USA price increase March 2012?

[GPowers]

I was visiting Tom's http://www.tool-home.com website today (1/13/12) and in the header is a notice that Festool is having a price increase 3/2012. Dammmmm [scared]

 

[Brice Burrell]

Yeah, I saw that last week.  Maybe Junkie with give us another spreadsheet showing all the increases.

 

[Dave Schwarzkopf]

Would love to see next year's prices; that may twist my arm into a few more purchases!

 

[JimB1]

You guys that have had Festools a while, is it a regular thing that Festool prices go up every year? I have catalogs from 2010 and 2011 and it looks like the prices went up about 5% between 2010 and 2011 on most things.

Should I just expect price increases every year??? That seems like a lot considering DeWalt and Bosch have maybe gone up 5% over the last 5 years...
Thanks
-Jim

 

[HowardH]

Yep.  You can set your watch by it.  Normally, only a few things go up significantly.  The kapex, for example, has never gone up. Other things only go up marginally.  Still worth paying attention to. 

 

[sancho57]

The company is just keeping up with inflation

 

[adubeau]

The company is just keeping up with inflation

Yeah but not our pay......

 

[Dave Schwarzkopf]

No complaints here, just curious if anyone has the 2012 prices.  That would help me steer some of my immediate purchases.

 

[Brice Burrell]

No complaints here, just curious if anyone has the 2012 prices.  That would help me steer some of my immediate purchases.

We usually get ample notice of the new prices to make buying decisions before the increase. 

 

[Corwin]

I do not think Festool prices have gone up every year since I started buying them in 2007.

With the amount the US dollar has fallen against the other world currencies, I am surprised that prices have not gone up much faster.

You need to remember also that Festools are still made in Germany, while Dewalt & Bosch are made in Asia.

The only currencies that are relevant to this discussion of US prices of Festools are the USD and the Euro.  Currently, the Euro is at a 17 month low to the value of the dollar -- and much lower than what the Euro had been in 2007 when you first started buying Festools.  So, if solely based on currencies, their prices should either drop or remain stable.  But, I'm sure that there are more considerations than just currencies when making decisions about pricing.

 

[Brice Burrell]

The only currencies that are relevant to this discussion of US prices of Festools are the USD and the Euro.  Currently, the Euro is at a 17 month low to the value of the dollar -- and much lower than what the Euro had been in 2007 when you first started buying Festools.  So, if solely based on currencies, their prices should either drop or remain stable.  But, I'm sure that there are more considerations than just currencies when making decisions about pricing.

I posted in another thread that I hoped we might avoid a price increase this year since the dollar is making gains against the Euro.  I'll be disappointed if we see anything more than a very modest increase.  My fear is we're going to see increases until we are paying the same (exorbitant) prices as Europe.     

 

[yoda]

I do not think Festool prices have gone up every year since I started buying them in 2007.

With the amount the US dollar has fallen against the other world currencies, I am surprised that prices have not gone up much faster.

You need to remember also that Festools are still made in Germany, while Dewalt & Bosch are made in Asia.

The only currencies that are relevant to this discussion of US prices of Festools are the USD and the Euro.  Currently, the Euro is at a 17 month low to the value of the dollar -- and much lower than what the Euro had been in 2007 when you first started buying Festools.  So, if solely based on currencies, their prices should either drop or remain stable.  But, I'm sure that there are more considerations than just currencies when making decisions about pricing.

We've been trying to wrap our heads around this issue for years up in Canada. Always some BS excuse to charge us 15-20% more for everything.

 

[Dave Schwarzkopf]

Yoda,

Tell me about it.  I was stationed up in Ottawa for 4 years and either drove the 1.5 hours to cross the border, or had everything shipped to the Embassy to avoid the higher cost, (and taxes!).  Miss the people, friends, lack of crime, and cleanliness, but do not miss the winter months!

Dave

 

[Brice Burrell]

We've been trying to wrap our heads around this issue for years up in Canada. Always some BS excuse to charge us 15-20% more for everything.

Well, I'm sure there is additional costs involved in selling products in Canada.  For one it's less densely populated with less transportation infrastructure so you can expect a higher pricing per person than the US.  It's a smaller market, with smaller distribution networks, that adds to the costs.  And so on and so on.... 

 

[Kevin D.]

We've been trying to wrap our heads around this issue for years up in Canada. Always some BS excuse to charge us 15-20% more for everything.

Well, I'm sure there is additional costs involved in selling products in Canada.  For one it's less densely populated with less transportation infrastructure so you can expect a higher pricing per person than the US.  It's a smaller market, with smaller distribution networks, that adds to the costs.  And so on and so on....   

You're on the right track Brice, and there are other reasons as well, especially when it comes to how long it takes for prices to adjust after the value of the dollar changes.  Problem is, most Canadians don't want to hear it despite being told many reasons there are justifications for these issues..  As much as I would like cheaper prices here, I accept there are real reasons for the disparity.

