Used Festool Prices?

[Locks14]

Just a pondering...

Why are used Festool prices so high and why do people pay them? I know they are quality tools, but...

When you buy new you get a brand new shiny tool, you know it has no history of faults or abuse, you get a 3 year warranty and you get a no quibble 15/30 day return policy depending on your country. Also not to mention the origin of the tool is rarely 100% certain if used.

With all of the above included with a new tool, why on earth would anyone buy a second hand tool without these benefits, for 80-90% of the cost of a new tool? To me it just seems barking mad.

Pay £400 for something brand new or £360 for something used for me is no competition! Give me the shiny newness!

 

[Gary in Texas]

I think you will find that the majority of Festools being sold used typically have at least 24-30 months remaining on the warranty.  If the buyer wants to purchased that used tool at 10-20 percent off with most of the warranty still outstanding, simply rationalization on cost of new vs used....

 

[Locks14]

I think you will find that the majority of Festools being sold used typically have at least 24-30 months remaining on the warranty.  If the buyer wants to purchased that used tool at 10-20 percent off with most of the warranty still outstanding, simply rationalization on cost of new vs used....

In this instance I can see the logic for some, but I'd still prefer brand new.

However, if I look on ebay, forum, craigslist, etc there are tools that are certainly out of or near the end of warranty still holing their value/selling.

I saw an OF 2200 on ebay a few weeks ago. I think the listing said 2011 selling for £650 with accessory systainer, which can be bought brand new for £764 from FFX or Axminster.

Now for the sake of £100 on a tool worth approx £750 new I just can't see the point. One fault and the cost of repair, plus potential downtime blows that £100 out of the water!

 

[waho6o9]

It's that price vs value equation. 

When you purchase a used Festool you know it's going to work for a long long
time.

Pay the freight and enjoy your newness and I'll save my money for something else.

Great thread BTW.

 

[sancho57]

I bought a 850 planer for about $100 less, that was about 3 years ago, still working great. $100 paid for the bench unit  so I'm good.

 

[AlexThePalex]

Used Festools keep their value because they keep working. I wouldn't pay in the 80-90% category for them though, that's crazy. 50-60% max. Often a lot less.

 

[Jimmy FineCut]

I have bid in a few festool bits on eBay. Most recent was a used cms of unit which ended up selling for around £30 less than new!

I much prefer to go to a shop, spend the extra money and buy a new tool with all the benefits.

 

[WastedP]

I, too, am amazed at how high the prices are for "used" Festools.  Every Festool I own came via the recon sale at 20-40% off list.  If I had known then what people pay for used tools, I would've maxed out my credit cards to take advantage of the arbitrage opportunity.

I'm not sure if I'd take the risk on a used tool for 10% off, at least not without having a hands-on look at it.  I'd guess that at least a third of the tools I own, across all brands and types, were bought used.  None come to mind as being a bad deal.  I have returned several brand new tools that failed to live up to expectations, though.

 

[teocaf]

All of the stuff that I've seen priced on the high end and I've followed through and watched the item to see what happened with the auction, it either did not sell and was re-listed for lower price or they accepted a best offer option for lower.  I'm sure there are exceptions for all kinds of reasons that i can imagine:  uninformed or impulse buyer, a temporary shortage of new stuff, an older model may have desirable features that were discontinued in new model, some extra consumables or accessories thrown in, etc.

 

[Mahomo59]

Never really thought about this, I prefer brand new also. But have been keeping an eye out for a rotex 150.  There's one on eBay ending today that I thought I'd fancy bidding on. Currently at £300 with £23 P&P so totalled up £323 with just over an hour to push. Which I'm sure will go up to at least £350 + P&P.  Ok comes with another pad, but hey...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151661970653?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Nuts and bolts brand new no postage £413.99

http://www.powertool-supplies.co.uk/festool-geared-eccentric-sander-ro-150-feq-plus-gb-240v-rotex.html

Someone do the math for me on percentages, I'm too ill with man flu!

