Festool

[inventor]

...about festool, i own a couple of festool kit and they are great, i spoke to my local dealer a couple of months ago and they said that festools fix the prices and wont let the dealers offer discounts. they stopped suppling to a couple of dealers because they were discounting. this is why the price is the same where ever you go. ...

Don't I recall some big fuss back in the 60s or 70s about the abolition of "retail price maintenance"? Isn't it illegal for wholesalers to try to fix the price at which retailers sell? Anyone know?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resale_price_maintenance says that it's illegal in both UK and European law. Is it right?

 

[Jake]

Yes, it is illegal - i.e. a criminal offence - and unlawful - i.e. if purchasers (or more likely, some firm of lawyers somewhere organising a class action) got their act together, they could sue for damages, being the difference between the true market price and the fixed price.

It's a risky, if not foolhardy, thing to do these days, as the directors of the company involved potentially face jail sentences, at least in theory.

I guess the extra cash is worth it!

 

[dymas]

How right you are M'Lud!

Festool UK are wholly owned by Tooltechnic Systems and their Australian cousins recently fell foul of the law. Something to ponder on perhaps but does this have a familiar ring to it?

"Judgment was handed down on 21 March 2007. The Federal Court of Australia ordered a penalty of $125 000 against Tooltechnic Systems (Aust) Pty Ltd, the importer of Festool power tools, for resale price maintenance. Justice Kiefel in the Federal Court, Brisbane made the orders by consent in proceedings instituted by the ACCC. The court declared that Tooltechnic engaged in resale price maintenance in 2001 and 2002, granted injunctions for three years against similar conduct and ordered the company to pay costs of $25 000.

The ACCC took action in relation to conduct by two (now former) Tooltechnic sales managers, who went too far in implementing new dealership agreements by attempting to discourage retailers from discounting from recommended prices.

In settling the proceedings, Tooltechnic also gave a court-enforceable undertaking that it would implement a trade practices compliance program and Tooltechnic’s managing director, Mr Holger Schulz, gave a court-enforceable undertaking in relation to his training and supervision of staff."

 

[pobo]

just found this in an old thread may be of intrest

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?p=134965&sid=a3b056c100f868a8d2a23b9aaded829b


sorry for for going a bit off topic chipp71970, bought ts75 couple of months ago and found it been great hope you enjoy your ts55.

 

[Martingchapman]

I am new to Festool, having just purchased a TS75 CMS and the 1400/2000 router module, looking forward to making first use of them at the weekend.
The dealer I bought this kit from explained that Festool restrict them from advertising discounted prices in order to preserve the brand image however they leave it to the Dealer to arrange their own discounts once the customer has made an initial enquiry.
On shopping around I found that most Dealers sell at 20% which makes the price roughly equal to the Festool list price (which of course does not include VAT).

Can I add that this this forum is really useful, and I have enjoyed browsing through all the various categories, a big thank you to all the contributors and the people who regulate/run the forum.

In the spirit of continuing this would anyone be interested in a review of the TS75 CMS and the associated router table?

 

[Jake]

The dealer I bought this kit from explained that Festool restrict them from advertising discounted prices in order to preserve the brand image however they leave it to the Dealer to arrange their own discounts once the customer has made an initial enquiry.
On shopping around I found that most Dealers sell at 20% which makes the price roughly equal to the Festool list price (which of course does not include VAT).

It is extraordinary how uniform that 20% maximum discount is. You would think, in a free market, that competition might lead to someone offering 21% to get the sale, etc, but it doesn't seem to happen in my experience.

Festool, or rather Minden, also don't seem to mind the likes of Rutlands advertising discounted prices, which seem, coincidentally, to be discounts around the 20% mark!

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Martin

Welcome to the forum.

Your review would be very welcome. The more reviews the better.

Cheers
Neil