Door to door vacuum cleaner salesman

Daniel Moore

Daniel Moore

Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Messages
2,790
I've been doing odd jobs this summer, but I need to start seriously saving up for college. I went for an interview last Thursday for a job at Kirby as a vacuum cleaner demonstrator/salesman. :D

Basically, I go to houses who signed up for demos and try to close them on one of Kirby's overpriced aluminum gadgets. I have to act out a ridiculous script, and it's going to be hard to avoid going along with Kirby's somewhat shady tactics of deception while still making sales.

The good news is, I make $525 a week for 15 1.5/2 hour appointments whether I sell anything or not . If I make a higher number on commission, I can take that instead. It's going to be 40 hours at the least a week with driving and meetings at the store. If I use my own car, I'll be compensated for $.45 or so a mile.

So I've been offered the job, and I'll only be there until school starts again if I take it. Thoughts? Would you go for it or not?
 
2 hr appts at that rate/# equate to ~13 an hour. Is 40 hours realistic given transit time? Also, will they pro-rate your appts or is 535 guaranteed, regardless of number?
 
You used the words "deceptive" and "shady tactics" when referring to your perspective employer. That said, maybe there's something they're not telling YOU. Do you really want to work for a company that you can't trust ? That's a lot of money for something that seems so easy. Don't seem right to me.

Maybe you're wrong about Kirby, though. Maybe they make fantastic vacuum cleaners that are well worth the money. Have you researched the company and product, or are you merely telling us your impressions?
 
Kirby vacuums?... better bring your hernia truss gettin them bad boys in and out of your vehicle. :p
 
I once had to use a Kirby at a job. Total piece of crap. It was ridiculously heavy and didn't vacuum very well either. At the time, I had no idea those damned things were sold for up to $1500. For $1500, you could hire a maid to vacuum your house every week for a year, and I am pretty sure they bring their own vacuum.

We got sick of it and replaced it with a $79 Eureka, which worked great. Compared to that fat-assed Kirby, it was like waving a magic feather and making the dirt disappear. I assume a Kirby is supposed to be durable, but you could throw out a $79 vacuum every 60 days and buy a new one and it would still be cheaper. But that wasn't necessary because the Eureka lasted at least 2 years, which was longer than I did.

So I guess that means you shouldn't buy a Kirby; I don't know if you shouldn't sell them. Normally I would say you shouldn't get a job selling a ripoff product, but this gets into the gray area where I wonder how bad of a deal something has to be before people are responsible for saying "no." If you offer to sell someone a really yummy apple for $20 and they buy it, it's just idiot tax.

It's that risk of getting screwed by Kirby I would worry about. Maybe you are supposed to realize that this type of cutco-like "job" is a bad idea, and Kirby is planning on collecting idiot tax from you.
 
NeedleRemorse said:
The good news is, I make $525 a week for 15 1.5/2 hour appointments whether I sell anything or not . If I make a higher number on commission, I can take that instead. It's going to be 40 hours at the least a week with driving and meetings at the store. If I use my own car, I'll be compensated for $.45 or so a mile.
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Did you get that in writing?

No way are you going to get paid $525/wk for not selling. Someone lied to you.
 
No way are you going to get paid $525/wk for not selling. Someone lied to you.
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Sounds like BS to me too. That's $13/hr for a 40 hr week, about twice as much as construction laborers get paid around here.
Or maybe they make you work 120 hrs/week? Then you're getting about $4/hr, which is less than minimum wage.

Either way, it sounds fishy.

And with today's gas prices, insurance, auto maintainence, and vehicle depreciation 45 cents a mile won't go far, especially in stop-and-go city traffic.

Personally I think you'll do better trying to get a job that's 'honest', that pays in real dollars, and that's constructive or beneficial in some way. Work at a pizza place, begin learning a trade, work at summer camp...

-Bob
 
Thanks for re-affirming my suspicions, guys. I have a very bad feeling about the job, but there's not much by way of hiring going on for people who can only work until labor day. I think the scam is that it's somehow not possible to make all 15 appointments, hence I'll miss one, not sell anything, and get paid zilch.
 
but there's not much by way of hiring going on for people who can only work until labor day.
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You should check with the local temp service. They can probably hook you up with something. I've also gotten a few short-term jobs, like manning a security gate, by telling them I'd work until they found someone who wanted the job full-time.

