Axminster Price Hikes

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Well at least I know I am not going mad, I was on the verge of buying an Axminster Bobbin sander for £250 and was busy for the next few days, then I went back to complete the order and found it is now £300 so they lost an order and if everyone puts the brakes on spending then they will have sales and stop taking us for mugs. I can why there are so many asian millionares now!
 
The thing is, it's not just them, people go on about buying British etc. but they are just as much on the bandwagon, odds and sods from cnc'd aluminium at stupid costs because they know people will buy them....same as US brands like woodpeckers etc. and actually i dare say most of it is still manufactured in the great PRC
 
Well at least I know I am not going mad, I was on the verge of buying an Axminster Bobbin sander for £250 and was busy for the next few days, then I went back to complete the order and found it is now £300 so they lost an order and if everyone puts the brakes on spending then they will have sales and stop taking us for mugs. I can why there are so many asian millionares now!

I dont think that "taking us for mugs" is fair. I have bought from axi and others, I am not a fanboy.

The cost of the item was priced in USD. If the exchange rate to RMB changed, then the price would increase. We then buy it in GBP, so if the USD:GBP rate increases, we also pay more still. On top of that, the cost of logistics has increased, so that adds to the price. I am not sure what has happened with raw material prices in the last 6 months. I would expect that the factory in China is making the same amount in their local currency as before and Axi are making about the same amount as they were before. The extra £50 is because of the increase in the cost element. Perhaps they could have swallowed the increase, but why would they?
 
All VAT, although there's still import and other duties (eg alcohol and tobacco).
I remember a number of years ago I considered privately importing a VW Jetta to save a few thousand. I was amazed at how much and varied taxes were added and then VAT was charged on everything. We were taxed on tax..
I
 
Axminster have also put up the amount you need to spend for free delivery - was £30 and now it £45!

That sucks :(

Toolstation used to offer free delivery on orders over £10, and is now £25.

And before anyone brings up the "It's not free, it's added onto the product prices" .... yeah yeah.
 
The last thing you ever want is to wander into deflation, as that just implodes economies.
Consumer electonics show that the deflation-stops-the-economy theory is a myth. Every iPhone is hugely overpriced at launch, yet people will queue up for a week to buy the shiny new one. Some people wait, but not all of them. Smart phones, computers, televisions - all decrease in price over time as they are superceded by bigger, better, faster. Moore's Law positively demands that processing power both increases in power, and yet gets cheaper at the same time. Yet people still buy new phones, TVs, computers etc, rather than wait for the newer, bigger, better version for the same money. People obviously haven't read the right economics textbooks.

Deflation is the natural state for all manufactured goods: initially expensive, once R&D, tooling etc has been paid for economies of scale and competition bring the price down. What deflation does do, is blow up banks and government debt. Therefore, we get endless inflation, but are told it is good for us. It is actually intentional theft, done on purpose, to steal about half of all wealth over a generation. It's the boiling frog syndome.
 
Consumer electonics show that the deflation-stops-the-economy theory is a myth. Every iPhone is hugely overpriced at launch, yet people will queue up for a week to buy the shiny new one. Some people wait, but not all of them. Smart phones, computers, televisions - all decrease in price over time as they are superceded by bigger, better, faster. Moore's Law positively demands that processing power both increases in power, and yet gets cheaper at the same time. Yet people still buy new phones, TVs, computers etc, rather than wait for the newer, bigger, better version for the same money. People obviously haven't read the right economics textbooks.

Deflation is the natural state for all manufactured goods: initially expensive, once R&D, tooling etc has been paid for economies of scale and competition bring the price down. What deflation does do, is blow up banks and government debt. Therefore, we get endless inflation, but are told it is good for us. It is actually intentional theft, done on purpose, to steal about half of all wealth over a generation. It's the boiling frog syndome.

