Accessories over priced---wish they were reasonable at least.

[cgmojoco]

I get the technology that has to go into making such wonderful tools.

I get the R&D costs that goes into making it all such a powerful system which provides so much value as the items come together synergistically...

And I'm willing to pay for that---to a point.

For a guy that is already paying premium on the power tools, I get so ticked when I get nickled and dimed on the accessories that I find out I need later---I had no idea I would need to spend so much on accessories---useful as they are they are more and more out of reach it seems.

I feel that once I'm on the Festool slippery slope with the power tools, I get LOCKED INTO paying WAY to much for the accessories (some of which should have come with the product to BEGIN WITH---ot always but sometimes it just is ridiculous that an item doesn't come with the accessory for the cost of the tool).

Examples of items I think are WAY overpriced and/or should come with the already premium priced tools they go with:

$82 MFT stabalizers
$95 Crown Stops  EACH
$44 stop flag
$165 Zero Degree Horizontal Base

COME ON.  The flag stop that is like 2 inches by 1 inch big?  That is $.05 in materials, probably costs $.50 to make; maybe another $5 attributed to the R&D. I wish that they just shipped this kind of stuff in from China instead.

As a comparison to what you are getting for your money on that flag stop...this INCRA STOP is the same price...look at all that you get for that...

I can consequently say, these way overpriced accessories, and some of the moderately overpriced accessories....are the only drawback I have with Festool so far.  Its making me think twice about buying more...or even sticking with the brand because I have to triple research how much future accesories might cost (sometimes being comparable in cost to the tool!).  If I need an extra flagstop I have to fork over as much money a good quality chisel?!  Really?  Ok guess I'm building my own---but why did the table not come with 2 or 3 flag stops to begin with?  Chuck em in the box will ya?  I'm paying $650 for a table for goodness sake, give me a couple $2 in cost to you flag stops so I can get the most out of the table...

2 more flag stop purchases and now I'm paying ~$750.

Now I need aquality square to square up the fence...(Festool doesn't offer a product to square up their own tables that I'm aware of) and I'm shelling out $200 for a good square (that I'll most likely ONLY use on the table), now I'm getting close to a grand.

Add in those cross members; maybe two pair to make sure I get that table stable enough to be safe...now I can say I'm at a grand....good lord, my track saw cost a good deal less than that...and if I rest a soda can on it, it doesn't warp...

Is some other marketing department in charge of pricing the accessories vs. the tools?

The router base costs so much.  $165?  How can that be justified?
And it just doesn't look like it costs more than $5 in materials to make, and maybe $10 to recoup R&D costs...

Crown stops $200 on top of the triple priced Kapex?  Ok I get it the Kapex is awesome...its worth $1200...but I didn't research enough...the $800 mobile stand and wings and $200 crown stops...are as much as the tool all over again so I can get FESTOOL accessories that match the tool...didn't know I would need those but I do...had no idea that something like that could cost that much.  Sticker shock.

I think this contributes to the Festool system potentially being underused---people especially hobbyists, buy the tools, and get 1/8th of what they can get out of them if they don't spend time finding all the useful accessories that dealers don't even know about and or are deterred by the cost without getting any hands on experience on how useful the accessories are.

Are the accessories only for the rich?  Who can buy em, test em, and put them in box on a shelf somewhere?

Let's set prices to encourage us to use the darn tools to their best!

Make the accessories affordable, hobbyists will be able to afford them and buy them...and everyone will be happy.  Profits same (you sell more of the same product), and more productivity for your customers; oh and they don't get pissed by paying WAY to much for a piece of plastic and steel with a screw.

And if I want to maintain lost/broken accessories...you make me upset long term...

That is my wish list for now.

Rant over; buying my extra flag stop now...sigh.

Please someone that disagrees with what I've said here...set me straight.  I don't want to flame Festool, I LOVE their tools.
I just want to use them to their fullest and need a little help here.  Maybe I need a scholarship program.

