Can dealers sell old Festool discounted display items?

[Ron B]

I was on vacation, and stopped at a Festool dealer that is part of a large chain.  They had the Festool vacuum pump, pedal, and Vac Sys SE 1 all set up on display.  I asked since this was discontinued if that one was for sale.  He indicated that the marketing side of Festool would not allow them to sell from their display.  I was surprised they had an discontinued item out on display and even more surprised that they are not allowed to sell it.  Can anyone confirm if it is true that dealers cannot sell a discontinued store display item?  Not for sure if I am interested as he mentioned it was 8 or 9 years old but I am sure Henry Ford did not keep a Model T on the showroom floor when the Model A came out. It is mostly that I found something that is very hard to come by, it has been discontinued yet they tell me they are not allowed to sell it. 

Just sounds like weird marketing to me-but there is a lot of that going around.

 

[luvmytoolz]

Might be a warranty thing?

Here in OZ stores definitely sell display stock cheaper when it suits them. When Just Tools recently closed down in Melb they were practically giving new/display Festool gear away. As in CT's and Kapex 120's a little over half price. I'm guessing they had no recourse to return them.

 

[woodbutcherbower]

So what is the dealer supposed to do? Keep it forever? Sounds fishy to me.

 

[ChuckM]

The answer is yes based on an offer I once received from a local dealer.

 

[mino]

Possibly the shop got their display item(s) provided by Festool when they were opening up?

I have seen this also over here when some new/specialist tools come up and the vendor/distributor provides the display set for free, under a contract that it will be displayed for a certain period. Then it is expected to be either returned or the shop may purchase it and sell for a discount.

When such things are up for several years, it can become a problem as no one tends to remember where they came from .. previous accountant is not around anymore etc.

You should ask to talk to the manager and insist they query Festool. The sales clerk may be aware of only part of the story.

 

[Cheese]

The local Woodcraft has an internal wood working shop that customers can be hands-on with some of the Festool equipment. Between customer trials and wood shop use/demonstrations/classes they will replace the heavily used Festool items every 3-4 years and the old tools will be sold to the public with a 30 day warranty and at a reasonable discount.

 

[xedos]

Might be helpful to say which country you were in/asking about.

FoG has a broad reach and the rules may be different depending on whether you are in N.A., the UK, Europe or Austrialasia.

 

[Brian Livingstone]

In Canada, where I live, it appears dealers can.  That is how I acquired my Vac Sys (amazing tool by the way).  I purchased it at a significant discount.  My dealer has my number on speed dial whenever they are looking to get rid of discounted or returned merch. 

I am not going to name the dealer in case they did something wrong.  The dealer is similar and the opposite of Levis Mountain. 

 

[Ron B]

Might be helpful to say which country you were in/asking about.

FoG has a broad reach and the rules may be different depending on whether you are in N.A., the UK, Europe or Austrialasia.

The store is in the Continental United States. 
Thanks for the answers, everybody.
I was not for sure if I was interested being as old as it was, and being that they were not really interested in selling.  They did say they had not sold one in six years, and as soon as the discontinued notice was received they sold six in a week.