New Pricing Announcement - Festool

[Ron Pegram]

Hey folks,

Festool has announced that their annual price increase will take place on 2-1-2009. As we've done in the past, McFeely's has prepared a spreadsheet with today's price, the announced new price on 2-1-2009 and the change in both dollars and percentage. Hopefully, you'll find this to be a tool that's useful for your short-term planning for Festool tools and accessories.

On tomorrow, an email is going out from McFeely's with this notice but I thought I'd give you all the heads up today. That price sheet may be found here -> Click for Price Guide from McFeely's

 

[Notorious T.O.D.]

Now there is a way to fight a slumping worldwide economy...raise prices 5 or 10 percent...

Kind of reminds me of when I used to work for General Motors....raise car prices 5 or 6 percent a year and after 15 or 20 years you have cars that cost 3 times what they once did...  And look where that has gotten GM...

Best,
Todd

 

[nickao]

Oh my, business is as bad as ever for people that use tools and an increase from a tool maker. I know things cost more but I think there may be a better way then increasing the prices at this particular point time.

I am sorry but Festool you are putting me in a position to regretfully look elsewhere for tools.

Can there be a worse time to increase prices on power tools . I can see many opting for the DeWalt version of the Festool TS. Even if the Festool is better there is a point of diminishing returns and Festool hit that last year, another price increase is making it very difficult to justify purchasing any more festools.

The Rotex is great , the Bosch 1250 is just as good for 50% less, I know, I have both. The Kapex is so so, the new Milwaukee is almost as good for 65% less.The Fein vacs have been upgraded and are as good and from Germany and still much cheaper than the Ct's, I can go on and on.

I want good tools, but dam how much more can you charge? One would think a discount not an increase would be in order.

I do not care about the reasons for your increase, but you should care about my reasons for seriously considering another tool line.

Maybe you should cut the profit margin, pay the managers less or discount the tools and just sell more volume. Raising the prices ? It seems we just went through a major price change not long ago!

 

[robtonya]

I guess on the other side of the coin, it will help maintain a resale value.

 

[sainttjames]

HA!

What's absolutely funny is that in prior years at least one of the reasons bandied about here was the Euro/Dollar rate and the fall the dollar had taken...approximately 31% over 2 1/2 YEARS!

NOW...the EurUsd rate has fallen 20% in 6 MONTHS!!!! and is roughly where it began in mid-2006....

BUT we still get price increases.....

.....It could've been worse...after all the nominal price increase of 5% at 1.27 EURUSD probably would have been 7-10% had the EURUSD rate stayed at 1.58

....well...at least we have a choice not to buy~

Percentage change in various items measured from Dec 31 2007

Copper                          -55%
Nickel                              -67%
Zinc                                -57%
Crude Oil                        -54%
DJ World stock index      -46%
Soybeans                        -37%

i could go on.... ;D

 

[rnt80]

I didn't go over the list with a fine tooth comb but it looked to me like the Kapex was about the only thing that didn't increase.  Anybody else find that interesting?

 

[alanz]

Kapex and MFT/3

 

[roadking06]

Festool is waiting to raise the price of the Kapex until they sell the current inventory of those first generation turds.

 

[erikfsn]

Festool is waiting to raise the price of the Kapex until they sell the current inventory of those first generation turds.

Hey, I've got one of those "turds"  and love it.

Although this would not seem a great time for price increases, look at it this way.
If you are willing to spend $500 on a tool, is another $30 really going to make a difference
in your decision making? It would not for me.

 

[vteknical]

Perhaps they can use the extra scoots to invest in their call center? 

 

[nickao]

I guess on the other side of the coin, it will help maintain a resale value.

I keep a good tool for life and I think most going in do. So I do not consider resale at all. The only tools I re-sell are tools that do not work out for me, so I should not have purchased them in the first place.

Robert you are such a glass half full type of guy!

 

[nickao]

Festool is waiting to raise the price of the Kapex until they sell the current inventory of those first generation turds.

Hey, I've got one of those "turds"  and love it.

