Veritas prices

[Wizard9999]

Has anyone else noticed the recent fall in the price of Veritas kit in the last few weeks? I ordered a low angle jack plane from Axminster last night and paid pennies over £200, at the very end of August that same plane from the same seller would have cost me £318! The price at Classic Hand Tools is exactly the same as Axminster. A quick check online also showed that at the exchange rate yesterday there was no meaningful saving to buying it from Fine Tools in Germany at the new price. Same story with the Veritas honing guide, was £60 now £36.

Seems like something radical has happened somewhere along the line.

Apologies if somebody else has raised this previously, but I thought better to do so twice than not to do so at all.

Terry.

 

[Doug B]

I also noticed at the European Woodworking show that Veritas prices were down quite considerably, I bought a large carcase saw for around £15 less than I'd paid earlier this year for a small dovetail saw both in the same Veritas range.

 

[IHc1vtr+]

I noticed the same today, Just bought the veritas fine adjustable,graduated, wheel marking gauge. was £44+ got it from axminster today for £30.

 

[themackay]

That's good news fine if some other manufacturers followed suit

 

[JJ1]

Having bought several Veritas items in the past year I've been very happy with the Veritas stuff but wouldn't have considered paying Axminster's prices. Seeing a very helpful post on this forum about purchasing from Fine Tools was very welcome indeed and Veritas tools suddenly became affordable and within reach. Subsequently, two largish orders were placed. I imagine many did the same and I presume Axminster's sales of Veritas equipment plummeted dramatically. Good to see their prices are finally at a respectable and affordable level. Hopefully they'll remain that way.
Having only been into woodwork for a few years I remember always being excited to receive and browse through the Axminster catalogue. However the last year or so, I remember being quite shocked at just how expensive everything was and tended to shop elsewhere.

 

[Wizard9999]

That's good news fine if some other manufacturers followed suit

Well there are certainly some candidates. Sure there are lots of 'good' examples, but my personal 'favourite' at the moment is a Pax Flush cutting saw. Now this Sheffield made saw is on sale at Fine Tools for €14.50, but typically in the UK is £16.00 or even £16.50? How on earth can a UK made saw be shipped to Nother country and then end up being sold for so much less, it just doesn't make sense to me. But maybe I am missing something.

Terry.

 

[beech1948]

Its interesting how you all seem to be saying that Veritas has reduced their prices. I suggest not.

Lee Valley/Veritas supply to Brimark in the UK because Brimark has the wholesale deal to import here.

Brimark has for the past few years been owned by Axminster.

Axminster has been charging outrageous prices for Veritas stuff. High profits come from high charges for products.

Yes Axminster provides good customer service. Remember that this backed by suppliers eg Veritas. You recieve a duff product, Axi swops it for a new one, Axi then recharges Lee Valley/Veritas and gets its money back or a credit against future perchases....or something like that.

USA prices have been considerably lower than UK for some time. Over recent years the £ has improved against the $ BUT we have seen no reduction in prices by Axi.

Look behind the marketing hype and the blustering self satisfaction of so many commentators and a different picture emerges.

At current exchange rates if the UK prices were the same as the US that is whatever the price in dollars was the same number in pounds then Axi would be 0.55 of a pound up before we start.

I have spent my life working in commerce in international deals and am amazed at the gullibility of the UK purchaser.

The UK is the rip-off capital of the world and few even try to questions it.

I had to reinsure 2 cars yesterday. I got a Spanish insurer based in Spain to quote £110 for my wifes Toyota Rav4 against UK companies wanting £280++. Utter rip off from the UK

 

[Wizard9999]

Beech

If Axminster are the only source of Veritas in the UK (through Brimark) then as you say they are in control. May also explain why Canadian Tools, who were the only people in the UK I was aware of who were undercutting the previously prevailing price (by 10% in many cases) now have this statement on their website...

"We can no longer supply veritas tools. Please visit our main Chronos website for some excellent woodworking alternatives."

Maybe as part of the realignment of prices there was a culling of sellers not following the 'expected price'.

Also interesting that the prices are so close to those of Fine Tools at current exchange rate. Maybe all the comments on this and other sites landed.

Terry.

 

[Peter Sefton]

This all changed over the last week and as a Veritas dealer we found out only a few days ago.
The prices on many Veritas lines have dropped by around 30%. We have not updated our website yet but will do this over the coming days along with adding more Veritas products as the changes take effect. This is great news for customers and I am promoting the great Veritas kit to my students with new vigour, along with buying a few goodies for my own tool kit. The amount of dealers has been bought back in line with those who understand and can give good customer product knowledge, including us I am pleased to say

I don't know the full history or background to this, I am sure very few people do but my feeling is this is a great time to buy Veritas :!:

Cheers Peter

 

[Doug B]

Makes me wonder if Veritas will now be another quality brand that Axminster will drop :roll:

 

[Mike-W]

I have been a life long customer of Axminister, i would guess half my woodworking tool chest has been purchased from Axminster in the last 30 years, i have also not been averse in the past to buying Lie-Nielsen and Veritas tools from tool shops in North America when visiting at a considreable saving on UK prices. However in the last 6 months I have been buying Veritas tools from the German website mentioned in an earlier post, i have just compaired what i paid in Euros to the revised prices on the Axminster website and find in all cases Axminster's new prices are within pence of what i imported the tools from Dieter Schmid.
I suspect Axminster/ Brimarc must follow this site coupled with a considerable recentfall in there turnover to European hand tool retailers.
All in all this proves the strength of this forum!

