Does Festool Black Friday?

[sawdust-samurai]

Just wondering if Festool or an of the major retailers of their products do decent Black Friday sales? 

 

[squall_line]

No.  Pricing is across the board in the USA.

The best you can hope for is a free T-Shirt or trucker cap with a purchase over a certain amount.

 

[bwehman]

TBH this is one of the many things that drew me to Festool. It was exhausting trying to play the sales game. It's so nice to just pick up a tool when I need it and not be worried that it's going to be 20% OFF DEAL DEAL DEAL next month.

 

[Brev]

TBH this is one of the many things that drew me to Festool. It was exhausting trying to play the sales game. It's so nice to just pick up a tool when I need it and not be worried that it's going to be 20% OFF DEAL DEAL DEAL next month.

100% Agreed.

 

[Ron B]

Sometimes you can find a deal on a Festool with a non-current SKU.  A couple of years ago they changed the systainers.  That meant even though the tool inside was the same as in the new systainers, it could be discounted. 

Festool just had a deal on both dominos and a couple of sanders.  There might still be some of those floating around.

A few years ago, I purchased a couple of items on Black Friday that came out of Europe. 

Sometimes a dealer will get their Festool license pulled, or will drop Festool on their own, and it that case they just want to clear out inventory and will discount it.

You can check the Recon (ONEANDDONE) Festool site which sells returned item.  But this can be a crap-shoot.  I have gotten pristine items, my son received an eleven year old router.  This can be returns, items sent back by dealers, or items sent in for repairs and then abandoned because cost to repair was too high.

But normally on current product with a current dealer, prices are set.  Then you are looking for knowledge and service from the dealer. 

 

[Ron B]

HA!  Spellcheck changed C- R- A- P  shoot to junk shoot. 

 

[Crazyraceguy]

HA!  Spellcheck changed C- R- A- P  shoot to junk shoot.

Yeah, the filter doesn't like certain words. I ran into it one time, long ago, but I don't remember the word?

As the others have said, active dealers cannot discount current items. There are a few things that it happens with, but they are usually "specialty/seasonal" or limited addition items that did not sell out initially.
As an example: Hartville Hardware has the Installation Organizer Set 205747 marked down to $135, was $225 originally. Apparently they just didn't sell as expected?
If they still had a metric one, I would buy it. I got mine early-on and if I had known, I would have picked up the metric then. The main reason I didn't was the fact that the only metric parts in the set are the end wrenches. All of the hex keys and nut drivers are still Imperial.....in the metric set. (Make that make sense)

It's kind of funny though, because basically everything that gets announced as discontinued sells out immediately. (RAS115, LS130, Vac Sys, etc)

How in the heck did an 11 year old router hit the ReCon? I realize that some items can be a couple of years old, when purchased new at the dealer, but 11? That's crazy. I thought most of the ReCon stuff was things that people returned on the 30 day policy?

 

[sawdust-samurai]

Thanks for the info everyone.  I don't mind buying tools when I need (I did this today in fact) them and I've already bought a sander off of Recon and it looked like it was brand new.  A 30 day return I would guess.

I also don't minded planning some purchases out for things I'd like but don't need and saving money on those purchases is a plus in my book  [wink]

 

[onocoffee]

Speaking of discounted Festool, do you guys think $400 is a deal on a corded Carvex PS400 (it's new from the dealer)?

 

[squall_line]

Speaking of discounted Festool, do you guys think $400 is a deal on a corded Carvex PS400 (it's new from the dealer)?

If it's truly a PS400 and not a PS420, and it's brand new, it's gotta be a decade old by now.  You may be able to register the warranty, but you may not be able to get parts.

If it's a PS420, if you need it for rough work, the warranty is better than Recon or used.

I sold my corded PS420 recently and got a Mafell P1CC.  I kept my cordless PSC420 to use as a demolition tool in instances where a recip saw is too big for the job.

 

[onocoffee]

Ooops, you're right. It's the newer PS420 and not the 400. You mentioned rough work, is it not suitable for fine clean cutting?

Speaking of discounted Festool, do you guys think $400 is a deal on a corded Carvex PS400 (it's new from the dealer)?

If it's truly a PS400 and not a PS420, and it's brand new, it's gotta be a decade old by now.  You may be able to register the warranty, but you may not be able to get parts.