Although this would not seem a great time for price increases, look at it this way.
If you are willing to spend $500 on a tool, is another $30 really going to make a difference
in your decision making? It would not for me.

Well that's what I said three years ago, then two years ago, then in May? It adds up way to fast! And at this point in time shipping is at a VERY low price point.

I got the mft 1080 for what 425.00, know the mft3 for 575.00? Say all you will about the V groove not worth 150.00 more and they are going to raise it again? I could not even read the entire list so I do not even know, I am just glad I purchased everything before the last change. If you add it all up I would spend well over 1500.00 more from before the last change to after the next change which is 13-14 months apart.

I am so glad I have everything Festool I need and anything else is just stuff I want. Its  easy not to buy the stuff that's not a necessity right now, that may be lost on Festool right now. Maybe they need to read the paper here in the US a little more to see where the discretionary spending is going. Its going in the bank with these new prices!

I may sound like a downer, but housing directly effects me, probably as much or more than most. I don't want to bring anyone down for Christmas, sorry.

 

[robtonya]

I guess on the other side of the coin, it will help maintain a resale value.

I keep a good tool for life and I think most going in do. So I do not consider resale at all. The only tools I re-sell are tools that do not work out for me, so I should not have purchased them in the first place.

Robert you are such a glass half full type of guy!

What else are ya gonna do? Just try to look for the silver lining I guess.

 

[erikfsn]

Here's another price increase announcement from the NY Times a day or two ago,

"College May Become Unaffordable for Most in U.S.

By TAMAR LEWIN
The rising cost of college ? even before the recession ? threatens to put higher education out of reach for most Americans, according to the biennial report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

Over all, the report found, published college tuition and fees increased 439 percent from 1982 to 2007 while median family income rose 147 percent. "

 

[Notorious T.O.D.]

Yes, here in NC we have an over 7 percent unemployment rate and banks in extreme financial distress and UNC just announced a 6.8 or so percent increase in tuition.  And the grants and scholarships are just not there for most students theses days.  To me the attitude of the schools is just "the student and or his parents can just borrow the money to pay". 

Another case of the government getting too involved in the university systems and the costs just keep going up and up...and will the jobs be there when the students graduate anyway....?

All the new schools they build down here all have lighted football and baseball fields and tons of student parking places at probably a grand per space, but they don't have enough money for books for all the kids in the classes....

Best,
Notorious

 

[Dan Clermont]

I guess on the other side of the coin, it will help maintain a resale value.

I keep a good tool for life and I think most going in do. So I do not consider resale at all. The only tools I re-sell are tools that do not work out for me, so I should not have purchased them in the first place.

Robert you are such a glass half full type of guy!

What else are ya gonna do? Just try to look for the silver lining I guess.

Up here in Canada Gas is half the price it was last summer. 

Dan Clermont

 

[robtonya]

There you go Dan, That's the attitude. ;D

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Yes, here in NC we have an over 7 percent unemployment rate and banks in extreme financial distress and UNC just announced a 6.8 or so percent increase in tuition.  And the grants and scholarships are just not there for most students theses days.  To me the attitude of the schools is just "the student and or his parents can just borrow the money to pay". 

Another case of the government getting too involved in the university systems and the costs just keep going up and up...and will the jobs be there when the students graduate anyway....?

All the new schools they build down here all have lighted football and baseball fields and tons of student parking places at probably a grand per space, but they don't have enough money for books for all the kids in the classes....

Best,
Notorious

It appears that some state's educators are starting to hear our message.  Tuition for son's last semester (3 years ago) at University of Akron, one of Ohio's state run universities cost more than the entire tuition from that same university for my law degree!!  But Pennsylvania this week announced they are reducing tuition at several of their state run universities, and eliminating the cost differential (preference) favoring students who are residents of their state.  The net effect is that Ohio students heading to college now have more options at lower, or at least no higher cost, than universities in their home states.

Some studies have concluded the prinicpal reason for the rapid and rampant rise in college education costs is the availability of all the public funding that was supposed to make college more affordable for all.