It's perhaps too late now, but summer camp jobs are a lot of fun. Don't usually pay much, but since they provide room and board and there are no expenses involved (like commuting or buying special clothes), all of the pay is take-home profit. Plus it gets you away from the house for the summer.

Good Luck,
-Bob
 
A lot of it depends on how good of a salesman you are, I think. I had a friend growing up who was making good money selling Kirby vacs, around double the 525 you mentioned. He was a little shady himself though, so maybe he just fit right in.
 
If you've got your own car, then what I've had great experience with is... don't laugh... delivering pizzas.
It's got all the perks of working foodservice- namely getting to eat the mistakes (:p) and a wage plus tips (which is CASH, and not taxed as thoroughly as your hourly rate).
But none of the drawbacks- dealing with lousy coworkers, getting filthy, stinking of food every night. Most of your shift is spent cruising around in your vehicle. What the heck could be better than that? I mean, really.
I easily cleared $10/hr just about every night, even on weeknights, even in a poor town full of lousy tippers, with a HUGE territory (30 min one way), in a poorly-run store where the food was always late.

When I delivered in Ft Worth, TX, in a nice, clean, middle-class part of town, with a small territory, working for managers who got the food made on time, so I could deliver it on time... I made Big Bucks.

And lots of places will hire you for just a little while.

Give it a thought :thumbup:

Mike
 
But none of the drawbacks
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I delivered papers for a while a long time ago, I quit when I realized the they were not paying me enough for the assumed risk of having to cover the cost of car repairs should there be an accident, or car wear and tear. Check your insurance, I don't believe normal car insurance covers you and your car when you're using your car as a delivery vehicle.
 
As long as you're selling something that's overpriced, why don't you look into Cutco? I'm sure you're more interested in knives than vacuums. :)
 
I think Mr. Orick has cornered the market on vacuum cleaners these days, but I wouldn't rule out trying that job for a couple of weeks if you don't have to invest anything but your time. Hell, you can always quit and go elsewhere. Like somebody else said, delivering pizzas pays pretty well for somebody that hustles, and it comes highly recommended by that captivating financial guru on the radio. Just be sure you aren't going to go into any dangerous neighborhoods. Around here there are certain areas the pizza delivery people won't go, no matter how loudly somebody screams "RACIST." Maybe the best temporary job a youngster can get is slinging packages for UPS just before Christmas. You might want to consider putting in your application now and go back regularly to show your interest and persistance. Persistance, appearance, manners, and confidence, in that order.
 
To do good at ANY job you have to embrace it. Already you are suspicious of the very product you will need to convince people is a good deal. You cannot convince them unless you really want to, and have an attitude that disarms their suspicions and will make them WANT to purchase an overpriced item.

Direct marketing schemes are only successful to a very few individuals, and my hunch is that you aren't one of them..... ;)

Coop
 
NeedleRemorse said:
Thanks for re-affirming my suspicions, guys. I have a very bad feeling about the job, but there's not much by way of hiring going on for people who can only work until labor day.
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You are hired "at will" -- which means either you or the employer can terminate your employment at any time without notice.

I would advise against pizza delivery or fast food -- and you would probably not be treated well by a temp agency, especially if you were doing something other than clerical work.

Waiting tables isn't so bad if it's a decent establishment -- and they expect rapid turnover. Or, you could work at a video store -- they never seem to get robbed, and the new guy just restocks and straightens the DVDs, which is low stress.
 
Direct selling is faux pas. I thought door 2 door vaccume salesmen went out with Black and White TV when people became desensitised from DIY kit and DIY religion and pollsters.

Still I take my hat off to those who can make the sale.
 
I called this morning and said I was no longer interested, and his attitude about it and the way he kept pushing me to explain why after I had already done it in the most civil way I could think of really validated my suspicion that I wasn't going to have a good time with this job.

I worked at a video store for almost a year. It was a privately owned small store with an owner who hired morons for employees (except myself, of course, and a couple others). By the end, all but one of the non-morons other than myself had quit, and the other non-moron was more than likely stealing movies. The owner accused all of the employees instead of trying to find out who it really was, so I just quit out of aggravation. I think the hemorrhaging of movies came from the aforementioned employee taking movies and not returning them and the moron employees not locking DVD cases and having them stolen, but I had nothing but suspicions that she too should have had. She was too lazy to ever check the two security cameras that were recording the front desk :rolleyes:
 
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