Woodpecker's 18" Square in back

i never meant to focus on a festool vs woodpeckers thing, just that festools minimum pricing was the same as woodpeckers policy.. look at woodpeckers tool + shipping as one number, this being the minimum and you should see what i mean.

promark747 said:
Essentially they have the same policy as festool where they don't want one distributer to have an edge over another through lower pricing

But clearly Festool does not prevent dealers from offering free shipping.

No they dont prevent them, but festool dosent actually sell their own tools either.. you can bet that if they still did sell their own stuff, and decided to charge shipping... that all dealers would then have to charge shipping (only an assumption of course)

you better believe that festool factors in their overall shipping costs and factors that into the tools cost as an overhead figure... that in turn bumps up the dealers cost, which in turn bumps up the consumers cost.. so Festool is getting their shipping covered

Tinker said:
FESTOYS are not made with time/quantity limitations in mind.  There is a difference when such are added in to the costs.  Woodpecker does not keep a backlog of their one time tools.  in one rspect, it is cheaper for them to only order what has been ordered from them.  On the other hand, it must be more costly on a per item basis to set a limit to only what is ordered.  I agree with the policy. 

I have only ordered very few of their products, all one time products.  All still on order.  I will know whether i still agree when I gets my new toys.
Tinker
your gonna like your new toys for sure!!  top notch stuff!!!

i hear what your saying on both sides of pricing economy.. i would think though that since festools tool parts and materials aren't perishable or becoming obsolete on a regular basis that even though they have a large sum of money tied up into inventory it is almost a static figure... it is constantly being replenished... since they buy in such large quantities it must lower the unit price of each piece.          everyone knows that switching from one task to another is not productive time.. woodpeckers having to shut down and reprogram their only machine suitable for this type of work is costly all by itself  add in higher per unit prices for material because of lesser quanities ordered and it add to the cost of the tool quickly...

SittingElf said:
Yeah...let's go with dictatorial monopolies, where the manufacturer can send out edicts to their dealers on exactly what they can offer to customers. BIG BS!!!
America strives on competition. That's what free enterprise is. What these companies are doing is no different than what the Soviet Union did with their country.

Manufacturers should distribute to dealers at a specific price and then leave it up to the dealers how they SELL the product.

I like Woodpeckers, but they have gone too far with their despotic control of how their dealers sell product. It ain't the American way. My $.02

[eek] i dont even really know where to go with this one...    look at what forum your on, you might be in germany now where you can get 10% off of some accessories (maybe also other discounts on other stuff, im not sure and that is not the point)  be ready when you get back to the states though... the price is the price!

dont anyone get me wrong, i actually agree with this method... obviously i do, i buy festool....  yeah everyone loves to get a good deal or a sale price here or there but maintaing a set price on an item does protect the brand and the prestige that comes along with owning that brand.

copcarcollector said:
where the manufacturer can send out edicts to their dealers on exactly what they can offer to customers.

Well this topic is way off track, but - isn't the above exactly what Festool does (in the USA anyhow)? They tell the dealer to sell XX product at XX dollars, or they are no longer a dealer. 99% of Festool ships at no cost, and out of state dealers bypass sales tax - so the price is the same across the board, set by the manufacturer....

No I am not complaining, I have a bunch of Festools and want more - but to me this is the same.

I am in the hobby (toy cars) biz, and this is common in this industry too. Manufacturers say they are protecting their brands buy requiring retailers to sell at the same price, so free shipping is the only 'discount' you can offer. Fair or not it is what it is, and if you want to offer certain things to your customers, you play along---

I am buying my woodpeckers one time triangle direct from woodpeckers. I would rather they get the full profit instead of wholesale.

[thumbs up]

RKA said:
Well, I'm glad they offered to do another run.  I will say, $15 in shipping really is pretty reasonable (yes, on a premium priced product).  By the time my order was ready, I was up to a $500 tab.  The extra bits brought my shipping total to $20!  [eek]  All kidding aside, I've always been thrilled with the quality of the product, and yes, you pay for it.  The only part I don't like is the wait on the one time stuff.  I'm used to instant gratification and this is anything but!  :)

[thumbs up]

copcar, you sure are right.. this topic sure did get off track... lets get it back... for those of you who cant se the value in a $170 square, both quality wise and for the stand up company that makes these goodies for all of us nuts, i think depot sells a 12" empire for around $17  (be careful if you buy one from homedepot.com, you will have to spend another $28 to qualify for free shipping  [tongue] )

for the rest of us, lets fiqure out how to explain to our wives that we NEEDED it!!    [laughing] [laughing]

John
 
A few glasses of French Brandy and late at night....causes posts that do not "quite" reflect what my intention was!  [sad]
Won't expound on what I was actually trying to say....not the right forum.

I want the 18" Square, and will buy it. Just don't like being hit with $15 shipping charge which I feel is excessive and is just there to boost profit. $.02 [unsure]
 
Phred said:
Don't quite understand why Woodpecker's consistently charges so much for shipping and handling (at least in my experience as compared to other specialty sellers).

