What are the best online Festool vendors in Europe (Rubart.de, Sautershop.de...?

[surfjungle]

Thank you!

 

[crampedshop]

Replying from the US. As I recall, Festool warranties are country specific, so, you should probably state which country you would like tools shipped to. I am sure another member will correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Peter Kelly]

What's the question? Dictum, Bort & Herkert and Sauter Shop are all great. If you're in Munich, I'd certainly recommend dropping by the Dictum shop.
https://www.dictum.com/en/festool-1?p=1https://www.elektrowerkzeug-shop.de/festoolhttps://www.sautershop.com/festool-all-festool-articles

 

[surfjungle]

Replying from the US. As I recall, Festool warranties are country specific, so, you should probably state which country you would like tools shipped to. I am sure another member will correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks for getting back to me crampedshop. I'm living in Ireland. Because of Brexit, shopping for Festool in the UK is too expensive. Shopping in Ireland is and always was astronomically expensive. While I try to buy local where possible, I'm not paying between forty and almost one hundred per more just to support my local economy, especially when one of the shop owners telling me most of the money is not going into his pocket. Note that in Europe at least, it doesn't matter where I buy my Festool powertool as long as it is from a Festool registered vendor. Once I buy it, I have about 1 month to register it for the 3 year warranty. For me, that's really great as I can buy from Germany for a really good price. I'll post below where I buy in case it helps a few people.

 

[surfjungle]

What's the question? Dictum, Bort & Herkert and Sauter Shop are all great. If you're in Munich, I'd certainly recommend dropping by the Dictum shop.
https://www.dictum.com/en/festool-1?p=1https://www.elektrowerkzeug-shop.de/festoolhttps://www.sautershop.com/festool-all-festool-articles

Hey Peter. The question is where do people buy Festool products on continental Europe without being ripped off? I see you have 2 of the shops I use and I've perused elektrowerkzeug. I really like sautershop and recently I've found rubart.de to be excellent value buying some stuff off them recently.

Plugs / sockets in the UK and Ireland differ but that's an acceptable compromise for the amount of money I save. Many of the corded options have the Plug It interface and for those that don't, there are adapters. What is interesting is that there are Irish workmen using Festool and not understanding that they can buy from Germany and still get their 3 year warranty.

Thanks for getting back to me too!

 

[MikeGE]

I prefer to support brick and mortar stores, but my Festool dealer in Mannheim went out of business last year and there are no stocking distributors within 100KM of me.  I now purchase all of my Festool equipment and accessories from these two online vendors:

B&G Maschinenprofi

Rubart Online

 

[surfjungle]

I prefer to support brick and mortar stores, but my Festool dealer in Mannheim went out of business last year and there are no stocking distributors within 100KM of me.  I now purchase all of my Festool equipment and accessories from these two online vendors:

B&G Maschinenprofi

Rubart Online

Thanks. While I've used and am happy with Rubart.de, B&G only ship to Germany and I live in Ireland so they're out.

 

[mino]

What's the question? Dictum, Bort & Herkert and Sauter Shop are all great. If you're in Munich, I'd certainly recommend dropping by the Dictum shop.
https://www.dictum.com/en/festool-1?p=1https://www.elektrowerkzeug-shop.de/festoolhttps://www.sautershop.com/festool-all-festool-articles

Hey Peter. The question is where do people buy Festool products on continental Europe without being ripped off? I see you have 2 of the shops I use and I've perused elektrowerkzeug. I really like sautershop and recently I've found rubart.de to be excellent value buying some stuff off them recently.

Plugs / sockets in the UK and Ireland differ but that's an acceptable compromise for the amount of money I save. Many of the corded options have the Plug It interface and for those that don't, there are adapters. What is interesting is that there are Irish workmen using Festool and not understanding that they can buy from Germany and still get their 3 year warranty.

Thanks for getting back to me too!

You are probably not "from Europe". There is not "Continental Europe" concept in practice in existence. This is the same (not exactly, but close) if you asked where do people buy in "Continental South America" ...

