Hey Festool folks, it is time for another promotion sale, on the CONTURO

[jcpsmallwoodworkershop]

Hey Festool folks, it is time for another promotion sale, on the CONTURO.

i wonder how many festoolians on this forum actually bought a Conturo or set?
bet i get less than 10 yes responses.

i KNOW from talking to festool dealers (informal survey) and ask so hows the conturo
sales going at your store? sell any? the response is NO.
so who is buying them? perhaps they are selling to companies and not hobbist, not
a surprise, but this would be the an addition unit to compliment a larger unit?

and the fog and festool is getting mundane, time to run a sale, and you festool
have already done the planex, the kapex, what other high dollar item is left that
is not meeting sales goals? conturo?

thanks for reading

 

[Brice Burrell]

I think Festool is well aware that the Conturo would never be a high volume sales item.  It is meant for professional shops, not the hobbyist crowd.  I'd be very surprised if you ever see a sale on it.

 

[jcpsmallwoodworkershop]

Brice
you are probably correct.

but i am thinking festool might wonder if 10 pct off would generate more than a 10 pct
increase in sales over "zero" sales for their dealers who pay festool to be in network?
just asking, not saying they will, but this is basic economics, not that hobbist wont buy
it, and then once they sell the razor, they can sell the blades, consumables like crazy.
again basic economics, since no conturo sales, means no volume on consumables
either, but that is a third party producing that?

sorry to get inside of the baseball

 

[Kev]

There's a lot of science behind price / volume elasticity and you need a lot of data for accurate predictions ... it also applies much better to consumables!

Anyway, my take on discounting the Conturo would be something like ...

A 10% discount would probably only motivate people to buy one earlier than they already intended (wasteful unless you need cashflow from Festool's perspective).

A 20% discount on an item as expensive as the Conturo may create a handful of sales, but would also create a "discount expectation" mind set and delay future sales.

Discounts any higher than 20% would impact premium product perception and would also be greater than I'd expect Festool to economically choose to entertain.

What I could imagine is a high end "starter kit", where you buy Conturo, Accessory Kit, CT26, MFK700, MFT/3 + Conturo Mounting Kit and 4 box supply of the different coloured glues ... all for about 15% off as an edging business kickstarter.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Brice
you are probably correct.

but i am thinking festool might wonder if 10 pct off would generate more than a 10 pct
increase in sales over "zero" sales for their dealers who pay festool to be in network?
just asking, not saying they will, but this is basic economics, not that hobbist wont buy
it, and then once they sell the razor, they can sell the blades, consumables like crazy.
again basic economics, since no conturo sales, means no volume on consumables
either, but that is a third party producing that?

sorry to get inside of the baseball
(emphasis added)

As I see it the hobbyist is the guy looking for the sale.  Festool isn't going to make much on consumables in the hobbyist sector since they might use in 10 years what the professional shop uses in a month. 

 

[teocaf]

Putting aside the imperfect analogy of comparing consumable sales of something like the ubiquitous razor to a highly specialized pro portable tool, and glossing over the inaccurate assumption of sales volume figures gleaned from asking-a-clerk-in-a-hobby-shop type of research, I couldn't help but wonder WHY it would matter if the Conturo went on sale.  If you're a hobbyist and edge things once in a while, why bother with something like the Conturo when you can get excellent results with a heat iron and convert the savings into a bunch of multipurpose tools?  If you're a pro and make money with the thing and save time and effort on high volume, ten percent off would not be a good reason to wait before making a decision to get it.  but i guess i'm speculating too--i really don't know.

what i do know is that i would personally never get one.  to me it's just a fancy way of putting an inexpensive looking thin layer of material on the edge of a board.  i did not get into woodworking to replicate the cheapest looking things on the market.  while you're waiting for your conturo sale,  i will be waiting for the prices of nice hardwoods to drop--i guess we're both out of luck...

 

[Brice Burrell]

...........What I could imagine is a high end "starter kit", where you buy Conturo, Accessory Kit, CT26, MFK700, MFT/3 + Conturo Mounting Kit and 4 box supply of the different coloured glues ... all for about 15% off as an edging business kickstarter.

This isn't directly related to what Kev posted, but... Here in the States, I know we used to have a bundle pack of drills where you'd get a discount.  I don't know if there were other deals like that or not.  We also used to have an introduction price with a small discount on new tools.  Sadly we don't get that anymore.  For the most part we don't get regular deals like you see in Europe, tool plus a free consumable for example.  Occasionally we have a promotional discount or the recon sale.  I would wouldn't mind some volume discounting.  Sandpaper, vac bags and other stuff like that.   

 

[Kev]

while you're waiting for your conturo sale,  i will be waiting for the prices of nice hardwoods to drop--i guess we're both out of luck...

[big grin] [big grin] [big grin]

I can see a time when imitation hardwoods, complete with grain and texture, are manufactured in volume. Potentially even extruded in some way with design tools for customisation.

The sad fact will be it'd be folly to extrude a "log" and use traditional tools to make things [sad]

 

[linnlp12]

I purchased one from berlands house of tools. I am a bad bad boy. So nine replies left.  I am a hobbyist that wants to build custom cabinets, low volume when i retire from my profession. Right now I am building a kitchen and bathroom in my own home,euro style. I purchased tools and for what i spent on festools i could have had the 2 rooms professionaly done. But i wanted my signature on my house and to enjoy my hobby.

 

[linnlp12]

By the way I am traveling in Europe now and looking at festools NAINA, sick.........

 

[WastedP]

I realize the Conturo's price tag is large in comparison to pretty much every other tool Festool makes.  I think it's at a pretty good price for the market niche that it occupies.    It seems like it would pay for itself pretty quick in a low-volume cabinet shop, because it's much cheaper than the higher-priced alternatives, and much better at what it does than the lower priced options. 

For the hobbyist, I don't know if it would make much sense, even at 30% off, so a discount isn't going to drive a ton of additional sales.  Certainly not enough sales to make up for the lost profit from the discount.

For the collector, I don't think the price ultimately matters.