BEWARE OF BASHES!

[promhandicam]

This post is a warning to any members who are thinking of going to a bash - they can turn out to be very hard on the wallet. Less than 1 week after the great southern bash these two boxes arrived in the post.

The one on the right courtesy of Toolsave who are having a festool sale on at the moment saving me £60 on the normal price. The box on the left came courtesy of Anglia Tools who are out of stock of the older domino assortment (493301) so kindly sent me the latest assortment (495664) which includes 4,5,6,8 and 10mm cutters, 1255 dominos all in a systainer for £105 - Axminster price £179!

So all in all an expensive outing to Weymouth although I'm very happy with the deals I've been able to get.

Don't say you haven't been warned :lol:

Steve

 

[woodbloke]

I think Paul Chapman's got a lot to answer for :lol: :lol: ...nice - Rob

 

[Paul Chapman]

I think Paul Chapman's got a lot to answer for :lol: :lol: ...

You sound like my wife........ :shock: :lol:

Very nice, Steve - and a good deal 8)

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[promhandicam]

I didn't want to point the finger at any one individual, particularly as he was kind enough to be my (and your) chauffeur for the day.

Steve

 

[woodbloke]

I didn't want to point the finger at any one individual, particularly as he was kind enough to be my (and your) chauffeur for the day.

Steve

...and very much appeciated it was too Steve - Rob

 

[Nigel]

Steve
Your discount from Toolsave is no longer available as their site says they are not trading with Festool at the moment,
Perhaps Toolsave have transgressed

Cheers Nigel

 

[wizer]

[-X :-k

 

[Jake]

They have been selling off all their stock on Ebay at similar savings for a while now, I nearly bought what was probably that very same domino on a BIN, but resisted.

They didn't use to (overtly) discount, so I suspect the sale prices are a consequence of dropping (or being dropped) rather than the cause.

 

[promhandicam]

They have been selling off all their stock on Ebay at similar savings for a while now, I nearly bought what was probably that very same domino on a BIN, but resisted.

They didn't use to (overtly) discount, so I suspect the sale prices are a consequence of dropping (or being dropped) rather than the cause.

Jake's correct - I got the domino via ebay. They still have some other festool products there if anyone is interested.

Steve

 

[ondablade]

It seems from what i hear that Festool are intent on enforcing standard pricing worldwide on dealers.

I bought the same two items (a Domino assortment and tool) in the UK the past few weeks after quite a lot of checking out of suppliers, and in the end gave up on discount and paid the full price!

The closest anybody i spoke to seemed willing to go to a discount was to throw in some items along with them in the event of a large order, but when push came to shove they didn't seem bothered to quote on what was a several thousand pound mostly non-Festool order. (what recession?)

I actually ended up buying almost everything (handtools, clamps etc) in the US at a saving of from 30 to 60% after paying import duty duty - with much better service levels most of the time too. (as a business i get the VAT back)

My UK order was for mostly 50 Hz 220V power tools, if there wasn't the voltage and frequency problem there would have been a very nice saving from buying them in the US too...

Relatively speaking the UK is quite expensive, but if i'd bought here in ireland (as some would claim is my patriotic duty) i'd have had to pay another 40% or so on top of the UK price.

This i don't understand. Shipping etc can only account for maybe 5% on average, and anyway how can it be that for example i could buy German made clamps in the US for not much more than 60% of what they would have cost me in the UK?????

 

[promhandicam]

Festool pricing certainly is hard to fathom - not dissimilar to airline ticket pricing. My local supplier told me recently that they were getting a number of enquiries asking if they would ship tools from the UK to mainland Europe as the sterling prices are a lot cheaper than the euro prices. As an example the Domino set is £632.50 in the UK, €809.20 in Germany which at today's exchange rate is equivalent to about £725 and as a comparison the price in the USA is $825 which works out at about £500! I really can't fathom how the further something is exported the cheaper it becomes!

Steve

 

[BradNaylor]

Festool pricing certainly is hard to fathom - not dissimilar to airline ticket pricing...

...I really can't fathom how the further something is exported the cheaper it becomes!