Christopher

 

[mouppe]

Did you ever consider that the higher margin on accessories is there to compensate for the lower margin on the tools themselves?

Many businesses price their products this way.

 

[Corwin]

Good point, Richard! 

Lots of products are like this.  Look at new car pricing -- most any model can be loaded up with options that elevate the price to 50% more than the base model, or more...

 

[GPowers]

I have though several times about getting the second flag stop for the MFT BUT have still not shelled out the $44.00.

 

[John Bates]

No, they are overpriced, the power tools aren't loss leaders to make you buy accessories but some extras are a bit steep for what they are

 

[sheeschen]

Wait, wait!  Before you buy the stops, check out the EKAT prices for the parts to make a stop.  I was looking into that a few weeks ago and found that the parts to make a stop run about $12.  Still pricey considering what it is, but you can put together 3 or 4 stops for the price of one fully assembled.

I'm not sure how much of a hassle it will be to order the parts from EKAT, since I tried my Kapex extension stops first and found that they work (at least for the short direction).

Yeah, the accessories are pricey.  I resisted on many of them until I took the cabinetmaking class and saw how much easier the work flowed with some of them.  At least most of the pricey accessories aren't consumables - I grump every time I need to buy another ink cartridge.  At least with most of Festool, it's a one-time thing.

    Scott

 

[cgmojoco]

Wait, wait!  Before you buy the stops, check out the EKAT prices for the parts to make a stop.  I was looking into that a few weeks ago and found that the parts to make a stop run about $12.  Still pricey considering what it is, but you can put together 3 or 4 stops for the price of one fully assembled.

I'm not sure how much of a hassle it will be to order the parts from EKAT, since I tried my Kapex extension stops first and found that they work (at least for the short direction).

Yeah, the accessories are pricey.  I resisted on many of them until I took the cabinetmaking class and saw how much easier the work flowed with some of them.  At least most of the pricey accessories aren't consumables - I grump every time I need to buy another ink cartridge.  At least with most of Festool, it's a one-time thing.

    Scott

Thanks Scott, I'll give that a go---I don't mind turning a few screws and I sure could use more stops for the MFT not to mention my Kapex.

Kind thoughts -
Christopher

 

[Kev]

Everything you say about price x2 for my local price in Oz.

 

[greenleaf]

Amen Brother.
While we're ranting.
Why cant they make a splinter guard for the off cut side for the TS 75.
They only sell the one for the 55. The 75 even comes with the wrong one. WFT. R&D my A**
And don't tell me the one for the 55 works. The blade doesn't even come in contact with it unit its like 3" deep.
I know I can add a piece to it, but on a $600 saw (which I love) should I have too?

 

[Jesse Cloud]

It steams me, too that things like that are so overpriced.

I look at that and think, I could make these in the shop for nuthin', then after 6 months I realize I am never going to have time to make them, and shell out the $40.

Oh well....

 

[duburban]

are you a pro or hobbyist Christopher?

 

[tjbnwi]

Chris,

Don't by the crown stops if you're getting the UG stand, they are not compatable. Just reverse the wings left to right, right to left. Adjust the wings fore to aft so the lip (that is now on the front side) on the wing to work as your stop.

Tom

 

[GPowers]

Chris,

Don't by the crown stops if you're getting the UG stand, they are not compatable. Just reverse the wings left to right, right to left. Adjust the wings fore to aft so the lip (that is now on the front side) on the wing to work as your stop.

Tom

Great Ideal  [tongue]

 

[Kev]

Chris,

Don't by the crown stops if you're getting the UG stand, they are not compatable. Just reverse the wings left to right, right to left. Adjust the wings fore to aft so the lip (that is now on the front side) on the wing to work as your stop.

Tom

Great Ideal  [tongue]

Nice one Tom  [smile]

 

[Kevin D.]

