Refurbishing/fixing knackered appliances
Discussion
It occured to me while browsing Facebook and the like at how quickly a cheap second hand washing machine or dyson sells. These are often mega expensive when new and when something simple goes wrong, or they get old, they're just chucked away.
If you could source some broken or old examples, clean them up, sort any problems fairly easily with a couple of cheap parts I think it could be reasonably easy to turn them around quickly.
1 free knackered washing machine with broken seal + new seal @ £7, an hour to fix and clean, sell for £50.
Buy knackered dyson for £20, change filter, clean, replace broken belt, sell for £60.
Just examples but you get the idea, the same could apply to all sorts of simple to fix things, lawnmowers etc.
Done well, do you think this could be a nice little business? Obviously not groundbreaking but as a self employed alternative to the daily grind I think it could be quite nice.
If you could source some broken or old examples, clean them up, sort any problems fairly easily with a couple of cheap parts I think it could be reasonably easy to turn them around quickly.
1 free knackered washing machine with broken seal + new seal @ £7, an hour to fix and clean, sell for £50.
Buy knackered dyson for £20, change filter, clean, replace broken belt, sell for £60.
Just examples but you get the idea, the same could apply to all sorts of simple to fix things, lawnmowers etc.
Done well, do you think this could be a nice little business? Obviously not groundbreaking but as a self employed alternative to the daily grind I think it could be quite nice.
Sounds a great idea.
It's a real waste that so much serviceable stuff goes to landfill.
If I ran the EU I'd pass a law that manufacturers have to produce reasonably priced spares for 10 years after the end of production of a model.
If I were you I'd stick to the smaller appliances - easier to collect, store and deliver. Lawnmowers, vacuums etc.
My local recycle centre / dump always has loads of Dysons (always seems to be Dysons) stacked up. Perhaps you could make a deal at yours?
It's a real waste that so much serviceable stuff goes to landfill.
If I ran the EU I'd pass a law that manufacturers have to produce reasonably priced spares for 10 years after the end of production of a model.
If I were you I'd stick to the smaller appliances - easier to collect, store and deliver. Lawnmowers, vacuums etc.
My local recycle centre / dump always has loads of Dysons (always seems to be Dysons) stacked up. Perhaps you could make a deal at yours?
We paid £60 for our 2nd hand tumble dryer from a bloke that does it full time, he didn't want the old one in px as he already had too many. Ovens/Hoovers/tumble dryer are also very easy to fix too. The belt and thermostat has since gone in the dryer, fixed them both in 30mins or so.
There is money to be made, but probably pocket money. Getting something for free, fixing for £10 and selling for £50 sounds great. But you've got to collect it, figure out the problem, order parts, fix, then put effort into selling, it suddenly doesn't sound so great.
There is money to be made, but probably pocket money. Getting something for free, fixing for £10 and selling for £50 sounds great. But you've got to collect it, figure out the problem, order parts, fix, then put effort into selling, it suddenly doesn't sound so great.
nyt said:
Sounds a great idea.
If I ran the EU I'd pass a law that manufacturers have to produce reasonably priced spares for 10 years after the end of production of a model.
They already have - and more besides. Have a read up on the WEEE Directives.If I ran the EU I'd pass a law that manufacturers have to produce reasonably priced spares for 10 years after the end of production of a model.
We have one of these appliance insurance policies. Last year, our 2.5 year old washer drier starting making a bit of a din. I know what it was; the bearing had become unseated and needed replacing. If I had the time and inclination, I could have easily fixed it myself but as we are paying £25 a month for such things, I called the insurance company. They didn't even send someone to look at it, just said they'd replace it.
nyt said:
Sounds a great idea.
It's a real waste that so much serviceable stuff goes to landfill.
If I ran the EU I'd pass a law that manufacturers have to produce reasonably priced spares for 10 years after the end of production of a model.
If I were you I'd stick to the smaller appliances - easier to collect, store and deliver. Lawnmowers, vacuums etc.
My local recycle centre / dump always has loads of Dysons (always seems to be Dysons) stacked up. Perhaps you could make a deal at yours?
The MO of someone that buys a Dysoon is also the MO of someone who is too stupid or lazy to fix it and would rather throw it away and buy a new one so they can post on facebook the fact they just bought the latest model to make thier 'friends' envious, when in reality nobody cares.It's a real waste that so much serviceable stuff goes to landfill.