That said, for online I can advise to search for your stuff on idealo.de, if all you care about is the lowest price.

You need to realize though, the "Common European Market" is very much not "Common", is not "European", and is not really a "Market" in the US sense of the world. That and it is nowhere as oligopol-ised as the US market is these days. There are way more players (orders of magnitude) and most have their own online shopfronts ..

The big folks, Amazon-style, have a way, way weaker standing compared to the US/UK markets.

Update, just noticed you are IR based ... makes sense you will not be much fam with the DACH, French or ESP retail situation ..

 

[woodbutcherbower]

I've bought jigs and other bits from Sautershop and the service has been hugely impressive. 48 hours from order to delivery from Germany to the UK.

 

[surfjungle]

I've bought jigs and other bits from Sautershop and the service has been hugely impressive. 48 hours from order to delivery from Germany to the UK.

Yes, I'm very happy with Sautershop too. I bought an MFT, multitool and more off them and was very happy. Shipping to Ireland was great value considering the weight of an MFT. That said, Rubart can be more than a few bob cheaper and after my one and only purchase for Rubart, I'll use them for now because they have the same service and are better value.

 

[surfjungle]

What's the question? Dictum, Bort & Herkert and Sauter Shop are all great. If you're in Munich, I'd certainly recommend dropping by the Dictum shop.
https://www.dictum.com/en/festool-1?p=1https://www.elektrowerkzeug-shop.de/festoolhttps://www.sautershop.com/festool-all-festool-articles

Hey Peter. The question is where do people buy Festool products on continental Europe without being ripped off? I see you have 2 of the shops I use and I've perused elektrowerkzeug. I really like sautershop and recently I've found rubart.de to be excellent value buying some stuff off them recently.

Plugs / sockets in the UK and Ireland differ but that's an acceptable compromise for the amount of money I save. Many of the corded options have the Plug It interface and for those that don't, there are adapters. What is interesting is that there are Irish workmen using Festool and not understanding that they can buy from Germany and still get their 3 year warranty.

Thanks for getting back to me too!

You are probably not "from Europe". There is not "Continental Europe" concept in practice in existence. This is the same (not exactly, but close) if you asked where do people buy in "Continental South America" ...

That said, for online I can advise to search for your stuff on idealo.de, if all you care about is the lowest price.

You need to realize though, the "Common European Market" is very much not "Common", is not "European", and is not really a "Market" in the US sense of the world. That and it is nowhere as oligopol-ised as the US market is these days. There are way more players (orders of magnitude) and most have their own online shopfronts ..

The big folks, Amazon-style, have a way, way weaker standing compared to the US/UK markets.

Update, just noticed you are IR based ... makes sense you will not be much fam with the DACH, French or ESP retail situation ..

Buying quality power tools in Ireland _always_ means paying a high premium. Very high. Festool, Mafell, Makita et al. are priced ridiculously high in Ireland compared to continental Europe. I am not prepared to pay 30% to 50% more than than I would from Germany or the UK pre-Brexit. After speaking to a reputable dealer in Ireland on why his Festool and Mafell prices are astronomical, he mentioned that those companies sell those power tools to him at a higher price that his counterparts on the continent and even in the UK. He mentioning making only a moderate profit on the tools. While I sympathise, I will not blindly line Festool and Mafell's pockets when they're charging other outlets much less. While part of the reason for the price difference is that other outlets buy much more in bulk, I doubt that is the sole reason and after all, Festool were reprimanded by the law though that was over a decade ago. Ireland is one of the few countries whereby the Festool RRP is actually around what is charged.

While I care about value, I don't wish to mis-represent myself. I do to care about service too and will not buy from unknown vendors or those vendors who have mixed reviews on reputable review sites. That's why I try to avoid idealo and get recommendations (ergo this post), look at trustpilot etc. For example, that's the reason I avoid ToolNation.nl. They have some very mixed reviews, too many for me to comfortably buy there.

