Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Shark is going after the Dyson Ball pretty hard with the Navigator product.  It claims no loss of suction and claims its just as easy to maneuver as the Dyson Ball.  After acknowledging Dyson as the first to offer no loss of suction, they go for the throat.  They do a direct comparison to a Dyson Ball and state that they are equal in all ways (easy to maneuver, no loss of suction, 5 year warranty) but price.  For less than $200 you can get a Shark Navigator with a free steam cleaner thrown in to boot. 

CarmineD wrote:

Thanks Carmine.  I'm glad to learn that good AND affordable competition is out there and, even better, buyers are speaking well of it.

Best,

Venson

Venson wrote:

Hello Venson:

If I were still in the vacuum business, I'd carry and sell the Shark Navigator specifically for customers solely interested in a bagless upright.  It meets/beats the TOL big box store bagless brand.  Even if I didn't make any money on the Shark-Navigator sales, I'd keep bagless vacuum customer clientele.

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:

Shark makes the worst products in the Vacuum business. I'd most certainly carry Dyson over ANYTHING shark.

Lucky1 wrote:

What's happening with the Shark Infinity uprights?  With their introduction, I was thinking Shark might be trying to clean up its act.  You can only go for so long hawking disposables despite a cheap price.  Shoppers, even the low-end ones, have better expectations and don't forget brand names when they feel they've been duped.  The company can't be unaware of its bad rep in past and though I don't have great expectations of its execs, I'd think it must know, despite the nicer pricing, that people do remember. 

The past Euro-Pro/Shark lightweight  models I've owned all got chucked due to short-lived filters which were expensive to replace.  I haven't really used one long term but think since these models new are relying on cyclonics and not the pleatyed filters as a mainstay as earlier models did, I'd suspect they've a better chance.

Venson

Lucky1 wrote:

If dyson offered a bagless upright with the same features and warranty [5 years] as the Shark Navigator for $150-$200, I'd carry and sell too for bagless vacuum customers.  Unfortunately, dyson is and always has been too expensive for most vacuum buyers who for the same dyson prices have much better options than dyson offerings at independent vacuum cleaner stores.

Carmine D.

Here is the Vax V-045 Widetrack sold in the UK from 2003. I had one and it was lousy. Horrible noise and hose that you had to attach permanently to the back of the handle and a mesh covered over a paper pleated cone filter. Years later I was shocked when I discovered a tarted up model that Euro Shark sell called the Infinity NV. Now of course several years after that the next one up in the line up uses a slightly different body and guess what, the TTi inspired "no loss of suction filters." Ive a feeling that Euro-Shark are using TTi but don't quote me, for their ranges.

Howdy all,

Just got back from browsing Costco.  The Shark's Navigator is there and priced at $150 which is just 5 bucks more than the store is asking for the rechargeable Hoover Platinum stick vac.  The Oreck combo -- upright and its portable vac -- is marked for $250.  The Dyson DC14, which hasn't been on the shelves for a while, is back and tagged at $400.

Venson

Venson wrote:

Hello venson:

If the $400 pricetag doesn't come down to $300, these old and discontinued DC14 models will merely collect dust and never sell.  In large part, the reason these dyson dinosaurs are still around new and for sale.

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:

Hi Carmine,

You know, I sort of stood there in Costco counting backwards on my fingers -- DC28, and so on and so on -- and got to thinking, why hasn't this model been turned over to Overstock.com even though they have plenty already.  There is such a thing as moving on.  From a consumer's perspective, these oldies almost negate the worth of the later Ball models I'm expected to be impressed by.  Again, business-wise, it seems oddly another "shoot yourself in the foot" example.

Is it up to Costco or Dyson to do the right thing by getting discontinued models off store shelves?

Venson

Venson wrote:

Hi Venson:

It's up to dyson but the problem is that these dysons came to light in the end of year inventory conducted by COSTCO.  They were warehoused and forgotten due to a conspicuous lack of sales in COSTCO stores and replaced with better vacuum movers.  Now, COSTCO has to do something with them to move them out.  Forget dyson MAP.  Doesn't apply to them.  If these dysons don't sell at $400, and we know they won't, they will continually get reduced in price until they do.  Does two for one sound enticing?  Just to take a page from toyota's latest sales strategy.

Carmine D.