY model at a thrift shop

for $20.00 !!!!!! and..............on the shelf NEXT to it were the tools... for $12.00 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I told the man who was purchasing the whole thing "what it was". He was doing a "happy dance". It all was in mint condition. I was amazed....not enough to buy it, but, still amazed nonetheless.
 
I've had the kirby guy down to $350 for a brand new Sentria! He was desperate... And I'm sure the cost is a bit closer to $450 now as this was 10 or so years ago.
 
These door-to-door companies are pricing themselves right out of business. They keep getting more expensive with every model. It's ludicrous. I remember when a new Electrolux (now Aerus) was $700. Now the top of the line model is $2,000 or more. Rainbow has always been one of the most expensive. A friend bought one for $1,500 back years ago. Now it's $4,000. My Mom bought a new Kirby G5 in 1999 for $1,100. They have been known to go as high as $2,000 or $3,000.

They are getting ludicrous.
 
in 2005 when I still had my store I had a Kirby man come to my store to sell me a new Kirby Diamond Edition. I really wanted the vacuum but not at $2000.
He was desperate to make a few sales that weekend. The deal he worked out was I bought mine with everything for $900 and a second one with everything for $450.
I then resold the one I pd $450 in my store for $600.
I still can't believe he came into my VACUUM store to sell ME a Kirby
Then later I found out my sister also bought one from him for $700

The was not the only time a Kirby salesman came to my store. Sometime after that another Kirby man came in because he wanted to work out a deal with me where he would take all of my older models and he would buff them like new and sell them as "last years model" for $800
I said I was not interested because it was dishonest. We are talking Heritage and G3 models in 2005 being sold as "last years model".
I said my machines are marked with my prices and if you want them you pay me my price and I don't care what you do with them after they leave my shop.
He picked out 2 models and while I was writing up the ticket he said well there's a lot of boxes and things here so I will get started hauling it out to the van. I said ok sure. Stupid me he carried the 2 vacs and left the boxes of attachments. He sped away with my vacuums and I'm standing there going WOW I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING. I called police because I had the man's name. They said I could not prove anything. I then called Kirby of Wichita where he worked and they told me sorry but he was the best salesman they had for the past 20 years and I could not prove anything.
A year later in my town He was shot in the shoulder by an old man who caught him breaking into their home at night to steal the new Kirby he had just sold him.
While he was in PRISON Kirby signed a work release and he was able to go out and still work for Kirby a few afternoons a week. WTF and this man STILL works for Kirby.
His name. Duncan Ellis.
 
The Kirby salesman that came to my house and sold my mother a Kirby Ultimate G (they must have called it that because of the price) for $2,000, he sat in the living room to do the demo and him and my mother got drunk together and he was there about 6 hours.

He left and we had a shiny overpriced cleaner (still have it today).

Later met him again when he had a new job selling butcher-cut steaks and beef for a meat packing company door-to-door. Mother again bought from him there too. I guess he later got fired from that job because he had boxes of meat missing he gave away for free that he couldn't account for.

Last heard of him doing karaoke in a dive bar on week nights. He was a nice guy, but he picked a crappy line of work.

I also heard from someone that did door to door Kirby sales last year that Kirby only pays you IF you sell a vacuum. They do not pay you anything until you sell a vacuum. You're basically working for free, with your own car and gas money and on your own time, and they only pay you a certain percentage of your sales commission every 2 weeks.

If you get kicked out of a demo and don't make a sale, you don't get any money. This is why Kirby salesmen get so pushy and aggressive when told "no", and the crazy ones will do drastic things like trying to kick your door down or threaten you or something like that. Also there have been scammers too that show up with empty Kirby boxes they find in the trash to pose as salesmen to get in your house and once they do, they rob you.

Kirby is a great company and their vacuums are great, but they need to lose that door to door sales business. It's about 20 years behind the times and people buy on Amazon or in a shop these days, not off someone's doorstep.

That door to door sales is going to end up running the company's name into the ground with bad PR and people will just switch to Dyson.
 
price of Rainbow

Paying $4000 is ridiculous, I got mine for much less than that, although if someone was looking for a water machine, I would suggest looking at the Sirena or Quantum, these machines are just as good if not better than a Rainbow and sell for a quarter of the price. I agree that the door to door sales thing is a dying breed, if companies like Aerus, Rexair and Kirby want to survive they are going to have to make some changes or they will be out of business.
Mike
 
I thought all door to door brands only paid if you make the sale.
When I sold for Aerus and Tri-Star for a very short time I did not make a penny unless I made a sale and even then I did not make a penny unless it sold for above a certain amount. If I recall the cut off was like $1000. If it sold for under $1,000 then the money only went to the manager because that is just recovering the cost of the unit. (not true by the way) They only cost the distributor like $400
 
Back to the topic - I can't see why anyone would pay $2,000+ for a vacuum. I can however see why you'd pay $1,000 new. I just don't believe that a Kirby (leaving aside how you can get them down or get a used one much cheaper) or Aerus or (Laugh) Filter Queen is 2x better than a Sebo D4 or Felix - or an Oreck set.

It's not that I won't pay up, it's that I won't pay up for a luxury tax that's out of this world. Of the "super vacuums" the only one I think is worth a darn has to be Kirby, and as previously said, get a used one that's refurbed for $300 or often like $100 at a vacuum store or get one and pay to fix it up for around that total price. Kirbys are good, but they haven't changed in decades for functionality according to Youtubers anyway.
 

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