 

[ccarrolladams]

The price of the tools, supplies and lumber we use is what it will be. We can rant and rave, which seldom lowers the price. Of course we can, and should, shop for the best deals possible. That is responsible. Still, in the long term the "best deal" is not always the one with the lowest price at the time of purchase.

We need to consider value, which includes reliability of the tools, as well as continued availability of the tools, accessories, supplies and hardware. My experience is that it harms my long-term bottom line to drive such a sharp bargain a valued supplier goes out of business.

I turned 14 as the summer of 1946 started. I was thrilled that a long-time family friend I had always called "Uncle Cliff" invited me to live with his family so that I could work at his machine shop. There he built cinema film developing machines. Not only had he invented the most popular such machines, he built a factory and a movie lab in which to test and demonstrate those machines. Mind you, back then nearly all movie film was still being wrapped around wooden drums to be dipped into developing solutions. Uncle Cliff's machines ran the film through continuously. The wooden drums only could hold 400' of 35mm film, not quite 5 minutes of running time at sound speed of 90' per minute.

Of course Cliff's developing machines cost a lot of money, but they were far more efficient and took up a lot less space. Fortunately Uncle Cliff was not just an inventor, he also could have sold snow in Alaska. In his own lab he could demonstrate to skeptics the value of his developing machines. Part of that was showing me splicing a new rool of movie film to the end of a roll currently running on the machine. We could do that because the film was black and white. The positive film used in the demonstration could be processed under red safe lights, so the customers could see what I was doing. Cliff would often say that all it took was some practice, that if a lad could splice the film fast enough certainly the experienced film technicians already working for established labs could learn to run the machines.

Well, this is true of being a machinist and also being a woodworker. We need to practice and we also need tools appropriate to what we are doing.

At the end of that summer I saw an electric drill as well as a circular saw offered for sale. That electric drill cost more than 10 times as much as a decent hand cranked drill. The electric circular saw was about 15 times the price of a really good cross-cut or back saw, which I already owned. I was willing to spend my very hard earned money for the electric tools because I was sure the results would be more consistent and faster, so long as I gained experience controlling them. I wanted quality and I was not concerned about the price.

It was almost 60 years later when I saw Festools being demonstrated by a dealer who also is a master woodworker. He provided lots of wood on which to experiment. Immediately he asked me to try a then new TS55 on a rail connected to a CT22. There was no dust floating in the air of his modest demo room. The cut was better than glue quality.

I never even asked the price. I bought the saw with 2 extra 1400mm rails, a couple of sets of connectors, 3 sets of Festool clamps and a CT22. My car was small enough I had to leave the CT22's carton behind with the dealer. The handle for the CT22 did fit in my car in its carton.

Since then I have built my woodworking business based on Festools where they are appropriate and the very best fixed machines where they make sense. All I ask from my vendors is that the price they offer me is no higher than what they offer my competitors.

The training is part of the deal with some of the fixed machines, but that is only about setting up those machines. Festool offers End User Training which gets into improving woodworking skills and not just discussing how to set-up the tools.

This is what adds to the value of Festools.

I know the list price of Festool has increased since 2006, but I am comforted that my original TS55 and CT22, as well as those rails, still work as well today as then, without any major service. I have the saw blades sharpened by a very talented grinding service. I clean the filters on the CT22 and change the bags before they are full. This is my experience with all the other Festools I own. They reduce frustration and make me money.

Sure, there will be a Festool price increase in 2012. Guess what, I have continuously increased my own prices over the years. The cabinet makers working for me deserve to make good livings. Top quality lumber is expensive. Cabinet hardware is expensive. Such is life.

 

[bwiele]

ccarrolladams, that had to be the most heartfelt tool endorsement I've ever read!  Kinda makes Festool sound like a religion, or perhaps a cult.  I was at a local paint store yesterday to buy a quart of paint (that Festool green Sweet Pea color!) - I've been in that store before (although not in a while) and I never realized they were a Festool dealer.  One of they employees there said to another customer that Festool owners were like part of a secret society.  He was referring to me because I knew a lot more about the tools than he did.  Unfortunately, that quart of paint cost me over $600 when I finally got out of there!  (I kid you not...)

 

[agehall]

Unfortunately, that quart of paint cost me over $600 when I finally got out of there!  (I kid you not...)

I think you are on to something! It must be the Festool green color pigment used that is the reason for the high prices!

 

[GPowers]

  My fear is we're going to see increases until we are paying the same (exorbitant) prices as Europe.       

Enter the market with a low price, get your product out there, get people talking about it, then slowly raise the price to where it should be.

Looks like a sound business plan.

 

[semenza]

So I am guessing that paint came with a Rotex, HL850, or a TS75?

Not sure if the price has gone up every year , but the last few for sure in Feb/March. 

Seth