Uk dealers - I have a question

[Bigchasbroon]

Last month I could get a Domino XL for £636inc vat from FFX and nuts and bolts toolfest etc. we're much around the same. Now that I can afford it, this month they're up to £735 a 16% increase!!! And again everyone else is around the same. Why the sudden jump? I notice that the df500 is currently available for £459 a considerably larger discount than the 700. Also the ts55 is at 283. That seems super cheap.

So is it that festool do special deals to dealers on certain items from time to time? Or do the big discounters sell some items with little or no margin from time to time? Or have they all got together to fix prices?

It would be good to understand because had I known dominos were about to take a price hike I'd have bought one last month now I'm going to wait a little longer...

 

[jonny round boy]

I doubt you'll get an official answer on this one, but I can offer you an unofficial (and possibly incorrect!) answer:

The way I understand the pricing situation is this: If a dealer buys one or two of a particular tool, they pay list price less X discount. This gives them the margin to sell the tool at list price or slightly below. If however, the dealer buys an entire pallet of one SKU (the actual quantity will vary depending on what size sys it comes in) they get a bigger discount, which allows them to sell it at a significant discount without affecting their margin.

If there was a good deal on the XL, it would likely be that they'd bought a full pallet at the lower price, and that they've now run out of that stock. I would suspect that dealers buy full pallets of certain tools occasionally so they can sell at lower prices, however no dealer likely has the cashflow to buy full pallets of everything at the same time to have them sat on the shelf (I have heard that Festool's dealer terms are so tight that often dealers are having to pay for stock before they even receive it!).

I think that's why the TS55R prices have taken a nosedive recently - it's Festool's best seller, so most if not all dealers will buy them by the pallet, as they know they'll be able to shift them quickly at a good price.

There may also be extra discounts/special deals that Festool offer dealers that I'm not privy to, that exacerbates the above.

As for whether the dealers fix prices between them, I doubt that very much. It was Festool's fine for price fixing that precipitated the changes that finally allowed dealers to discount in the first place.

 

[Bigchasbroon]

My dealer told me that the difference in buying volume was pretty insignificant. Something like an extra 1% on buying 50 units instead of 10. But that could be sales p**h.
The price fixing comment was just a wee bit of cheek don't really think that.
But the price increase seems pretty uniform.

I guess it's just a bit frustrating waiting and then discovering a big increase. I don't need one at the moment other than for a couple of little jobs and I have a neighbour who will lend me one in the mean time. I guess I'll just keep saving and maybe go crazy when the tour comes to Scotland in September.

 

[cliffp]

Jonny Round Boy is right I believe. I have chatted to FFX and they told me they get the tools cheaper if they buy by the pallet. It seems a fact of life that these tools (some of them anyway) go through phases of being cheaper and more expensive. Why not ask FFX about it? They are very transparent about how they do business and will even warn you if their prices are going to go up soon (and they have always been true to their word). I have a wish list of tools and buy them when they are cheap (I have now bought them all).

 

[RC]

How did you do that Cliff?

Every time my list is nearing its end it magically regenerates overnight and is full of new items every time ;-P

 

[Bigchasbroon]

How did you do that Cliff?

Every time my list is nearing its end it magically regenerates overnight and is full of new items every time ;-P

+1

 

[cliffp]

Reiska, My wish list is also never ending but I've got to the point where I can't move in my garage! I emailed you a photo of my garage last year, showing what a mess it was and I have acquired another few £k of green stuff since then. I also acquire more and more offcuts which I am too mean to get rid of and that clutters the place up even more.

 

[Bigchasbroon]

I got in touch with ffx and they've told me it was a promotion on the domino and it's over now.
It's a pity it wasn't advertised as such.

 

[joiner1970]

I got in touch with ffx and they've told me it was a promotion on the domino and it's over now.
It's a pity it wasn't advertised as such.

I thought it was I remember seeing a festool leaflet saying they were doing deals on domino s with free assortment systainer s

 

[toolfest.co.uk]

Last month I could get a Domino XL for £636inc vat from FFX and nuts and bolts toolfest etc. we're much around the same. Now that I can afford it, this month they're up to £735 a 16% increase!!! And again everyone else is around the same. Why the sudden jump? I notice that the df500 is currently available for £459 a considerably larger discount than the 700. Also the ts55 is at 283. That seems super cheap.

So is it that festool do special deals to dealers on certain items from time to time? Or do the big discounters sell some items with little or no margin from time to time? Or have they all got together to fix prices?

It would be good to understand because had I known dominos were about to take a price hike I'd have bought one last month now I'm going to wait a little longer...

Hi

Just thought I'd try and answer your questions. I can only speak for ourselves but it may help.

There was a dealer deal which included a free Assortment Systainer with any Domino puchased by a dealer, and like us many dealers were passing that on. It was time limited and we sold all ours through in that time frame. Our price though I think has stayed the same at £636 + VAT, but in these volatile competitive times I can't remember exactly, so please don't hold me to it.

Basically pricing is all over the place, shopping around and talking to dealers I'm sure will pay dividends in getting a deal, but please don't be offended if we cannot price match as some deals are just impossible for us to do. We will always try our best but if a deal is no longer available from TTS and we have sold our stock, it just doesn't make sense, I hope you understand.

I can assure you that there isn't any price fixing between us and any other dealers, but I'm sure you wouldn't be surprised that we do check other dealers pricing from time to time to see what the market is doing, and maybe make adjustments accordingly.

What I can do for you though is remember to post any deals that come through and stipulate the start and end dates. This won't take into account any leftover stock at the end of a promotional period which still may be offered but at least it will give you an idea of time frames so you can plan a purchase.

Any queries, just ask.

Best regards

Warren

 

[wow]

How did you do that Cliff?

Every time my list is nearing its end it magically regenerates overnight and is full of new items every time ;-P

+1

X3!!!

 

[festivus]

Just to say, I've ordered several items from Warren above and their service has been fantastic. Even when I had a small issue, Warren and Festool sorted it, quickly. Could not recommend more highly!

I think we're lucky with Festool dealers here in the UK (perhaps it's the same everywhere).

 

[Bigchasbroon]

Thanks Warren
I think ffx must have dropped the domino price and sold the assortment systainer separately
A little email newsletter would be helpful. If I was a dealer I'd do a regular newsletter featuring deals and what accessories are available or a link to some of the youtube videos that are available.