A Simple Breakdown To Maximize Salvaged Profit - Find The Value

I found this high end vacuum in a clear bag last Thursday out in the hold and had to alternate hands when carrying it back in the bitter cold. I didn't see anything wrong with it to understand why it was tossed, so it needed to be taken. It retails for just under $500 and I could easily sell it for $150 cash.

After letting it warm up when back, I tested it out and everything ran perfectly. Hmm. Why would someone have just let this go to waste?

I cleaned it up and started taking pictures for my cash listing. For my last picture, I flipped it over to take a shot of the brushroll on the bottom. Andddd, that's where I saw the issue I'd missed before. Stupid me for not noticing it sooner as this is a common issue with vacuums that have this type of part. The bottom hose that connects the powerhead to the main unit was ripped in half. These parts aren't expensive to replace, but they're often a pain to replace because you have to take a lot of the unit apart to do it. I bet this person got fed up and figured that it wasn't worth the hassle. If not, then they didn't realize that they could repair the part.

Regardless, I had a decision to make. Should I just put it back outside, or should I research what parts I could take from it to sell to pay myself for lugging it back in the cold? You know the answer.

As this wasn't a unit I'd found before, I had to do a little fiddling to take it apart. Taking apart other units like Mieles or Sharks are a breeze. This one was a little tricky. For this post, I timed myself from start to finish using only two screwdrivers.

Not too bad. It's 4:18 now and all the parts have already been posted for sale to keep the momentum going. I'm usually more efficient, but I also had a snack in-between and cleaned up.

Anyway, here was the damaged part:

And here are the 3 parts I extracted that will sell over the next 1-2 months. I could've taken a few more internal parts, but they weren't in that great of shape.

The parts should sell for about $85, $45 and $35 from left to right based on prior sales. Nothing amazing after shipping, but it's going to prevent 3 other people from tossing their vacuums like the one I got this from. That's the main idea.

In terms of revenue, that's $165 there. I likely would've been able to sell it for $150 cash, so I'm in the same ballpark before shipping and fees.

And, every pound counts.

Now, it's off to the curbs at 4:35 AM for a half-walk since I have a $200 cash pickup for a 49" tall antique mirror I recently found sitting on some garbage bags in the light snow. I sometimes like to take the commuting scooter I found outside on these shorter circuits, but don't have the energy for that now. Thankfully, it's only in the mid 30's now and not bone-chilling cold for the first night in a while.

When the markets are down and I want to buy in the red, going to sleep won't cut it.

Thanks for reading and supporting the cause.

Please reuse, repurpose, resell, recycle or donate.

@steemmatt