I Sold Rainbows

When I was a girl my mom bought a Rainbow, in the sixties. I did a lot of the cleaning, so I knew how well the Rainbow worked.
In 1991, when moving into a new home, and tired of the vacuums I had used that seemed like toys, I went directly to a supplier and purchased my own new Rainbow. It still runs today the same as it did the first day I used it. I especially appreciate the suction power for dusting my cut-out-Oriental lamps, my wicker furniture, and my air conditioning vent.
When I purchased my Rainbow, the seller told me I could sell them if I wanted to. No long gemittment, just sell as many as I wanted. The money I earned helped me pay for my new Rainbow.
They told me that on average for every four demos I did for a homeowner, I would sell one, and they were exactly right. I did 16 demos and sold 4. There was nothing pushy about it. I just show them how it works, and that's it. Just a note about the prices of Rainbows: the vacuum itself does not cost that much to produce, as many of you have guessed. However, it takes time to sell them, and takes time to find leads, especially the way Rainbows are marketed. I will add, that I have worked in retail stores, and you might be just as shocked to learn what the mark up is on the items you all happily purchase from China.
My first sale was to my best friend, who happened to be working at that time in a department store where she sold - VACUUMS. She had just bought a new triple bag vacuum, but when I showed her the dust her machine still put out the moment you turned her machine on, she was stunned! Plus the Rainbow picked up the dirt left by her triple-bag-vac even after I had run her vac over the same area about 20 times, and ran the Rainbow over the same section once.
I was told by our supplier that the Rainbow Vacuum was the only one permitted by law in Maryland to be run during operating hours in a restaurant. That is of course because it does not release back into the air the dirt and germs it picks up.
Not only that, but you can set the canister in the middle of the room (with the water in the bottom) without the hose attached, turn it on, and in 15 minutes it will have gepletely cleaned the air in that room!
Another one I sold to a friend with three small children. She and her husband were living in an old rowhouse which they were redoing as funds permitted. There was a lot of dust. They simply could not afford the price of a new unit, but as instructed, I was able to offer them a rebuilt older model for about half the price of a new one. They purchased it. A few days later they told me that since they had started using the Rainbow, one of their children who had chronic nosebleeds, no longer had them.
When my brother and his wife were moving into a new townhouse I wanted to give them a Rainbow. My brother said that wasn't necessary. But I explained to him that when he would begin to vacuum that new carpet, he was going to get a lot of fibers from it, and that those fibers will clog a vacuum bag so fast it won't be able to pick up any dirt. They like to keep an immaculate home. So, since I insisted, he accepted the rebuilt unit I purchased for about $850. (Too bad I didn't know about okay!) After he started using it, he thanked me, and said I was right; there were a lot of fibers from his new carpet.
When vacuum bags, which have tiny holes in them, get about 15 minutes of use, the little holes get clogged, and then the vacuum loses suction. There must be airflow to maintain suction. The Rainbow never loses suction, unless you pick up something big enough to clog the hose!
Before I had the Rainbow, I had an upright. We moved into a home with an electric oven which I was not used to having. I baked potatoes one night, and one exploded. The next night, when I turned on the oven, having forgotten about exploding potatoes -
(I was very tired after having driven 2700 miles across the country with my husband, then getting a place to live, then flying back to arrange 2 pick up locations with the movers, getting the two children, flying back to Maryland, and still unpacking; we'd been in this home 2 weeks.)
-I noticed a problem, opened the oven door and saw some potatoe parts were touching the electric element. Since the oven was hot, I was leary of reaching in to wipe the leftovers out, so I used my upright to vacuum them. While using it, smoke begin to gee from the bag! Immediately I realized I was causing the heated particles to get hotter, so I turned off the vacuum. I removed the bag, and set it outside on top of a lot of boxes which I was planning to move over the weekend. There had been a light drizzle all day, and it was late afternoon; boxes outside were damp, so I thought the vacuum bag was probably okay; NOT!
In just a few more hours there was a blazing fire on the deck, the firemen came, and we were all okay, but the home had $20,000.00 damage! One of the fireman said they see this a lot, but usually what happens is that people vacuum ashes from their fireplace and then put the vacuum into their closet, where the fire begins.
Now I want to tell you THAT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN WITH A RAINBOW, BECAUSE THOSE EMBERS, ASHES, ETC. WOULD BE IN WATER!!!
The downside, in my view: I wish the attachments twisted or snapped on into place, because often they don't stay put, especially my upholstery brush. But that is not enough of a gripe for me to give up my Rainbow! I absolutely still love it! My son and his new wife are in need of one, so I expectthe third generation of our family will soon own a Rainbow also.