If it's a PS420, if you need it for rough work, the warranty is better than Recon or used.

I sold my corded PS420 recently and got a Mafell P1CC.  I kept my cordless PSC420 to use as a demolition tool in instances where a recip saw is too big for the job.

 

[Systainer.Store]

I can't speak for Festool, but Systainer USA will be having a sail in late November.  More details to be released closer to the event.

 

[kevinculle]

Ha!  Festool's idea of a sale is to warn you just before the annual price increase! 

 

[Coen]

I can't speak for Festool, but Systainer USA will be having a sail in late November.  More details to be released closer to the event.

Sail events are usually in the summer  [tongue]

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I can't speak for Festool, but Systainer USA will be having a sail in late November.  More details to be released closer to the event.

Sail events are usually in the summer  [tongue]

Ha ha...I see what you did there  [big grin]

 

[MarkV1]

So, while we're on the topic of sales - any thoughts on the DF 700 STRT set ?  Good deal?  (imagine it depends)

The short of it is while I have a DF500 and have used multiple tenons on thicker stock, I want to do some larger things that would benefit from the DF 700 connectors.  I don't get as excited by the idea of using 2x the number of DF500 connectors.  I've been mulling a DF700 for some time while working on projects that I don't need to disassemble/reassemble and am wondering if this is the time to suck it up.

It looks like most of the "deal" is loose tenon stock and since about 60 to 80% of that will likely go unused (at least I typically only use two sizes with the DF500, maybe that will change with the 700), it doesn't seem like a huge savings.

 

[cpw]

So, while we're on the topic of sales - any thoughts on the DF 700 STRT set ?  Good deal?  (imagine it depends)

The short of it is while I have a DF500 and have used multiple tenons on thicker stock, I want to do some larger things that would benefit from the DF 700 connectors.  I don't get as excited by the idea of using 2x the number of DF500 connectors.  I've been mulling a DF700 for some time while working on projects that I don't need to disassemble/reassemble and am wondering if this is the time to suck it up.

It looks like most of the "deal" is loose tenon stock and since about 60 to 80% of that will likely go unused (at least I typically only use two sizes with the DF500, maybe that will change with the 700), it doesn't seem like a huge savings.

I find that even if I cluster around 2-3 sizes for the DF500 and the bigger two for the 700, it is useful to have the cutter options available with a few tenons.  I don't remember quite what it was for, but I recently opened the 10mm bag of tenons that came with my DF500 after having it for 7 years.  I miscut an 8mm mortise, and going up to the 10mm allowed me to salvage the workpiece.

 

[squall_line]

To me, the biggest "issue" with the DF700 bundle is that, unlike the DF500 bundle, the 700 bundle only includes the cutters and tenons for 2 sizes, not all 4.  If you plan to use the 8/10, then the bundle may be worth it.  If you were looking to use 12/14 more, then the bundle itself doesn't get you very far.

 

[MarkV1]

To me, the biggest "issue" with the DF700 bundle is that, unlike the DF500 bundle, the 700 bundle only includes the cutters and tenons for 2 sizes, not all 4.  If you plan to use the 8/10, then the bundle may be worth it.  If you were looking to use 12/14 more, then the bundle itself doesn't get you very far.

Thanks!  I didn't think of that and that's significant since the DF500 already covers those sizes (although at a lesser depth).  Looks like I can keep waiting.

(Just looked more closely) It does come with the 12mm cutter by default, so you would have 3 of the 4 cutters but only tenons for the 8/10.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

I started with the DF700 because my initial need was for the larger 14mm Dominos and connectors for furniture projects. At the time, I also bought the Seneca adapter and the smaller DF500 cutter/Domino kit, but really didn't leverage the big tool for small work. I've since acquired a DF500 (barely used for a nice price) that I use when my need is 8mm or smaller as the lighter weight makes it more comfortable for me to use for those tasks. I think these tools are complimentary, but while they are individually going to be more optimized for their given native size range, there is at least the capability to cross over with the larger machine for folks who primarily need "the beef" but also want the utility of being able to go small if necessary.

That said, I was also not terribly happy that the DF700 didn't come with all the cutter sizes it's capable of when I bought mine.