Phred

I've bought allot of tools from them over the years, and have always been happy with their stuff, and way of doing business.

I have no idea what actually transpired between them and Carbide, but I'm glad it worked out.

As far as shipping cost on this particular item, my guess is the size and shape of the package.

My last order from them, for 4 pair of box clamps, I had 4 different shipping options offered by them, with 4 different prices.

So let's give WoodPeckers the benefit of the doubt, shall we...

 
So they are expensive.  festoy and woodpeck both are.  Nobody is telling any of us we have to buy either one.
I buy the Festoys at their (whoever I am asking for delivery) prices.  no questions asked.  I know i am going to bring home a quality tool that will allow me to increase my accuracy as well as productivity, both of which still are somewhat less than desirable, but improving.  I learned many moons ago that cheap ain't always cheep.  when i know I am getting the quality I am expecting, I do not feel encroached upon when i am told i must pay the same price wherever I buy my Festoys or my Woodpeckers.  It is still my choice.
Tinker
 
SittingElf said:
A few glasses of French Brandy and late at night....causes posts that do not "quite" reflect what my intention was!  [sad]
Won't expound on what I was actually trying to say....not the right forum.

I want the 18" Square, and will buy it. Just don't like being hit with $15 shipping charge which I feel is excessive and is just there to boost profit. $.02 [unsure]

I guess that depends on your point of view.  If you're used to amazon prime, yes, it's highway robbery.  But for a small business, I suspect it costs at least $10 to ship with some king of small volume discount.  Heck, even the smallest packages now cost me close to $10 via UPS, and this is an 18" square!  Add to that they actually use quality cardboard boxes and spend the time to make sure every tidbit is packed and secured well (amazon pretends to do this, but they can't afford the time it would take).  I'm fairly confident UPS wouldn't do the contents harm in spite of their best efforts. 

In woodpeckers case, they really can't afford amazon's "toss it in a box" model.  If the customer waited 3 months for a tool and it gets damaged in transit due to poor packing and there is no replacement stock on hand, you'll have one unhappy customer!  Anyway, my point is I see where the money goes and I really don't think the shipping fees are a profit center, I think the product is.  :). One could argue that's the cost of doing business and marketing to a niche clientele, but if it were really a problem, they wouldn't be in business. 
 
I gonna get the 18 " with case. I figure it will be the bomb for squaring the MFT and case work.
 
Why not just use a 18'' acrylic drafting square?  $15 for a nice one and their tolerances should be bang on
 
People don't understand how much shipping actually costs. If you buy the 18" triangle with the MDF holder, that sucker is heavy! I think $15-20 shipping is very reasonable to ship that across the country. As was said above, Woodpecker does a good job protecting their products for shipping. Lets not forget about overhead - boxes, tape, software, and of course, personnel. Even with higher shipping volumes and discounts offered by UPS and FedEx, shipping is just plain expensive!!
 
One advantage over a drafting square is the Woopecker model has a wide "foot" that allows the square to stand or be quickly slid up to an edge and catch it. The wide side can be slid up to the rail on a MFT  while a drafting square will slide under it.
 
With the drafting square, i have to be X-tra careful to be sure the edges line up if measuring over the top of a sheet of ply.  I have to go mostly by feel and hope nothing shifts.  With the "hook" on one edge of the woodpecker/swanson squares, i can just slap the foot against the sheet edge and mark away.  Much simpler and I know the sqare and marks are dead on.

when checking (and sometimes adjusting) my MFT rail to the fence, i insert the foot of the square into the slot on my fence.  It dose not have even a hair f free play in the slot.  I do not even need to hold the square in place while i make any necessary adjustment to the rail.  with my architects squares, i have to hold onto everything at once while i do my checking/adjusting.  Sort of like need an extra pair of hands.

Tinker
 
Well that is a true "DUH" moment!!  [wink]
Never thought to take the foot and insert it into the slot like that.
Thanks Tinker.
 
I'm having trouble deciding between the 18" or the 450mm. Sometimes I want to completely switch over to metric, but I already have a good investment in imperial measuring devices... Starrett, Bridge City etc.

decisions, decisions  ???

Daniel
 
just ordered 2 of them. Im glad they are blue and green they'd cost 2ce as much and Id order 2ce as many..

Yea I got it bad huh?
 
Runhard said:
I'm having trouble deciding between the 18" or the 450mm. Sometimes I want to completely switch over to metric, but I already have a good investment in imperial measuring devices...

decisions, decisions  ???

Daniel

Same here, why can't they engrave metric on one side and imperial on the other?
 
Clweed said:
Runhard said:
I'm having trouble deciding between the 18" or the 450mm. Sometimes I want to completely switch over to metric, but I already have a good investment in imperial measuring devices...

decisions, decisions  ???

Daniel

Same here, why can't they engrave metric on one side and imperial on the other?

That would be nice.
I'm probably going to get the metric version.
 
I've always used my 18" version strictly as a square. Don't think I have ever used the ruler markings - at least for nothing critical.
 
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