Price Increase in Canada

[Jim Green]

So prices are increasing on some items. Everything goes up obviously but with Festool there seems to be a lack of innovation and or updates on there tools. Occasionally they introduce a new tool(planex, conturo, circular saw) but nothing that would spur a lot of people to buy(impact driver for example). I guess one could say there is not much room to improve on quality tools but I would like to see more from Festool. I find myself more and more looking at other brands to replace my aging Festool tools. Not a bash against Festool just a observation.

 

[LooseSox]

I mentioned this in the thread about the American price rise but seems to fit in well here too. Not sure about what market movement is like in Canada, but in Australia pretty much all power tool brands increase by approximately 3-4% every January/February. Having said that, a 4% increase on a $2000 festool mitre saw is probably a bit more noticeable than a 4% increase on a $500 makita mitre saw :/

 

[Jim Green]

Hi  Loosesox, I understand the prices need to be increased but with other manufacturers they often come with updates and new features. Not all updates are that impressive but sometimes they are. I think other manufactures are producing better tools lately. There are many choices in drills for instance that are cheaper and better. The price increase over the years have really added up. At these prices my old self probably would not have gone down the rabbit hole. At the same time many of the tools have remained unchanged. Some Festool items I will probably always stick with because the are great and worth the cost but I find myself going to other brands lately because the cost and features don't warrant the price.

 

[LooseSox]

There is always back of house stuff that stuff that most people don't factor in. Rent/mortgage on offices and factories, power/gas/water, insurance, taxes, wages... all these things never go down, only up. So even if they never updated any tools ever again, or bought out any new tools, the existing range will always increase in price, it's just the nature of business.

The saving grace for festool drills imho was when I was still in trade school and I dropped one off of a 4m high scaffold onto the carpark. The battery unclipped and it had a few scratches, other than that it was good to go again. Having said that, their range is somewhat lacking and the proprietary centrotec system annoys me too. I love the TS and the CT vacs along with the domino of course. Other than that, I'm finding myself using Bosch and Makita a lot more lately.

 

[McNally Family]

Although more expensive to begin with, no price increase for Mafell this year!  This enables me to delay my next Mafell purchase (for now)

 

[DrD]

Not trying to hijack threat.... another poster on another thread here on FOG did an actual price comparison for Mafell jig saw with Carvex, comparing what comes with each and what must be bought to make the 2 kits comparable, and the Mafell, IIRC, was less expensive.

 

[McNally Family]

Not trying to hijack threat.... another poster on another thread here on FOG did an actual price comparison for Mafell jig saw with Carvex, comparing what comes with each and what must be bought to make the 2 kits comparable, and the Mafell, IIRC, was less expensive.

I think that was [member=40772]Holmz[/member], but it may have been based on prices in Australia at the time.  However, given the problems the Mafell eliminates, and the increase in blade life due to the lack of heat generated, long term it may still hold.  Fortunately for me, I was not already invested in the Festool rail system, so I lost nothing by going with the Mafell rails, which are IMO superior.  Of course, if I choose to go with the Mafell track saw, I will be paying a premium over Festool, but once again, Mafell track saws do have some nice features no one else has. 

 

[Holmz]

The other nuance is that Australia and the Eu are 230v/50-HZ.

It seems more of a chin scratcher in the US with 110v and the US tools are generally cheaper... Except for Mirka, Lamello, and  Mafell... unless one uses 220/230v or a transformer.