Mike

 

[beech1948]

Wizzard,

More likely that Lee Valley/Veritas were pointing out to Canadian Tools that they had a UK distributor and that CT were not empowered to sell in the UK.

Thus Chronos in the Uk have been left without a source and possibly Axi have not been willing to supply.

The Germans have been fairly close to reasonable prices for Veritas stuff but could be lower.

Obviously Axi has gone down to the German prices but not LOWER.

I am no advocate of low pricing to win orders but I have been beside my self with annoyance at UK prices for many things especially stuff from China.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

I wonder if you all realise that when a distribution agreement is signed with a manufacturer, it comes with a "territory" as part of the licence to distribute. If this is all about the German company everyone's talking about then the reponse by veritas/Axminster wouldn't be to drop their prices, it would be to force the Jerry to stop breaching his distribution agreement by drop shipping into illegal territory.

It isn't in the best interest of either Veritas or Axy to have any premium pricing undermined (if they are selling) so they would jump on anyone doing that if they had a legal stick to hit them with ie the terms of the distribution agreement.

So what makes more sense to me is that the market is simply not prepared to pay the premium pricing, hence the across the board reduction. Sefton's testimony proves it's not unique to Axy so I think they're just a red herring because their store was the first where the reduction was noticed which, due to their size and reach is only to be expected.

 

[Jacob]

.......
So what makes more sense to me is that the market is simply not prepared to pay the premium pricing, hence the across the board reduction. ......

The steam has gone out of the fashion. Bound to sooner or later. There'll be another one along!
I forecast big fall in sales/prices of sharpening paraphernalia.

 

[Jacob]

....
I am no advocate of low pricing to win orders .....

You are always free to pay more if you think a price is too low. Perhaps do it discretely - give the money to a refugee charity or something?

 

[beech1948]

Jacob,

I hope you have not misunderstood me. I do not advocate the lowest price for everything at all. £ are always valuable and cheap cr*p is cheap cr*p.

I look more for value. Will my £ buy me more quality, more durability, more and bigger amounts, more...?

Its a bit like efficiency......do more more quickly but effectiveness is using the efficiency to do more with less.

The blustering consumers here and elsewhere have forgotten ( never knew) that value is more important and high prices for kit are not necessarily the mark of a craftsman ( nor ultra low prices)

In much of our lives we are now so detached, removed, have NO knowledge of any form of manufacturing that we have lost our sense of value, quality and integrity. eg the UK police forces in general

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

eh...UK police forces?? Not sure where you're going with that?

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

.......
So what makes more sense to me is that the market is simply not prepared to pay the premium pricing, hence the across the board reduction. ......

The steam has gone out of the fashion. Bound to sooner or later. There'll be another one along!
I forecast big fall in sales/prices of sharpening paraphernalia.

I'm inclined to think you may be right there Jacob. It feels the same with Lie Nielsen, no idea if they're price dropping but the whole storm about "heirloom quality" seems to have died a death or maybe I've just become a bit jaded about it all. They often had a stand at UK woodshows I frequent and I don't see them any more so they seem to be shrinking.

 

[beech1948]

Random orbit bob,

Where I am going with that is that we have a police hierarchy/officer class which has lost all integrity ( Cliff Richard and many others), which does not pursue smaller local crimes leading to larger and more damaging crime being committed and where the police are now to be seen generally as pretty much not on our/my side but following a set of liberal luney concepts.

You may disagree and thats Ok but recent personal experience has turned me from a bit cynical to downright anti. The police senior managers need to be removed and replaced probably with a 50% increase in police officers at constable level. These "lower ranks " have always been fine its the useless manager/officer class which is failing.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Righto. Have to be honest I'm not entirely sure what you refer to specifically as it sounds personal. As a general rule though (in industry) if the leadership is top heavy everything starts to go wrong because of the time/dilution it takes for the message of whats happening at the coal face to navigate through the policy making machinery.

I must say though that, since the banking crisis precipitated the realisation of too much National debt and the State has been pruning costs dramatically, I thought the police had culled and culled to the point they were already past the fat and into bone. So whilst generically I stand by the notion of top heavy is bad, I didn't realise it was still the case for the police (or indeed hardly any of the public sector since the cutting began).