The $1,249 Vacuum Cleaner
September 22, 2010Recently, our vacuum cleaner broke. Now normally when something like this happens I like to take it apart and find the broken piece, replace it, and keep using it. Well, let’s just say this vacuum is beyond the point of no return. But this presents us with an interesting dilemma. You see, this is not going to be the first time that we are replacing the vacuum. We don’t seem to have very good luck with vacuums, and by my count, we are on at least vacuum #3. So that would mean we are replacing a vacuum about once every five years. Now I don’t know the life expectancy of the typical vacuum cleaner, but that seems a little frequent to me. So I plan to take a different approach to the vacuum buying process this go around.
My plan is simple – pay more money for a better vacuum. After all, all of the previous vacuums were bought at major discount general merchandise stores, and we usually went with a model that seemed like it had all of the features we were looking for, but not much more. Using this approach, we ended up with a machine that would seem to run well for a year or two, but then just slowly deteriorate until I was tired of putting it back together. So today I visited a vacuum store – that’s right, a store that only sells vacuums and vacuum accessories. I honestly didn’t even know such a place existed (accept for the big sign that said ‘Vacuum Store’), but the store owner has been in business for 23 years and, when it came to vacuums, that was pretty much all he did. So today I received an education in vacuum cleaners. I won’t bore you with the details, but let’s just say there is a lot more to the vacuum cleaner then I really ever cared to know. But this brings me to the main point: like many things in life, when it comes to buying a vacuum cleaner, you often get what you pay for, and up until now I wasn’t ready to pay much, and that’s exactly what I feel like I have been getting. Today I was introduced to what has to be the Rolex of vacuum cleaners, and it had the price tag to go with it: $1,249! Are you kidding me? I don’t expect to pay that much over my lifetime in vacuums, let alone in one day. But wait a second. I’ve never been one to shy away from spending a little more for a quality piece of equipment, so why should buying a vacuum cleaner be any different?
Faced with this difficult situation, I turned to the expert: my wife Susan. Although I’ve been known to sweep a rug or two, let’s not kid ourselves, she’s the one who takes care of business. Armed with brochures, I took my case to Susan. I was prepared to argue in favor of a more expensive vacuum, and for some crazy reason, I thought she would actually appreciate such a gesture. She was grateful at the thought, but very skeptical of the value. I’ve often heard that price is an issue in the absence of value, and since value is basically what you get for what you pay, what I was trying to do was convince my wife that there was something about this higher quality vacuum cleaner that made it worth over $1,000 more than a standard vacuum cleaner. Truthfully, there are many differences between the standard vacuum and the higher priced model, but that doesn’t necessarily make it a better value. Value is also subjective. Being able to control the level of suction between the floor and the drapes is a cool feature, but not very valuable if you don’t regularly clean the drapes with a vacuum cleaner.
In the end, my wife’s logic will prevail. She would rather pay $150 every five years for a standard model, than pay $1,249 for a machine that has a bunch of cool features she’d probably never use. Sure, it’ll last 30 years, but what would I do with all the time I don’t spend fixing the vacuum cleaner?