Presumably Festool simply charge the price that they reckon each territory will stand.

You are quite right - it is exactly like airline ticket pricing.

Say Festool's production of Domino machines has a optimum output of 200 per day to ensure maximum efficiency and productivity. Well, it follows that they've got to sell 200 per day worldwide.

The American market is obviously the biggest - quite possibly bigger than the rest of the world combined. Clearly Festool have to shift considerable numbers of machines in this market to have a chance of achieving the required sales globally in order to meet their targets. The price in the US then, will be set at the level that will bring in the required volumes, even if it means profits on those sales are minimal.

Profits will be made in other, smaller markets such as the UK, Ireland and Germany! The fact that Festool is a German company and manufactures in Germany is totally irrelevent. They will view their home market as one that can be exploited for profit, knowing that sales will be high anyway as Germans will generally only buy German products.

All that Festool are concerned about is shifting the required volumes of each machine they make across the world using whatever pricing policies they consider necessary, and they will make their profit where they can. Ultimately, there's nothing we can do about it; it is simply the market in operation.

Whatever the price, the Domino is an indispensible piece of every serious or professional furniture makers arsenal. I cannot now imagine life without mine, and it has already paid for itself many times over in terms of time saved cutting traditional joints.

Congratulatons on your wise purchase Steve; you will not regret it.

Cheers
Brad

 

[promhandicam]

Presumably Festool simply charge the price that they reckon each territory will stand.

You are quite right - it is exactly like airline ticket pricing.

Say Festool's production of Domino machines has a optimum output of 200 per day to ensure maximum efficiency and productivity. Well, it follows that they've got to sell 200 per day worldwide.

The American market is obviously the biggest - quite possibly bigger than the rest of the world combined. Clearly Festool have to shift considerable numbers of machines in this market to have a chance of achieving the required sales globally in order to meet their targets. The price in the US then, will be set at the level that will bring in the required volumes, even if it means profits on those sales are minimal.

Profits will be made in other, smaller markets such as the UK, Ireland and Germany! The fact that Festool is a German company and manufactures in Germany is totally irrelevent. They will view their home market as one that can be exploited for profit, knowing that sales will be high anyway as Germans will generally only buy German products.

All that Festool are concerned about is shifting the required volumes of each machine they make across the world using whatever pricing policies they consider necessary, and they will make their profit where they can. Ultimately, there's nothing we can do about it; it is simply the market in operation.

Whatever the price, the Domino is an indispensible piece of every serious or professional furniture makers arsenal. I cannot now imagine life without mine, and it has already paid for itself many times over in terms of time saved cutting traditional joints.

Congratulatons on your wise purchase Steve; you will not regret it.

Cheers
Brad

You are quite right Brad - when you look at it in those terms, which I am sure are correct. With regards to the purchase, the fact that it happened just after the bash is to a certain degree incidental. As Paul Chapman will attest, I've been thinking about getting one for a while as the purchase will ultimately (I hope) save me money. If it doesn't then I know that I will be able to sell it without any problem and not loose very much. :wink:

Have a good weekend one and all,

Steve

 

[Jake]

As an example the Domino set is £632.50 in the UK, €809.20 in Germany which at today's exchange rate is equivalent to about £725 and as a comparison the price in the USA is $825 which works out at about £500! I really can't fathom how the further something is exported the cheaper it becomes!

The comparison with Germany is probably a result of sterling depreciation against the euro. They have adjusted the price upwards a couple of times in the year or two, but I suspect they are now lagging behind. If you are a euro buyer, the effect is doubled-up.

The US is just a different market altogether for the moment, but I would be very surprised if they don't get hefty price rises soon given the way the dollar has tanked against the euro.

 

[Mr Ed]

On similar lines, I've also wondered about Bessey clamp pricing. These are made in Germany and sell in the US for prices far below what you can buy them for in Europe. Must be the same scenario of selling for what price they believe the market will support.

Ed

 

[jlawrence]

At the end of the day everyone sells at what the market will support.
Nowadays though it's much more of a global market and it's easily possible to get stuff shipped from anywhere to where to anywhere else. At the end of the day it's the local distributor that looses out.