Once you adopt Festool, you must create a mental wall of acceptance of the price compared to the outside world of tools, and in thus doing, you can function at the Festool way of the way things are.  It is what it is, and please hand me another glass of the green koolaid please.  [blink]

 

[JPatrickWinstead]

I'll give you the same argument I use when people complain about organic produce being overpriced: Is organic expensive, or is everything else artificially cheap? There are plenty of companies making stuff in China, and most of it is cheap junk. People will complain about the loss of skilled manufacturing jobs in America and Europe, but then whine about the price of paying skilled labor a decent wage.

You can argue that some accessories "should" be included, but someone else would complain about paying for something that they don't need. Personally I like being able to get the tool for less and slowly expand its capabilities. I've got about a grand invested in my OF1400, but I probably would never have bought it if I had to pay for all those accessories up front.

 

[mlfaber]

Wait, wait!  Before you buy the stops, check out the EKAT prices for the parts to make a stop.  I was looking into that a few weeks ago and found that the parts to make a stop run about $12.  Still pricey considering what it is, but you can put together 3 or 4 stops for the price of one fully assembled.

I'm not sure how much of a hassle it will be to order the parts from EKAT, since I tried my Kapex extension stops first and found that they work (at least for the short direction).

Yeah, the accessories are pricey.  I resisted on many of them until I took the cabinetmaking class and saw how much easier the work flowed with some of them.  At least most of the pricey accessories aren't consumables - I grump every time I need to buy another ink cartridge.  At least with most of Festool, it's a one-time thing.

    Scott

So, it costs $32.00 for labor???

 

[cgmojoco]

So, it costs $32.00 for labor???

I'm sure I can assemble at least 20 of these in an hour.

At $640/hour ($32*20), I'm taking orders as of now!

[eek]

In all seriousness, I don't want to order from EKAT, if EKAT is meant for replacement parts only.  (can anyone confirm?)

If that were the case I would feel immoral and wouldn't want people to suffer who need replacement parts cheap if people start taking advantage of ordering the individual parts via EKAT and assembling on their own to be significantly cheaper than retail assembled parts; possibly causing the replacement parts cost to go up or something...if that is the case, I won't go any further into researching what else might be 400% cheaper on EKAT to assemble myself.

OR; the flag stop price can change by some executive at Festool who realizes anyone wanting a couple extra flagstops to speed up their workflow probably just spent $2000+ (TS, MFT, Vac---before I am in the market for a new flagstop) on tools and as a company you really should design your pricing so as not to turn them off over a $2 part at that stage of a customers loyalty.

And I agree don't give me costly accessories with the product up front raising my tool price.  But this isn't a costly accessory (which is my point)  ---  2 more in the box for $4 cost to them (or you), and then customers would have what they need to be more productive and nobody takes  a real loss.

If you don't toss em in the box, at least make them reasonable as a separate purchase which is my main gripe.  A 1000% markup (I'm just coming up with arbitrary numbers again) on an accessory for a customer who is trying to be brand loyal, is just a slap in the face.  We are locking ourselves into this wonderful system, don't make us regret it over stupid stuff like this...

The printer/ink pricing model really doesn't apply here.

lol

The world isn't perfect and neither is Festool pricing; not the end of the world; just my wishlist of things to change.

I'm convinced though if you don't see eye to eye on me on this; you aren't drinking the greenade man you are swimming in it!  [tongue]

Postcript:  Agree we also need a TS75 offcut splintergaurd that fits...or put it in your manual that hey, it doesn't fit, we are giving you a piece from another saw; please make this modification to make it work because we haven't included a $.25 piece of plastic on your $600 tracksaw, and the only way you find out is by watching a video somewhere on how much better cuts can be on TS55 when the damn splintergaurd is working as it should...but that is a separate thread in the making if you ask me, don't hijack this badboy which is meant to focus on ridiculously priced accessories

Christopher

 

[Corwin]

Talk about way over analyzing something.  [blink]  Just order the parts already.

 

[cgmojoco]

Talk about way over analyzing something.   [blink]  Just order the parts already.

But "I HAVE A DREAM!"