I went to a Woodcraft store today on the SE side of Cleveland.  To my pleasant surprise, I noted their pricing on nearly all species of woods, both domestic and imported, were lower than what I had been seeing earlier this year.  4/4 padauk, purpleheart, mahogany, curly maple were all available in the range of $6 to $7 per BF, for S3S or S4S stock which was essentially clear throughout.

While there I saw the new DeWalt plunge saw, and confirmed it will work with Festool's guide rails, and that DeWalt's "Quick clamps" and right angle and adjustable mitre accessories fit Festool's guide rails.  I ordered a pair of the clamps and one of the fixed 90 degree "t-square" accessories so I can cross-cut sheet goods without the MFT.

Dave R.

 

[robtonya]

Dave, I think you will like that T-Square, I got mine last week, and it looks to be what the doctor ordered. ;D

 

[Notorious T.O.D.]

Yes, here in NC we have an over 7 percent unemployment rate and banks in extreme financial distress and UNC just announced a 6.8 or so percent increase in tuition.  And the grants and scholarships are just not there for most students theses days.  To me the attitude of the schools is just "the student and or his parents can just borrow the money to pay". 

Another case of the government getting too involved in the university systems and the costs just keep going up and up...and will the jobs be there when the students graduate anyway....?

All the new schools they build down here all have lighted football and baseball fields and tons of student parking places at probably a grand per space, but they don't have enough money for books for all the kids in the classes....
Best,
Notorious

It appears that some state's educators are starting to hear our message.  Tuition for son's last semester (3 years ago) at University of Akron, one of Ohio's state run universities cost more than the entire tuition from that same university for my law degree!!  But Pennsylvania this week announced they are reducing tuition at several of their state run universities, and eliminating the cost differential (preference) favoring students who are residents of their state.  The net effect is that Ohio students heading to college now have more options at lower, or at least no higher cost, than universities in their home states.

Some studies have concluded the prinicpal reason for the rapid and rampant rise in college education costs is the availability of all the public funding that was supposed to make college more affordable for all.

I went to a Woodcraft store today on the SE side of Cleveland.  To my pleasant surprise, I noted their pricing on nearly all species of woods, both domestic and imported, were lower than what I had been seeing earlier this year.  4/4 padauk, purpleheart, mahogany, curly maple were all available in the range of $6 to $7 per BF, for S3S or S4S stock which was essentially clear throughout.

While there I saw the new DeWalt plunge saw, and confirmed it will work with Festool's guide rails, and that DeWalt's "Quick clamps" and right angle and adjustable mitre accessories fit Festool's guide rails.  I ordered a pair of the clamps and one of the fixed 90 degree "t-square" accessories so I can cross-cut sheet goods without the MFT.

Dave R.

Dave,
Having spent the first 43 years of my life in western PA, Sharon area in the heart of the Shenango/Mahoning Valley Rust Belt, the problem up there is that there are few good jobs available and the prices and taxes have long been out of sight compared to most of the rest of the country.  I am glad to see that they are trying to move in the right direction, but both my wife and I went to Pitt in the early 80s and our son looked at it.  I think the instate tuition was more than twice what the tuition is here at UNC. 

We still own a home in PA unfortunately and the taxes on a home that we cannot sell for what we paid for it in 1990 run about $6000 a year.  Our home here in NC is valued at more than twice as much as the one in PA and the taxes here run about $200 a month or less than half again. And that includes trash removal in NC which we have to pay extra for in PA.  The taxes and costs are just nuts up there but the people keep voting in the same people to run the place.

Lastly is Woodcraft's prices for domestic lumber are mostly crazy and don't encourage woodworking IMHO.  My friend has a cabinet shop in western PA and he is getting S3S red oak for $1.35 per board foot for FAS grade.  And he is not buying a ton to get a deal as he basically runs a 1.5 man operation.  I think the Woodcraft here in Charlotte wants $4.90 for 4/4 S2S red oak....and on it goes...

Best,
Notorious