Sad that they are not even waiting a year anymore for the annual price increase.

I must of scrolled through the list too fast as I didn't see the Kapex?!?  Maybe no price increase....

You are correct...the only tool without a price increase. 

As someone that owns most of what they make and use it to make a living, the upside is that it is also an investment as long as I keep them in good shape...and I'm anally neurotic about the condition of my tools.  A whole lot of my Festools are now worth as much or more than I initially paid for them.

Quote from: kdzito on January 05, 2018, 03:28 PM

I must of scrolled through the list too fast as I didn't see the Kapex?!?  Maybe no price increase....

You are correct...the only tool without a price increase. 

Rats.

That is the only tool that I own that I want a price increase!

I want the Kapex but by the time I’m able to afford it, it will be closing in on 2k. 

Can somebody help a newbie to FESTOOL understand the price increases as it relates to these points?  Does it increase by 3% every year or by the same amount as inflation?  If inflation is low, do they increase less?  Most people I know arent getting raises which keep up with inflation ... it seems at this pace the customer base for the brand will begin shrinking??

These price increases are getting really annoying. Festool tools are not the ultimate tools out there. Many other brands offer some better aspect. I don't know any other tool company that increases their price every years, in fact most have sales and decreases the prices when a new version comes out.  The new Dewalt 12 inches dual bevel miyet saw sells for 649$. I bought mine in 1998 which I paid close to 900$. The festool miter saw is now selling for 2000$$$!!! Ridiculous. I have few festool tools right now but not looking into buying anymore.

I agree, they are out pricing they’re core purchasers .
My pay has not gone up 30% in 5 years.
Charlie


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I joined not to long ago, and bought a lot of stuff.
I like the system and the tools I bought.
But after checking the price difference, there was a bad taste in my mouth.
I will not be running to buy any Festool before a price increase.
And if you buy Festool instead of other tools because the value holds up, then I think you may be investing wrong.
People keep trying to come with reasons to not feel like a chump for spending hard earned cash and dumping it into this company, which I like but refuse to become a junkie.
So this happens every year?
How far will you go before saying enough.
For example- Festool track saw or makita track saw.- can the Festool track saw be 3 times more expensive? 5 times more expensive? Would you still buy Festool if it was 10 times more expensive just because it is Festool?
I buy for the system and tool specific, after that I use my head to make a proper decision on application, cost, frequency etc...
I am only a hobbyist, so take my opinion for what it is.
But there will be no running from me.
Maybe Festool should look into getting with professionals, Hobbyists, and creative people.
Seems like the other tool companies are doing it and benefiting from it.
I see loyalties shifting. That money will go somewhere.

The price has already gone up here Australia, if it wasn't ridiculously expensive anyway. 

I bought my first tools back in ‘07. Midi $425 and Rotex 150 $440 if I’m remembering it correctly.

A little while ago I saw a broken midi sell on eBay for $200. It did not run and still went for decent money.

I’m glad I have almost one of everything they sell that I need but the constant price  increases across everything is getting out of hand.

Thankfully the TS75 is my last Festool.  I have everything else I need.  I can't keep paying more and more for Festool when the competition is quickly closing the performance gap and their tools are a heck of a lot cheaper.

PT Barnum was an optimist...or would he be a pessimist?  Anyway he badly underestimated the rate at which suckers are born!  The input costs of building products like these tools vary year to year, raw material costs generally fell during the period 2008-12 as the effects of the financial crisis rippled through the global economy.  As was observed by jimH2 above, if these increases were the result of economic factors the dollar cost of Festool products should have plummeted by 27% in 2014 even including the 3% increase.  So the game Festool management is playing is not pricing their goods to compensate for their costs, it is a different game altogether.

Festool's marketing strategy is to be perceived and purchased as a luxury good.  The pricing of luxury goods is largely unrelated to the costs of production, rather the high price of the product compared to comparable products is the most important factor in the marketing strategy.  When a person steps out of a Bentley, or opens the Systainer and pulls out his Festool on a worksite he is "making a statement" about himself and his status.  Of course both of these products are very well made and perform their tasks admirably, but there is no rational economic framework to justify prices that are a large multiple of non-luxury competitive products.  One requisite of luxury marketing is that sales volumes are constrained in order to support the perception of exclusivity that owners enjoy.  This actually causes the price to be higher than it otherwise would as fixed costs like R&D, tooling and plant are amortized across much smaller production volumes.

There is nothing wrong with positioning your product as a luxury good and it can be a lucrative proposition if the perception of the market supports that positioning.  There is also nothing wrong with being a consumer of luxury goods, but you are sort of missing the point when you bemoan relentless price increases that seem unrelated to costs as those price increases are the whole point of the marketing strategy!

Sheer madness.  No improvements, enhancements, value-added add-ons, the dollar doing well against most all European currencies (so I've been told - I am not a global currency specialist), and yet for the same old stuff, we have the opportunity to pay even more - I DON"T THINK SO!  After investing almost $20K (USD) in Festool stuff, I have now found better (equal quality, lower cost) tools and consumables, except for DE bags - so that's where my $ will go.  Greed is the only possible explanation, and I refuse to support greed.

All this may sound like I don't like my Festools - wrong, I do, and use them every time I am in my shop.  Having said that, I think it is patently absurd, given the status of the global economy to pay more today for a tool, say a TS75, than what I did 5 or so years ago when I got my TS75 - it hasn't been improved nor enhanced over these past years, and given exchange rates, it should cost no more, in USD, to manufacture it today that it did 5 years back - certainly not 4 or 5 years worth of price increases.

And back to the DE bags, if anyone knows of a non-Festool alternative, please let me know.

DrD

Shane...I assume it is OK to respond to the specifics of your post here.  Most of the commodities you cited have price histories that display both extended periods of large increases and extended periods of large decreases.  That is what happens when supply and demand are the primary drivers of price as they are with eggs, milk, lumber and gasoline.  The exact opposite of those market dynamics is a clockwork 3% increase every winter.  Luxury goods manufacturers constrain supply and set price to support the luxury goods perception.  The Kapex exception is telling...it is inconceivable to me that Kapex sales have not decreased over the past couple years in view of the motor failure publicity.  A drop in sales would usually prompt significantly reduced pricing through an actual price change or temporary rebate, but with luxury goods pricing is the primary market focus.

FOG Friends,

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Beat the price increase, order now to save!



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