Lee Valley no longer selling Festool

[Jason Kehl]

I just went to the Lee Valley website and, at least for now, they won't be carrying the full Festool line. I wonder what "the circumstances beyond their control" are?

j

 

[Kevin McConville]

If I were to speculate it would be exchange rate based problems

 

[thedude306]

That's an interesting note.

I am going to guess it's the strong US dollar.  But I could be wrong.

 

[nclemmons]

I was just on their Canadian site and did not see any Festool tools that were not available.  It looks like they are carrying the full line.

Where did you read they are no longer selling?

 

[gkaiseril]

The Festool page.

Dear Customer,

Circumstances beyond our control have made it uneconomic to continue offering the FESTOOL line of power tools. While the associated accessories and supplies are also affected by the same external forces, we will continue to support the products already sold to the best of our ability.

We fully expect that this will be a relatively short-term problem, and hope to offer the complete line again soon.

In the meantime – we'd suggest that this is a good time to replenish your supplies!

Please accept our apologies for the unplanned interruption in service.

Lee Valley Tools Ltd.

 

[upscale]

I was just on their Canadian site and did not see any Festool tools that were not available.  It looks like they are carrying the full line.

Well, it's there now on the LV Festool page.

 

[bionicus]

The Kapex isn't available for purchase, the day before the 10% sale begins. Convenient.

 

[nclemmons]

Thanks - I clicked on the left nav item under 'whats new' rather than the top festool nav item.

Agree with others, that it has to be the US / Canadian exchange rate that drove this decision.

 

[Benjamin]

In all honesty though even though I love Lee Valley ( I'm there every second day to buy something) there not a serious festool dealer anyways. I go to there main store in Canada and they just have the bare minimum when it comes to stock. tons of stuff is special order so for me its nice to swing by and get a blade or pack of splinter guards but its nothing like going to a real Festool dealer.

I go to Atlas Machinery in Toronto and they have EVERYTHING... every weird accessorys, extra parts and are super knowledgable .

Anyways I'm not trying to advertise for Atlas as much as I have to say its not the worst news I've heard, as I live 5min away from Lee valley and I'd rather drive 45min to a proper dealer. Sorry to say it but its true.

 

[upscale]

Anyways I'm not trying to advertise for Atlas as much as I have to say its not the worst news I've heard, as I live 5min away from Lee valley and I'd rather drive 45min to a proper dealer. Sorry to say it but its true.

It's a difference between browsing and knowing exactly what you want. Atlas has all sorts of tools, many similar types that you can compare in capability and pricing. Lee Valley is more dedicated to the know what you want, buy it and leave scenario.

 

[Benjamin]

Anyways I'm not trying to advertise for Atlas as much as I have to say its not the worst news I've heard, as I live 5min away from Lee valley and I'd rather drive 45min to a proper dealer. Sorry to say it but its true.

It's a difference between browsing and knowing exactly what you want. Atlas has all sorts of tools, many similar types that you can compare in capability and pricing. Lee Valley is more dedicated to the know what you want, buy it and leave scenario.

I totally agree

 

[thedude306]

With amazon.ca now carrying festool, I don't think losing LV is a big deal.  Especially for consumables and accessories. 

 

[JCLP]

Totally agree with Benjamin and Upscale. You better know what you want because there is no one there to help you. Take your number and hope they have stock. The good thing about Lee Valley selling Festool was that they were just a short drive across the 407, now I have to drive the down the Don Valley parking lot to get to Atlas. No more quick runs to buy supplies. Hopefully my dealer in Markham will kick it up a notch and start carrying more stock otherwise will be looking for alternate solutions.
Now on Lee Valley's defense, many years ago I re-sold CAD software that was developed and sold through an American company and found it to expensive to carry their products as they were charging Canadian resellers in $US. With the exchange rate the way it is and still climbing it makes it almost impossible to make money. Festool needs to import directly to Canada from Germany so our dealers do not get hammered with the exchange rate. The 20% - 30% margins they have is being eaten away by the exchange rate. If Festool wants to continue to sell here they will have to do what other large companies have done, setup distribution in Canada, charge their dealers in $CAD. I predict we will see other Festool dealers making the same deicison as Lee Valley did. It's purely economics.

 

[Rob Lee]

I just went to the Lee Valley website and, at least for now, they won't be carrying the full Festool line. I wonder what "the circumstances beyond their control" are?

j

Hi All,

We certainly regret the necessity of withdrawing the power tools from sale, but cannot (will not) continue sell product at a loss. This current predicament is not unique to Lee Valley - every Canadian retailer of Festool products is facing the same situation.

We will wait this one out.

Rob Lee

 

[tiralie]

I don't get the whole exchange rate argument...This would affect a great many of the other products that they stock and I don't see them discontinuing them...yet...it's none of my business however. I like and will continue to use Lee Valley. If they don't have what I want/need I will ask my Canadian supplier to import it from the U.S. or do so myself.
We are after all their 51st state, well maybe the 52nd. I think Israel gets more aid so they are ahead of us.

...now I have to drive the down the Don Valley parking lot to get to Atlas. No more quick runs to buy supplies.

Atlas will courier your stuff. They pack it up and send it out usually the same day. That is way better than sitting in goofy traffic that rivals the 405 in L.A. I like visiting Atlas and really try to get there but the wasted time driving to pick stuff up drives me nuts.