 

[Locks14]

Never really thought about this, I prefer brand new also. But have been keeping an eye out for a rotex 150.  There's one on eBay ending today that I thought I'd fancy bidding on. Currently at £300 with £23 P&P so totalled up £323 with just over an hour to push. Which I'm sure will go up to at least £350 + P&P.  Ok comes with another pad, but hey...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151661970653?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Nuts and bolts brand new no postage £413.99

http://www.powertool-supplies.co.uk/festool-geared-eccentric-sander-ro-150-feq-plus-gb-240v-rotex.html

Someone do the math for me on percentages, I'm too ill with man flu!

If with P&P @ £23 and a winning bit of £340-£350 making it approx £370 that's 89% of the £413.99 brand new price.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

I have often found that the "used" Festoons are all but new.  Often they are bought on impulse and never used.  Also sometimes people buy something and just can't figure it out. 

I never buy on EBay, but with Craigslist you visit, inspect the tool and can often talk them down quite a bit.  Even if you can't talk them down, there's a new tool with a 10 or 20 percent savings.

 

[Gary in Texas]

I, too, am amazed at how high the prices are for "used" Festools.  Every Festool I own came via the recon sale at 20-40% off list.  If I had known then what people pay for used tools, I would've maxed out my credit cards to take advantage of the arbitrage opportunity.

I'm not sure if I'd take the risk on a used tool for 10% off, at least not without having a hands-on look at it.  I'd guess that at least a third of the tools I own, across all brands and types, were bought used.  None come to mind as being a bad deal.  I have returned several brand new tools that failed to live up to expectations, though.

The pros and cons of buying during the recon sale were discussed to great length as the recon sale was ongoing.  I personally would never buy anything during the recon sale for only a 10% discount, primarily due to the simple fact the buyer received only a 1 year warranty.  Secondary reason being you didn't know how old the tool may have been....

Once the recon sale went to 40%, I snapped up a TS75, T18 set and C15 set.  I think I lucked out as the TS75 and T18 set both looked brand new and were less than one year old, the C15 set was 2 years old.

I also purchased in a private sale a used Kapex with extra blade, CT36, TS55 with mating Rail, RO150, and a DTS400 and various clamps, etc...all for approx 33% discount.  All tools were less than 6 months old.  I kept the Kapex, RO150 and DTS400, decided to keep the CT36 and sold my CT26, and sold the TS55 (already had one)....  I wouldn't hesitate to make such a purchase tomorrow, for the right tools....  As I mentioned earlier, if you can find used Festools for sale, especially 1/3 off and only 6 months old, how can you go wrong as you still have 30 months of warranty left???  A much preferred alternative to the recon sale with only 1 year warranty.....

Gary

 

[philphilop]

The real question is why do people sell their tools which leads on to the next question why buy them in the first place

 

[teocaf]

Never really thought about this, I prefer brand new also. But have been keeping an eye out for a rotex 150.  There's one on eBay ending today that I thought I'd fancy bidding on. Currently at £300 with £23 P&P so totalled up £323 with just over an hour to push. Which I'm sure will go up to at least £350 + P&P.  Ok comes with another pad, but hey...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151661970653?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Nuts and bolts brand new no postage £413.99

http://www.powertool-supplies.co.uk/festool-geared-eccentric-sander-ro-150-feq-plus-gb-240v-rotex.html

Someone do the math for me on percentages, I'm too ill with man flu!

If with P&P @ £23 and a winning bit of £340-£350 making it approx £370 that's 89% of the £413.99 brand new price.

that was a good one to watch.  looks like the auction just closed at 320.55 pounds.  add the 23 shipping and total cost to the buyer is 343.55 for a lightly used sander.  Naturally the seller won't see all of that because of paypal, shipping and eBay fees, but that's beside the point.
I'm not in the UK so i just checked axminster--perhaps there are better discounts elsewhere.  So they list the kit at 418 minus a few pence and if you read the seller description on the auction there was a new extra pad included in the ebay item--cost at Axminster is 41 for a grand total of 459 for all new with warranty and return option.