If I ran the EU I'd pass a law that manufacturers have to produce reasonably priced spares for 10 years after the end of production of a model.
If I were you I'd stick to the smaller appliances - easier to collect, store and deliver. Lawnmowers, vacuums etc.
My local recycle centre / dump always has loads of Dysons (always seems to be Dysons) stacked up. Perhaps you could make a deal at yours?
Dysan is a master of making products that appeals to this demographic and I suppose he should be commended for it in a bizarre sort of way.
As to the o/p , these same people who threw away thier 'old' dysan that you have fixed trivially wouldn't dream of buying the same model, they would have to have the latest model to show of et-al
eliot said:
As to the o/p , these same people who threw away thier 'old' dysan that you have fixed trivially wouldn't dream of buying the same model, they would have to have the latest model to show of et-al
True, but there are more people who could never afford/would never pay for a new one but could afford a 'refurbished' one at a much lower price.The problem is labour rates, add the time required to sort it out even at min wage the numbers look different. The insurance just replacing the failed item is an example of this. Doing it for a bit of spare cash is fine but a difficult business unless the costs of raw material is very low.
Carrot said:
I completely refurbed our dc07 recently, new motor,seals, drive belts and hose. Parts total £56.
Works better than new and saved us £200 odd on a new one.
Wouldn't fancy doing it full time though.
Dyson do a pretty reasonable fixed-price service. £99 if motor's replaced, £79 otherwise. No extras, and that includes the engineer coming to you.Works better than new and saved us £200 odd on a new one.
Wouldn't fancy doing it full time though.
About 9 years ago we were gifted a flood-damaged DC15. I cleaned it up a bit, but it still made a hell of a racket. Cheekily booked a service visit (I think about £50 then...) and it's been in daily use since. Apart from the usual bits, both main and brush head motors were replaced - engineer commented that it did have a little more rust than most...
I do Dysons!
It can be very lucrative, but also it can be a pain in the arse!
For some background, I do it as a hobby, as in I have a 9-5 job that pays the bills (but not much else, I'm no powerfully built company director). My girlfriend also works, and her wages pay for food, fuel, car fixage, days out etc. The Dyson money pays for out of the norm stuff, so friday night kebab and beers, non essential clothes/splurges, unexpected bills etc. Or I use it to save up for stuff, at the moment my 8 month old boy's christening is in Sept, I have the hall and food money saved up already.
I collect vacuum cleaners anyway, if you google my username that will become clear. So I already knew how to refurbish vacuums, I just started making money from it. I don't earn enough to make it a full time job, and TBH I wouldn't want to take the leap. With 2 kids and rent to pay, I need a fixed amount of moolah coming in every month, and as bloody awesome as a shop/museum would be, finanically I would never make it work.
So, Dysons. Very popular, and they break alot. Sometimes they dont even break, they just loose suction. That is because most people who buy Dysons are idiots, who don't know they have filters. Or block it up, or use it for DIY. All the Dysons you mention at the tip, I bet 80% will work fine, 10% will need parts and 10% will have a burnt out motor.
Many Dysons are easy. DC04/07/14/33/24 and 25. Mainly because parts are cheap and plentiful, both genuine new, pattern new or second hand. Cylinders are hit and miss, always pass up a cylinder with no tools, because the tools cost a bloody fortune. Handhelds are a big no no as well, as they are sealed units mainly, so if something goes wrong on a £400 Dyson V8 Handheld, it's new unit time, either through warranty or your wallet.
Let's take an average DC07, advertised for 99p on ebay as 'not working right'. This is the key, as it means the main motor works. So it's a runner, and you go get it. Is the hose torn? No, good, yes, you can repair it (I won't spam this with the many how to guides I have written, although can if you want!). Check the pre motor filter (down the bottom to the RHS of the motor). Clogged to s
t? Good. Has all it's tools? Excellent! Bang the hose and pre motor sponge filter and cage in the washing machine on a nice hot wash with plenty of powder (I build up a full load rather than do one machine at a time), strip it down to its component form, wash it, dry it, polish it with CIF and put it back together, spending 60p on a new post motor filter pad/£1.40 on a HEPA filter dependant on model. Sell for £60/£65 cash on facebook.
