Axminster pricing

[Buckeye]

I do quite a bit of buying from Axminster tools but lately their prices are just getting ridiculous. I noticed it initially on Festool products but it extends to a lot of others

A few examples

New Festool Cleantech MIDI £400 at Axminster £329 on Amazon

Festool Sortainer SYS 4 TL-SORT/3 3-drawer unit £84 at Axminster £69 on Amazon

3M Peltor X2A Ear Defender 31dB £24.40 at Axminster, £17 elsewhere

Trend Airace Respirator £47.70 at Axminster, £35 elsewhere

and more...

I like Axminster and would like to buy from them but their pricing is ridiculous. I know Amazon is generally cheaper than anywhere else for goods and are probably taking over the world but some of the differences in price are a bit much especially as a lot of these items and others are just a google search away price wise.

 

[shed9]

I suspect their prices recently had the usual January treatment as well.

 

[Brandlin]

Bricks and mortar shops cost money.
Online websites don't.

 

[Bodgers]

I do quite a bit of buying from Axminster tools but lately their prices are just getting ridiculous. I noticed it initially on Festool products but it extends to a lot of others

A few examples

New Festool Cleantech MIDI £400 at Axminster £329 on Amazon

Festool Sortainer SYS 4 TL-SORT/3 3-drawer unit £84 at Axminster £69 on Amazon

3M Peltor X2A Ear Defender 31dB £24.40 at Axminster, £17 elsewhere

Trend Airace Respirator £47.70 at Axminster, £35 elsewhere

and more...

I like Axminster and would like to buy from them but their pricing is ridiculous. I know Amazon is generally cheaper than anywhere else for goods and are probably taking over the world but some of the differences in price are a bit much especially as a lot of these items and others are just a google search away price wise.

I've bought quite a lot from over the last few years and In my experience (other than maybe one occasion) they have been pretty much the gold standard as far as customer service and returns are concerned. You are paying for that, and as others have said, the bricks and mortar chain.

You pay your money and take your choice.



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[shed9]

Bricks and mortar shops cost money.
Online websites don't.

To most of their customers they are an online website.

 

[Buckeye]

Certainly for me over here they are.

 

[Geoff_S]

Bricks and mortar shops cost money.
Online websites don't.

To most of their customers they are an online website.

+1.

But hey, the internet is easy to search for better prices, it's up to Axminster what they want to charge

 

[Bodgers]

Bricks and mortar shops cost money.
Online websites don't.

To most of their customers they are an online website.

True, but that fact doesn't mean their shops don't exist and cost money. It is part of their business.

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[shed9]

Bricks and mortar shops cost money.
Online websites don't.

To most of their customers they are an online website.

True, but that fact doesn't mean their shops don't exist and cost money. It is part of their business.

Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk

Don't get me wrong I appreciate businesses have overheads relevant to their business model. I appreciate Axminster themselves, their shops are nice places to be and my world is a better place for them. I'd also add, they provide employment for people and for that I thank them.

I just don't appreciate some of their indiscriminate price hikes and price differences comparative to other retailers is all.

 

[Bodgers]

Bricks and mortar shops cost money.
Online websites don't.

To most of their customers they are an online website.

True, but that fact doesn't mean their shops don't exist and cost money. It is part of their business.

Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk

Don't get me wrong I appreciate businesses have overheads relevant to their business model. I appreciate Axminster themselves, their shops are nice places to be and my world is a better place for them. I'd also add, they provide employment for people and for that I thank them.

I just don't appreciate some of their indiscriminate price hikes and price differences comparative to other retailers is all.

The price hikes aren't great, but there is some stuff that's keenly priced.

They have the best prices on the Veritas stuff in the UK, typically.

They also sell stuff that just can't be had cheaper anywhere. The TS200 is a good example of this - it is THE cheapest cast iron topped, induction motored table saw for sale in Europe for example.

Their premium engineers squares are also very good value - £25 gets you a large 225mm DIN graded premium square - hard to beat.



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[tony_s]

A couple of months back a replacement blade for their Rider low angle jack plane went from £8.50 to £20 which I thought was a bit shabby.....

 

[fezman]

Bricks and mortar shops cost money.
Online websites don't.

Except for the development costs, servers, technicians, running costs, data centres, warehouses, distribution networks, buying costs etc.