So, in summary and from my perspective, there very much is a continental Europe when it comes to certain things. Remember, Ireland is an island outlier and with many items coming via the UK. Because of this Ireland pays more post Brexit. If we were but a country on the continent itself, such items would be cheaper. To some degree we are beholden to the UK which is a pity and tiresome.

I found it hard to understand some the concepts you have attempted to articulate:
* "You need to realize though, the "Common European Market" is very much not "Common", is not "European", and is not really a "Market" in the US sense of the world. That and it is nowhere as oligopol-ised as the US market is these days. There are way more players (orders of magnitude) and most have their own online shopfronts"
* "The big folks, Amazon-style, have a way, way weaker standing compared to the US/UK markets.
While I appreciate the above are struckthrough as you later saw I was from Ireland, I am still interested to understand what you meant."

Thank you!

 

[mino]

Buying quality power tools in Ireland _always_ means paying a high premium. Very high.

Sounds absurd in a way. But, well, we are 20% over Germany prices here. And that is with no sea separating us ...

.. he mentioned that those companies sell those power tools to him at a higher price that his counterparts on the continent and even in the UK. He mentioning making only a moderate profit on the tools.

That is only a (very) partial picture. The wholsale prices tend to wary by a few percent here and there (about 5-10%) from what I am aware and that is mostly to cover the fixed local service/sales cost which are higher in the smaller markets on a per-tool basis. The bigger part of the difference is to do with volume and psychology/history. Smaller markets simply shift less tools, so the fixed costs need to be spread over less sales ... there comes the other 10-20%. Next 10% comes from retail versus etail and the last 5% is shipping - it is not practical for FT to have a fully stocked local warehouse in IR (or PTG etc.) so when something is not mass-sales, it is back-ordered from DE.

In practice, a reasonably big etail should be able to get within 5-10% of mainstream German etail prices. Sans VAT differences. The problem is. Does the *local* market force them to ? ...

Festool were reprimanded by the law though that was over a decade ago. Ireland is one of the few countries whereby the Festool RRP is actually around what is charged.

Actually, you are in the wrong interpretation of the issue here. The /in my view fundamentally wrong/ lawsuit prevented Festool to SUBSIDISE tool costs for smaller markets/smaller retail shops by sales through the big guys. The end effect is it fixed/locked down the price differences as its biggest effect were lower prices in the bigger markets (DE, FR, UK) and at the bigger etailers along with the systemic destruction or the local retailer chain.

So, in summary and from my perspective, there very much is a continental Europe when it comes to certain things.

Well, by this logic I am living on an island (and e.g. Slovakia is on a "remote island") despite the fact one of the three main Festool plants is in the Czech Republic at Česká Lípa ...

I found it hard to understand some the concepts you have attempted to articulate:
* "You need to realize though, the "Common European Market" is very much not "Common", is not "European", and is not really a "Market" in the US sense of the world. That and it is nowhere as oligopol-ised as the US market is these days. There are way more players (orders of magnitude) and most have their own online shopfronts"
* "The big folks, Amazon-style, have a way, way weaker standing compared to the US/UK markets.
While I appreciate the above are struckthrough as you later saw I was from Ireland, I am still interested to understand what you meant."

Thank you!

I have /wrongly/ presumed you are of a US/non-EU origin and hence you /incorrectly/ see the "EU" as a (true) single market/entity - as per the writing on the tin.

Apparent now, I was wrong on the background, but correct on the assumption. There is no de-facto "single market". There are "island" markets all over across Europe with the "coasts" being the cultural/language borders. So there is a "DACH" market. Then there is a "French+SUI" market, then there is the Italian market, then there is a the "CZ+SK" market, then there is the Portugal market, then there is the Croatian market, then there is the Irish market (now split from the UK+IR one with most of "your" big "English-world" etailers restricted to UK-only now) etc. etc.

E.g., view the EU market as a bunch of big (market) "continents", DACH being the biggest, with a bunch of (market) "islands" of various sizes around/between them. Ireland being only one of those islands. All this separated by the seas of cultures and languages.

Hope it makes a bit less sense now.
[big grin]