Or, let's take the other kind of 07. Not working. OK, first, take the cyclone off, pop the post motor filter cover off and look at the filter. Blacker than death/burnt? Smell like fire? Yes - new motor time (£13.40 for an OK MTR299 YDK on ebay, £7.40 from a trade supplier, cheaper if you buy them in 10's, the dyson repair shop in Manchester I know, who'se forums I post my refurb threads on buy motors by the pallet, 2 or 3 at a time, they pay less than £4 per motor...). However, no burning smell? Check the mains cable for breakages (VERY common on a DC04 or 33!) New tools - £2 a set on ebay/£1.20 a set from trade. See a pattern?
It's the hours that you need to put in. I can do 5 machines in 4 days. That's waking up at 5.30 and stripping 2 down, putting everything in a big box and filling it full of water and washing powder and the ngoing to work. Back home, wash both up and into the airing cupboard/outside o nthe patio if it's nice weather as last week was, then strip 2 more down. Day 2, strip the third, and polosh up the parts from 1 and 2. Go to work. Come back, wash up machine 3, 4 and 5. Reasemble machine 1 and 2. Day 3 - Polish 3, 4 and 5. Go to work, come home and re-assemble. Test all, fit an air freshener. Day 4 - List all for sale. I rarely work that fast to be honest, I only ever do one at a time, maybe 2 if it's a busy week! Rarely have more than 4 for sale at a time.
I also do just repair. I have a facebook page, and get on average 5-6 full rebuilds a month @ £55-105 each, depending on the machine and parts required. DC24's are always good, as they tend to need a new motor after 4 years, and a new brushroll motor and PCB too, as the parts are awful. So £55 for a strip and refurb, £40 for a motor and/or £45 for the brushroll bits. Motor costs £20, Brushroll pcb is £5 and motor is £15. Everything else is profit!
Drive out. I will drive out to a little old dears house to collect her 07 and drop it back if she's within 10 miles, and that little old dear will be very happy, pay in cash then tell all her friends! Then yo uwill get messages along the lines of "I was talking to Daphne over coffee yesterday and she mentioned about her hoover (grr), mine could do with looking at too...and so it goes! Around my way, it;s quite rural and rich (and posh in areas, South Oxfordshire). So I'll go and clutter up someones biiiig farm with my ZX running on Veg and get a £50 note and some change. I like £50 notes, makes me feel special!
I'll stop giving you my life story now, but I'd say go for it (as long as you dont live near me). Someone else started doing Dysons a month ago and sells on the same sites I do, which is annoying, and I would say has diluted the market a bit, selling stuff isn't as quick anymore, and I;ve started taking machines in part exchange. 3 days ago I sold a DC04 for £50 (it came from freecycle and needed NO parts, result!). They part exchanged a Vax Turboforce and Vax Floor2Floor for a tenner each, so £30 cash and 2 vacs my way. Already provisionally sold the turboforce for £30, need to get that done, and the floor2floor is only 4 months old, so I'll have that up for £50. A horrible Electrolux Vitesse 1900w screamer flew out the door for £25 yesterday. But I don't really want to go down that road, as filters are expensive for cheap stty vacs, and body parts/motors etc are non existant/expensive.
Feel free to hunt me down on the internet with any questions, or if it's OK to post links up on here, let me know. A Dyson and Sebo shop in Gorton, Manchester has a forum, and I live on that forum, and have posted up probably near 200 rebuild threads on various dysons/non dysons, so have a read of those for some idea of how it works! They are happy to sell to repair blokes too if you don't want to get a qualtex account set up/VAT recaliming/sucking up and high courier charges.
Sam!
It can be very lucrative, but also it can be a pain in the arse!
For some background, I do it as a hobby, as in I have a 9-5 job that pays the bills (but not much else, I'm no powerfully built company director). My girlfriend also works, and her wages pay for food, fuel, car fixage, days out etc. The Dyson money pays for out of the norm stuff, so friday night kebab and beers, non essential clothes/splurges, unexpected bills etc. Or I use it to save up for stuff, at the moment my 8 month old boy's christening is in Sept, I have the hall and food money saved up already.
