guide rail pricing

harry_

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Joined
Nov 22, 2009
Messages
1,344
I do not for the life of me understand the pricing structure surrounding the guide rails.

I think that this is the only time aside from 'clearance pricing' where the cost/unit goes up as you buy more of it.

800mm -> $0.078/mm
1080mm -> $0.074/mm
1400mm -> $0.067/mm
so far this is what one would customarily expect.... cost/unit going down

here it seems backwards as the cost/mm goes up significantly as compared to those listed above and continuing to rise
1900mm -> $0.088/mm
2400mm -> $0.096/mm
2700mm -> $0.096/mm

3000mm -> $0.096/mm
5000mm -> $0.094/mm

The 1400 guide rail is, if my math is correct, ~15% less/mm than the 800, but the 3000mm is ~20% more. The only logic I can see behind that is packaging costs. However I have a hard time believing those costs increase at those rates. So what gives?

 
As a courtesy I will reply to your post but the answer is that I don't think it's appropriate to discuss pricing strategies.  Also, I'm not sure that I would consider +/- a couple of pennies per mm as being "significant".

Customers are welcome to purchase rails that work best for them based on their specific needs.  If pricing is a consideration in your purchasing decisions, I would recommend buying the least expensive per unit length and joining them to the desired length.

Thanks.
 
I will respond

I think shipping is the huge factor as longer rails require special handling............ not just from the dealer to you but all the way from Germany to the dealer as well.

Craig
Also by the time you "need a longer rail you are willing to pay the extra because you have already been sold on its utility

 
 
shipping [2cents] [2cents] [2cents]crating it can or will double the cost how do i know  [scratch chin] i own two 5000 [blink]
 
First of all Shane. I must disagree with you that it is inappropriate to discuss pricing strategies here.  I do agree that it is probably inappropriate for Festool employees to discuss them but ordinary members should be able to discuss them ad-nosium (as most likely we will make lots of incorrect guesses when doing so  [unsure] ).

Secondly I agree that the extra price per mm for the longer rails is most likely due to increased shipping and handling costs.  That seems quite reasonable.
 
i agree with you frank.
i think it is very appropriate that we discuss festool pricing.
i hope this is not a sign of things to come on this website.
that would be most unfortunate......

regards, justin.
 
My apologies if I wasn't clear.  My comment was intended to mean that it's not appropriate for employees of Festool to discuss since this was posted in the "Ask Festool" section of the forum.  Members... have at it  [wink]
 
My apologies if I should have dumped this thread  in another header... If that be the case, then moderators feel free to do what you do.

Shane, if it makes you feel any better I say the same thing you said about stainless steel nails. the difference in the cost of a nail is insignificant. Problem is, I cant buy a nail, they come in a box of 5000 and the difference is $75. That's a tank of gas :D

Just because we are buying the best tools and know it (on both sides of the equation), does not mean that we should not be saavy about it. I am doing what consumers do, whine about a high price with the hope that maybe, just maybe, the manufacturer will back the screw out just a little.

............... in the meantime, can I have some more kool-aid? [not worthy]
 
Another factor that's related to shipping; I would guess that the longer the rail the higher the likelihood Festool will have to replace rails damaged in shipping. Shipping insurance or not, I doubt the shipping companies eat the bent ones.
 
This is a total shot in the dark, and I could be wrong.  So lets say we are cutting a room full of baseboard.  We cut the longest pieces first, because if we screw up we can recut them as the shorter pieces and not waste material.  Since the guide rails are all one piece, there may be a higher percentage of process waste for the longer rails.  If a long rail were damaged, it could be salvaged somewhere in the process to make one or more shorter rails.  We still wouldn't have a long rail, so we would have to try again.

Also, with a long single piece rail there may need to be greater care taken in the manufacturing process, leading to possibly more expensive tooling and higher labor and inspection costs.  We don't know all the factors, but I would venture a guess that as the rail gets longer, it becomes more difficult to manufacture and there is some variable(s) that effect the cost.  I'm sure increased shipping and shipping damage rates figure in there somewhere as well.

I just made all this stuff up, so again, I could be completely wrong and who knows what the truth is.  
 
My parents encouraged all the kids to ask questions because it lead to knowledge.  They also told us that we shouldn't be mad or disappointed if we didn't get answers to our questions.  In those cases they taught us to try and figure it out ourselves.  They said that if we did that we might also figure out why we didn't get an answer.
 
One thing I know for sure is that it is much more difficult to pull my long rail off the shelf and position it for use without bumping into something. I think the same holds true for manufacturing long components. The risk of damage is higher at every step. Add the shipping costs; we only see the cost getting it to our door but Festool has to get it across the pond and into their locations as well. Lastly, there is the economy of scale. Certain sizes are going to be made in higher volumes and it certainly isn't the long rails.
 
greg mann said:
One thing I know for sure is that it is much more difficult to pull my long rail off the shelf and position it for use without bumping into something. I think the same holds true for manufacturing long components. The risk of damage is higher at every step. Add the shipping costs; we only see the cost getting it to our door but Festool has to get it across the pond and into their locations as well. Lastly, there is the economy of scale. Certain sizes are going to be made in higher volumes and it certainly isn't the long rails.

Greg,

You nailed it.

  Bob
 
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