Festool needs to import directly to Canada from Germany so our dealers do not get hammered with the exchange rate. The 20% - 30% margins they have is being eaten away by the exchange rate. If Festool wants to continue to sell here they will have to do what other large companies have done, setup distribution in Canada, charge their dealers in $CAD.

There are too many disincentives for Festool to directly import to Canada, the cost and hassle of having to package in dual language is one of many idiotic barriers to entry...then we have the stupid CSA approvals, the list goes on and on. All this overhead adds to the high cost of living here.

I predict we will see other Festool dealers making the same decision as Lee Valley did. It's purely economics.

Maybe, but it's likely (prudent) that they will raise prices on (existing) incoming stock. They will and should make money on the spread.
Will they sell less, yes. Will this affect their relationship with Festool, probably. Sh!t happens.
Tim

 

[hopper]

I don't get the whole exchange rate argument...This would affect a great many of the other products that they stock and I don't see them discontinuing them...yet...it's none of my business however. I like and will continue to use Lee Valley. If they don't have what I want/need I will ask my Canadian supplier to import it from the U.S. or do so myself.
We are after all their 51st state, well maybe the 52nd. I think Israel gets more aid so they are ahead of us.

Your comment implies that Canada gets aid from the US.  I would be very surprised if that were true.

 

[Rob Lee]

I don't get the whole exchange rate argument...This would affect a great many of the other products that they stock and I don't see them discontinuing them...yet...it's none of my business however. I like and will continue to use Lee Valley. If they don't have what I want/need I will ask my Canadian supplier to import it from the U.S. or do so myself.
We are after all their 51st state, well maybe the 52nd. I think Israel gets more aid so they are ahead of us.

(snip)

Hi -

It's very straightforward.... if we are free to set prices - we just increase to compensate. That is not the case here. We are told what to pay in one currency, and told what to charge in a different currency. If the rates change enough - what you pay becomes more than what you are able to sell it for.

I.e. - we pay USD 100 for something, and sell it for $140 CAD .... we make $40 if the exchange rate is 1.0
        we pay USD 100 for something, and sell it for $140 CAD ... we lose $20 if the exchange rate is 1.6 .

     

Simplistic example - but relevant here.

Cheers -

Rob

 

[JCLP]

I don't get the whole exchange rate argument...This would affect a great many of the other products that they stock and I don't see them discontinuing them...yet...it's none of my business however. I like and will continue to use Lee Valley. If they don't have what I want/need I will ask my Canadian supplier to import it from the U.S. or do so myself.
We are after all their 51st state, well maybe the 52nd. I think Israel gets more aid so they are ahead of us.

(snip)

Hi -

It's very straightforward.... if we are free to set prices - we just increase to compensate. That is not the case here. We are told what to pay in one currency, and told what to charge in a different currency. If the rates change enough - what you pay becomes more than what you are able to sell it for.

I.e. - we pay USD 100 for something, and sell it for $140 CAD .... we make $40 if the exchange rate is 1.0
        we pay USD 100 for something, and sell it for $140 CAD ... we lose $20 if the exchange rate is 1.6 .

     

Simplistic example - but relevant here.

Cheers -

Rob

I agree Rob. Makes perfect sense. Was in a similar situation many years ago when I was a reseller for high CAD software out of the states. The company finally decided to charges in $CAD instead of $US, that way we didn't need to worry about the exchange. They bit the bullet to retain their customer base and reseller network. Charged the difference to their marketing budget. Our margins were then based on the $CAD MSRP and not the $US. Therefore %20 margins was 20 and not -%5. Hopefully the CAD dollar will rebound before end of year.

 

[Benjamin]

I don't get the whole exchange rate argument...This would affect a great many of the other products that they stock and I don't see them discontinuing them...yet...it's none of my business however. I like and will continue to use Lee Valley. If they don't have what I want/need I will ask my Canadian supplier to import it from the U.S. or do so myself.
We are after all their 51st state, well maybe the 52nd. I think Israel gets more aid so they are ahead of us.

(snip)

Hi -

It's very straightforward.... if we are free to set prices - we just increase to compensate. That is not the case here. We are told what to pay in one currency, and told what to charge in a different currency. If the rates change enough - what you pay becomes more than what you are able to sell it for.

I.e. - we pay USD 100 for something, and sell it for $140 CAD .... we make $40 if the exchange rate is 1.0
        we pay USD 100 for something, and sell it for $140 CAD ... we lose $20 if the exchange rate is 1.6 .

     

Simplistic example - but relevant here.

Cheers -

Rob

I Really respect what Rob is doing as I hope it gets festool thinking . As every year the price increases keeping growing and growing . In like 5 years the ts55 will be something crazy like $980 plus tax. I'm wondering how much the kapex will be after this years increase? I'm lucky to have a lot of it now as in my opinion it's really growing out of most peoples budget.

 

[tiralie]

That is not the case here. We are told what to pay in one currency, and told what to charge in a different currency.

Rob:
Thanks for the explanation.

Festool's contract terms are too restrictive. I understand their reasons, customers in one country will use the currency spread to buy tools in another country and save, but really their inability or rather the notion that they can manage this is just plain idiotic.

I did forget to mention on my last rant that I will continue to buy plenty of stuff from Lee Valley. Whether you guys sell Festool or not makes no difference to me.

Thanks again for the explanation, I didn't really deserve it.
Tim