Personally i prefer to look at (significant) purchases before i buy, so am prepared to a premium for the high street presence. But if a significant discount was on offer from a mail order and the high street store wouldn't / couldn't match it I would be buying mail order.

 

[Grawschbags]

I purchased a pricey amount of Festool gear recently. I asked Axminster if they would price match their competitors, they said no.

I still purchased from Axminster as I have always received great service, and their reputation for customer service is unrivalled, in my opinion. This was more valuable than saving money purchasing the tools elsewhere.

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[Silly_Billy]

Sometimes customer service is worth paying a little bit more for.

 

[Honest John]

Whilst I agree generally with the sentiment of the o.p. I’m just glad that the Amy shops are there. Warrington is my local shop, but I’ve also been in the Axminster shop on a couple of occasions. Like I said I’m glad they are there. My last (serious) purchase from them was a Jet 10/20 drum sander when ch cost me an arm and a leg about 18 months ago. A month later I could have bought the same thing £300 cheaper at the Turners Retreat spring bash. I noticed a few weeks ago that this same machine at Warrington is nearly £300 more than I paid for it. Don’t know how much of this is down to Axminster, but I have the choice to make the buying decisions from whom ever I wish, but I’m still glad they are there to visit and buy or not as required.

 

[Mark A]

They also sell stuff that just can't be had cheaper anywhere. The TS200 is a good example of this - it is THE cheapest cast iron topped, induction motored table saw for sale in Europe for example.

The TS200 has doubled in price in about six years.

Before any large purchase I do my research and Axminster has occasionally been the same price or cheaper than other retailers, but not often.

I don't know why people rave about Axminster so much; I've been to a few of their shops in the past and every time I'm underwhelmed. They're about as exciting as a trip to Carpetright on a wet and miserable Tuesday in February. In Rhyl.





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[Brandlin]

Bricks and mortar shops cost money.
Online websites don't.

Except for the development costs, servers, technicians, running costs, data centres, warehouses, distribution networks, buying costs etc.

Personally i prefer to look at (significant) purchases before i buy, so am prepared to a premium for the high street presence. But if a significant discount was on offer from a mail order and the high street store wouldn't / couldn't match it I would be buying mail order.

my point is that axminster carry the cost of their stores and need to pay for them.
their online only competitors dont.
they have to make that money back somewhere.

you may get better service, advice and a great shop to browse, but like almost all retailers they have yet to find a model where they can offer all that, and not have someone use them for research and then order cheaper online.

 

[johnnyb]

Have to say be careful what you wish for. Axminsters have been the gold standard for a long time in service spares etc etc. This costs money. I personally regret them getting rid of the catalogue and can't be arsed browsing online. But I do think there a valuable asset to tool buyers. Even at more expensive prices. I do think there Monopoly restricts our choices( to there choices).

 

[Arnold9801]

This reminds me of countless conversations I’ve heard regarding bank and utility firm loyalty. There are many who feel they have a duty to stay with the same bank/utility firm. Morgages are an example. My family have always banked with a certain high street bank. I opened up my firs account with them. However their mortgages don’t suit me financially and I can get a much better deal elsewhere leading to me having more pennies in my pocket that I can put to other commodities. It doesn’t pay to be loyal.

You don’t get the best deal by being loyal. Somebody in this thread mentioned about them asking Axminster if they would price match and the answer was “no!” Fine I say, go where you can get it cheaper.

I can’t recollect a time when the cost of living has been so costly. If you’re “drooling” with it, then fine, but I’m not and if they want to charge a lot more for their products compared with other suppliers, then I won’t be going to Axminster power tools.

Some have said a fair point re business that have shops have bills that internet shops dont have. A fair and reasonable point, but I’ve felt myself that Axminster prices are going up to much. Like all. It firms, it’s greed as well as paying the bills for their premises.

Cheerio Axminster. You've got it wrong. When you start putting selfish profit margins on your prices, lots will be going “next door.”

Regards

 

[Duncan A]

Axminster give good service and have to pay for the shops and a slick website, to say nothing of their own machine delivery service.
Small items often tend to be expensive because of their low postage charge; I think it's currently £1 for orders under £30, free for £30 or above.

However, they have adopted the tactic of bumping up prices just so they can have massive "discounts" some time later, which means that timing of purchases is everything. Personally, I can't be bothered with all that faffing around so don't buy from them anything like as much as I used to.

Duncan