I collect vacuum cleaners anyway, if you google my username that will become clear. So I already knew how to refurbish vacuums, I just started making money from it. I don't earn enough to make it a full time job, and TBH I wouldn't want to take the leap. With 2 kids and rent to pay, I need a fixed amount of moolah coming in every month, and as bloody awesome as a shop/museum would be, finanically I would never make it work.
So, Dysons. Very popular, and they break alot. Sometimes they dont even break, they just loose suction. That is because most people who buy Dysons are idiots, who don't know they have filters. Or block it up, or use it for DIY. All the Dysons you mention at the tip, I bet 80% will work fine, 10% will need parts and 10% will have a burnt out motor.
Many Dysons are easy. DC04/07/14/33/24 and 25. Mainly because parts are cheap and plentiful, both genuine new, pattern new or second hand. Cylinders are hit and miss, always pass up a cylinder with no tools, because the tools cost a bloody fortune. Handhelds are a big no no as well, as they are sealed units mainly, so if something goes wrong on a £400 Dyson V8 Handheld, it's new unit time, either through warranty or your wallet.
Let's take an average DC07, advertised for 99p on ebay as 'not working right'. This is the key, as it means the main motor works. So it's a runner, and you go get it. Is the hose torn? No, good, yes, you can repair it (I won't spam this with the many how to guides I have written, although can if you want!). Check the pre motor filter (down the bottom to the RHS of the motor). Clogged to s
t? Good. Has all it's tools? Excellent! Bang the hose and pre motor sponge filter and cage in the washing machine on a nice hot wash with plenty of powder (I build up a full load rather than do one machine at a time), strip it down to its component form, wash it, dry it, polish it with CIF and put it back together, spending 60p on a new post motor filter pad/£1.40 on a HEPA filter dependant on model. Sell for £60/£65 cash on facebook.Or, let's take the other kind of 07. Not working. OK, first, take the cyclone off, pop the post motor filter cover off and look at the filter. Blacker than death/burnt? Smell like fire? Yes - new motor time (£13.40 for an OK MTR299 YDK on ebay, £7.40 from a trade supplier, cheaper if you buy them in 10's, the dyson repair shop in Manchester I know, who'se forums I post my refurb threads on buy motors by the pallet, 2 or 3 at a time, they pay less than £4 per motor...). However, no burning smell? Check the mains cable for breakages (VERY common on a DC04 or 33!) New tools - £2 a set on ebay/£1.20 a set from trade. See a pattern?
It's the hours that you need to put in. I can do 5 machines in 4 days. That's waking up at 5.30 and stripping 2 down, putting everything in a big box and filling it full of water and washing powder and the ngoing to work. Back home, wash both up and into the airing cupboard/outside o nthe patio if it's nice weather as last week was, then strip 2 more down. Day 2, strip the third, and polosh up the parts from 1 and 2. Go to work. Come back, wash up machine 3, 4 and 5. Reasemble machine 1 and 2. Day 3 - Polish 3, 4 and 5. Go to work, come home and re-assemble. Test all, fit an air freshener. Day 4 - List all for sale. I rarely work that fast to be honest, I only ever do one at a time, maybe 2 if it's a busy week! Rarely have more than 4 for sale at a time.
I also do just repair. I have a facebook page, and get on average 5-6 full rebuilds a month @ £55-105 each, depending on the machine and parts required. DC24's are always good, as they tend to need a new motor after 4 years, and a new brushroll motor and PCB too, as the parts are awful. So £55 for a strip and refurb, £40 for a motor and/or £45 for the brushroll bits. Motor costs £20, Brushroll pcb is £5 and motor is £15. Everything else is profit!
Drive out. I will drive out to a little old dears house to collect her 07 and drop it back if she's within 10 miles, and that little old dear will be very happy, pay in cash then tell all her friends! Then yo uwill get messages along the lines of "I was talking to Daphne over coffee yesterday and she mentioned about her hoover (grr), mine could do with looking at too...and so it goes! Around my way, it;s quite rural and rich (and posh in areas, South Oxfordshire). So I'll go and clutter up someones biiiig farm with my ZX running on Veg and get a £50 note and some change. I like £50 notes, makes me feel special!