So just numbers-wise, 343.55 is a tad over 25 percent off of the 459 that the same items cost brand new.  A decent deal but not a great one especially if you want that warranty assurance.  But still, it's a quarter of the price off and not just 10 percent.  Only the buyer can determine if it was worthwhile for his situation.  If I was bidding on that particular item, I would have topped my offer at 30 to 35 percent discount, provided I was not in dire need of the tool.

Thanks for posting that item--I'm always curious  to see how stuff like this goes.

UPDATE:  I just now clicked on the other link for the N&B store and their prices are slightly lower:  414 for the ro150 and 37 for the extra pad.  so now the savings drops to 23.8% instead of 25%

 

[Sinorm]

I've bought almost all my Festools used off of Craigslist. Many of them were barely used (and in one case brand new), usually about 15-20% off of the new price. That savings isn't a large difference, but in the U.S. you also save the ~10% sales tax by purchasing used, so the savings end up being substantial. A few tools have needed minor replacement parts but those are easy to order from Festool.

The other benefit of purchasing the tools used is that I know I can turn around the sell them for what I paid if I end up not using a tool.

 

[teocaf]

I've bought almost all my Festools used off of Craigslist. Many of them were barely used (and in one case brand new), usually about 15-20% off of the new price. That savings isn't a large difference, but in the U.S. you also save the ~10% sales tax by purchasing used, so the savings end up being substantial. A few tools have needed minor replacement parts but those are easy to order from Festool.

The other benefit of purchasing the tools used is that I know I can turn around the sell them for what I paid if I end up not using a tool.

I agree that you can get find a great deal, if you put the time in.  if you're hard pressed to get a specific tool and start earning or building a project with it, then considerations other than the dollar amount come into play.  the sales tax savings you mention isn't that big of an issue right now because there are lots of places to buy online, but i think all that is changing very quickly.

everyone puts a different value on the time it takes to find the goods, rush to see it before it gets bought out by others, etc.  One also tends to settle for what's available because it's such a good price versus getting the thing they really want.

unfortunately in my area, there is pretty much zero-point-squat chance of finding a good used festool, and i nearly always at least look at lightly used when ready to buy.

but it is sweet to find that rare gloatable deal. 

 

[jnug]

Ebay prices for used Festool always seem out of whack to me, especially the auctions. By the time people are done bidding up, the are often within 10% of new price and then you have to add shipping. Just makes no sense at least to me.

Craigslist often has better used Festool tool pricing but sellers there are generally looking to sell the tool quickly for cash. Before I bought my RO90 sander I spotted one on Craigslist but it was not my local Craigslist. I was the first guy calling on the tool and the selling was actually selling multiple tools. I committed to buying the tool but the guy did not have a Paypal account and using Western Union made no sense. By the time I would have had to pay shipping and Western Union charges, it was no longer a deal.

So for the most part you have to catch something on your local Craigslist to make that work.

 

[Cam101]

Also, it's fairly rare that Festool's come up for sale on the used market. If someone is looking for a tool and it finally does come up for sale, chances are they'll buy it at whatever price as long as it's less than new.

I bought a Planex for roughly 20% less than new price. It was VERY well used and came with an extractor and a bunch of sand paper of various grits. Did my garage and basement drywall, and sold it the day after I was finished for the exact same price I paid.

In the end, if you can sell it for 10-20 percent less than new.. why not!

 

[Bigchasbroon]

Here in the uk people don't seem to take into account the sales tax (VAT) I've sold a few things on ebay always start at 99p. I recently bought a ts55r and sold my old ts55ebq on ebay I got £263 for it and the new one cost £256 plus VAT but I can reclaim the vat through my business so even after ebay and PayPal fees it only cost a few quid to upgrade to the newer r model.

I've bought other secondhand tools on ebay and rarely have they been as good as described.