Inflation in those instances is created by the manufacturers constantly putting out newer, more expensive models, which drum up economic activity. Sure, the older models get cheaper, but less people want them because they're after the latest shiny thing. Tell people you can have the new iphone now, or wait for next year's iphone which will be 10% cheaper........ you'd probably see the drop off in demand as people decide to wait for the cheaper price for a newer phone. Sure, some people will still buy the latest one because it's a status symbol, but less people will, and those who wait for prices to drop will completely bin off the latest model, then in a year's time the people that have waited a year get told to wait another year for another 10% reduction.... and THAT is how deflation hits the economy.
 
Inflation in those instances is created by the manufacturers constantly putting out newer, more expensive models, which drum up economic activity. Sure, the older models get cheaper, but less people want them because they're after the latest shiny thing. Tell people you can have the new iphone now, or wait for next year's iphone which will be 10% cheaper........ you'd probably see the drop off in demand as people decide to wait for the cheaper price for a newer phone. Sure, some people will still buy the latest one because it's a status symbol, but less people will, and those who wait for prices to drop will completely bin off the latest model, then in a year's time the people that have waited a year get told to wait another year for another 10% reduction.... and THAT is how deflation hits the economy.
Rather than getting bogged down in the nitty gritty of prices of goods, how about Monetary inflation - Wikipedia

Monetary inflation is a sustained increase in the money supply of a country (or currency area). Depending on many factors, especially public expectations, the fundamental state and development of the economy, and the transmission mechanism, it is likely to result in price inflation, which is usually just called "inflation", which is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services.[1][2]

In other words, the more new money is created, the more money will chase a fixed amount of goods and services, driving up prices. Inflation is not the prices of goods going up, but the flood of trillions of new pounds and dollars chasing around the globe looking to buy things. Currently only the uber wealthy have access to the shiny new money, so price rises are showing up in things the uber wealthy buy (stock markets, classic cars, fine art, gold etc). As money washes down to the rest of us, prices will rise more evenly. When we get the Universal Basic Income hold on to your hat.

Edit: I should mention that none of the above is relevant to Axminster putting their prices up: we are in the middle of a supply shock, a demand shock, and a trade/cold war all at once - uncharted territory . Expect prices to be all over the place for the next 6 months at least.
 
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Looks like I was lucky. I ordered the Axminster AT508WL lathe last Tuesday and paid £3000. As it`s supposed to be delivered tomorrow I just went onto the website to check the footprint / dimensions to prepare the workshop, and noticed the price is now £3500 !!!
 
Don't forget, Axminster have also joined the stupid "raise-the-price-so-we-can-have-a sale" game so many of these items will be available at the previous price for a short while at least in the future.
Having said that, prices have been jumping up every year as Chinese costs increase.
Axi have been having a big machinery clearance - frequently a precursor to raised prices and, unfortunately, a sign to jump in fast rather than take your time making your mind up - or dithering in my case!
Duncan
 
I have always rated Axminster very highly but buying from China is a pain when you need a spare part. I need an on/off toggle switch for my LED light (which broke when it fell off the lathe when I was turning a big out of balance log). I don't know the cost yet but it is going to take 20 weeks to get to the UK. Amazon can supply them tomorrow!
 
Umm...inflation is running at 1%. The nice man at the treasury said so. What is the UK's inflation rate?

The good news is that "they" will do everything in their power to get inflation higher, because it is good for us, apparently.

Any huge price increases you see in the meantime are merely an arbitrary and completely unrelated temporary effect, and to be ignored.
Yebbutt the purchasing power of Sterling has drooped against the USD and the Euro over recent months - I'm sure the "B" word has nothing to do with that.....
 
Just ordered myself an Axi craft filter system doo dad as i thought its about time and should be adequate for a single garage. The price hasnt increased and is the same as the record power AC400...in fact it looks like an identical machine yet not in finest green

Apparently it clears fine dust and odours from the air, I wonder if it will clear self virtuous political whiney tripe?
 

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