I'll stop giving you my life story now, but I'd say go for it (as long as you dont live near me). Someone else started doing Dysons a month ago and sells on the same sites I do, which is annoying, and I would say has diluted the market a bit, selling stuff isn't as quick anymore, and I;ve started taking machines in part exchange. 3 days ago I sold a DC04 for £50 (it came from freecycle and needed NO parts, result!). They part exchanged a Vax Turboforce and Vax Floor2Floor for a tenner each, so £30 cash and 2 vacs my way. Already provisionally sold the turboforce for £30, need to get that done, and the floor2floor is only 4 months old, so I'll have that up for £50. A horrible Electrolux Vitesse 1900w screamer flew out the door for £25 yesterday. But I don't really want to go down that road, as filters are expensive for cheap s
tty vacs, and body parts/motors etc are non existant/expensive.Feel free to hunt me down on the internet with any questions, or if it's OK to post links up on here, let me know. A Dyson and Sebo shop in Gorton, Manchester has a forum, and I live on that forum, and have posted up probably near 200 rebuild threads on various dysons/non dysons, so have a read of those for some idea of how it works! They are happy to sell to repair blokes too if you don't want to get a qualtex account set up/VAT recaliming/sucking up and high courier charges.
Sam!
skinnyman said:
We bought a returned Dyson for £60, sod paying £300+ for a new model, it was a few years old, but who cares about having a "newer model", it's a bloody hoover, not a car.
It't not, it's a vacuum cleaner 
As a side note, I know a person who does the interrview process for Dyson and apparently people call a Dyson a Hoover all the time 
anonymous said:
[redacted]
The £55-105 is the cost to the customer. I always make sure I make some money, but not take the piss.Take an example of something going on at the moment:
Someone who I have repaired a Dyson for in the past asked me to look at her spare Dyson, kept turning off after 5 minutes. I offer a free testing service, so took it in, and removed the clogged filters. Ran it round my house for a bit, and it died after 15, with the motor blowing out hot air. So classic motor failure.
Not a problem, I give her a call, explain what's happened, new motor. I charge her £45 (number picked from my head, thinking about the last vac I sorted for her cost her £70 (new motor, cable and full rebuild). So a bit cheaper for repeat custom.
A motor swap on a DC07 takes me about 7 minutes
The motor I bought cost me £13 (from ebay, it's cheaper for a one off than trade suppliers)
I'll fit a new post motor filter pad (60p) and a new belt (non clutched machine, about 30p).
So £13.90 actual cost
I'll give it a wipe down, change the belt, check all is well and replace the pre motor filter (with a washed spare, so £0
£13.90, say 30 minutes of pottering on the lawn in the sun with a beer (will be doing it tonight) for £45 cash at the end of it.
It can work the other way though, I once snapped part of a DC07 chassis during a rebuild, so swallowed the £11 delivered cost of a used chassis. Customer never knew!
I'm always open with my 'customers'. Not having a 'shop' or official business, I find it helps. I will openly say to people who come to me with an issue that I'm fairly confident I know what it is, that 'I'll take a look. It should be X, which will be £x, however if I find anything else, I'll let you know before spending anything on it', which relieves them a bit (especially the chavvier poorer types who you know are paying for this out of their benefits. I know money is tight, I live the life, so if I know someone can't afford much, but is lovely, I'll do it cheaper. If I know someone is very wealthy, I might inflate the price slightly, but not a piss takingly large amount as I want them to feel happy, and get value for money out of me so they recommend me!
Some poor b
d, quite early on (he is the 2nd page in my book) bought me a DC24 he said wasn't picking up right. £55 for a refurb straight away. When I tested it, the motor was sparking like a goodun, and made the sound only a dead DC24 motor does, so anouther £50 there, plus £10 for a new filter. So £115. He said yes, and I know he had to find the money as he straight up said he wouldn't be able to pay straight away, could I give him a week or so. No worries, said I, and, sure enough, 2 weeks later, payment in full (he's a carpenter, I've seen him post alot on facebook offering his services, so a similar sort of guy/operation.4 days later, the brushroll PCB shat itself, and since I felt a bit bad that something I 'fixed' for £alot 3 days ago broke (in an unrelated way, but the principle still stood), I offered him a used but working replacement for £0, with the caveat that it could last a week, or could outlive the machine. I have a fair few used ones, got bunged a few once in exchange for some work for the aformentioned manchester dyson people, so threw it in, one happy guy.
Always be wary that if you charge too much, especially without an actual business or warranty to back it up, people won't come. I don't offer a paper based warranty, but a handshake and 'any problems at all, do let me know'. It's cost me 2 new motors and 3 clutch rebuilds (clutches can be fickle things) in 4 years, so on balance, sod all, and the complainant is always more than happy, and I have had a few of them back me up on facebook threads, where someone tags me in a 'my hoover's broken, can anyone recommend anyone' type posts, and inevitably someone questions my credentials, and my previous customers jump in and back me up! 'he did a great job on my dyson, cheap too', or 'he fixed mine last year, and 4 months ago x went wrong, he had it back, fixed it and didn't charge me'.
The manchester dyson shop charges about £120 for a basic rebuild of a DC25, which is steep, but then they have bricks and mortar to pay for, staff, and offer a 3 month warranty, which all adds to the costs. I charge £65, but work off my living room floor/the back garden, so it balances itself out in the end
Thanks!
The 'Black Market' bit is one that I try to be careful of (says he, posting about it on an open forum!). It's the reason I always say it's a hobby, and NOT a business, as tax is not paid... I know I don't make alot, it averages out at about £3/400 a month on a good month, and is all cash in hand (the occasional cheque or bank transfer, but they are few and far between).
When I sell them on the facebook sites, I use my personal account, not my repair and service page, to avoid looking like a business. It then sort of self advertises, as usually, with a machine on a few sites, someone asks me if I fix them as well. I then send the 'business' page link to them, and they can look at that, at my reviews, previous jobs, links to my rebuild threads etc and make a decision that way. I try to keep it as 'a bloke who fixes hoovers'.
I'd love to spend money advertising, and would probably get more work, but have to keep things realistic, I work 9-5 (or 8-4 on certain days) with a 40 minute commute each way, and have 2 kids. So it's pointless being inundated with dysons, and having to rush home and not help bath the kids and get them to bed. Last night I stripped apart a Vax Turboforce, and really should have got it washed, then fitted the motor to the DC07 as above, and then started polishing a DC11 I'm doing for someone as a museum piece, but instead went to bed at 9.30 for the first time in ages!
I am eyeing up a few things on ebay, there's 2 DC07's and a DC14 within 4 miles of work, all 99p at the moment, 2 just need a rebuild, then £3 worth of filters and belts, 1 needs tools on top, so say £8 + £3 (providing they stay at 99p, their crap listings so fingers crossed), then if they all sell at £50 each, that's £140 profit! Which is good as I really need new brakes and a steering column (I have the early 90's PSA stiff steering balljoint issue atm).
I did put myself on Google Maps the other day, just incase that helped a few enquirers come through!
The 'Black Market' bit is one that I try to be careful of (says he, posting about it on an open forum!). It's the reason I always say it's a hobby, and NOT a business, as tax is not paid... I know I don't make alot, it averages out at about £3/400 a month on a good month, and is all cash in hand (the occasional cheque or bank transfer, but they are few and far between).
When I sell them on the facebook sites, I use my personal account, not my repair and service page, to avoid looking like a business. It then sort of self advertises, as usually, with a machine on a few sites, someone asks me if I fix them as well. I then send the 'business' page link to them, and they can look at that, at my reviews, previous jobs, links to my rebuild threads etc and make a decision that way. I try to keep it as 'a bloke who fixes hoovers'.
I'd love to spend money advertising, and would probably get more work, but have to keep things realistic, I work 9-5 (or 8-4 on certain days) with a 40 minute commute each way, and have 2 kids. So it's pointless being inundated with dysons, and having to rush home and not help bath the kids and get them to bed. Last night I stripped apart a Vax Turboforce, and really should have got it washed, then fitted the motor to the DC07 as above, and then started polishing a DC11 I'm doing for someone as a museum piece, but instead went to bed at 9.30 for the first time in ages!
I am eyeing up a few things on ebay, there's 2 DC07's and a DC14 within 4 miles of work, all 99p at the moment, 2 just need a rebuild, then £3 worth of filters and belts, 1 needs tools on top, so say £8 + £3 (providing they stay at 99p, their crap listings so fingers crossed), then if they all sell at £50 each, that's £140 profit! Which is good as I really need new brakes and a steering column (I have the early 90's PSA stiff steering balljoint issue atm).
I did put myself on Google Maps the other day, just incase that helped a few enquirers come through!
Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff