Thread: Lie Nielsen and Veritas

We get what can be sold readily and for a profit.

If you want something not available in Oz, you then have to order direct and pay the exorbitant postage.

Up to you.

Originally Posted by Pat

We get what can be sold readily and for a profit.

If you want something not available in Oz, you then have to order direct and pay the exorbitant postage.

Up to you.

I haven't bought Vertas since well before covid but it was about 30% cheaper to buy from Lee Valley than from carbatec, and get it faster. Has that all gone bust?

Postage cost kills most of the cost saving unfortunately

Not sure if things have changed (again), but for a while it was cheapest to buy and ship from the UK? I used to buy Veritas direct from Lee Valley years ago, putting together one decent-sized order every 6 months or so, but rapidly escalating shipping costs put paid to that. Of course, it depends on the prevailing exchange rate too.

Originally Posted by Mr Brush

Not sure if things have changed (again), but for a while it was cheapest to buy and ship from the UK? I used to buy Veritas direct from Lee Valley years ago, putting together one decent-sized order every 6 months or so, but rapidly escalating shipping costs put paid to that. Of course, it depends on the prevailing exchange rate too.

This is how good postage used to be. I bought one of those Henry vacuums from a place in London. With shipping it was still over a hundred less than I could buy here, and I got the commercial model to boot, and the box was huge. Oh the good ol days eh... Harvey Normans happy though. He gets to add a few extra million to his hundreds.

EDIT: Just checked what things are like...

Veritas Rabbet plane,

Direct from Lee Valley, $709AUD, 3 days shipping to your door (knock $24 off if you don't mind waiting a couple months). From Carbetec $685, no idea how long to your door, probably a week or two, when they get stock.

Considering what I think of carbatec... I'd still buy from Lee Valley.

It all turned to custard when US Postal Service finally sussed out that the more overseas parcels they moved, the more money they lost.......and adjusted their pricing accordingly

Originally Posted by Mr Brush

It all turned to custard when US Postal Service finally sussed out that the more overseas parcels they moved, the more money they lost.......and adjusted their pricing accordingly

Ya, that's the part I don't get. Postal services - should continue to be a government service. They shouldn't be running at a profit, they're their to enhance business and allow them to make a larger profit. They killed most of Americas overseas business. They UK, I think, is the same. It was dirt cheap to buy old tools from there. Now. I tried to buy a single genuine Record Router Plane screw and the postage was going to be 17pounds. Ended up retapping the holes and buying a Fillister head screw here...

That’s an interesting comparison that you’ve made. One of my other hobbies was also this way inclined, you could buy out of the US and pay postage and it would cheaper than local. But it’s certainly not this way anymore.

The original question was more curiosity, if I were in the retailers shoes I’d be salty if I couldn’t carry the full range of products when it seems they’re readily available in the US. Probably speaks more to the difficulties and costs associated with shipping anything into this country these days.

My other spending habit is cycling and there are strong analogies.

Australia is such a small market that bringing in stock is a high risk for wholesalers and usually passed onto the retailer and consumer as higher prices, low stock volumes and less diverse ranges. Also parent companies can screw over local wholesalers - in cycling Shimano notoriously drip feed stock into Australia, at much higher prices. Also some wholesalers in my cycling experience don't help themselves or brands by terrible before and after sales service, and woeful warranty service (even where the parent company acknowledges fault).

As consumers ran to overseas online retailers, we were first screwed by GST changes (some retailers refused to sell to Australia because of administrative burdens - thanks Hardly Normal), postage costs evaporating the comparative price advantage, and then parent companies geo-blocking sales of their products to Australian retailers (VPNs can get around it, until you ship to an Australian address).

That said, it was small Australian retailers that were being impacted by us shopping on overseas websites - bike shops that were going bust were full of people trying on shoes and clothing to confirm sizing for an overseas purchase, or returning broken bikes that had been purchased overseas and demanding Australian aftersales service and warranties.

Anyway support local retailers where practical and economical, and just consider higher postage as a transaction cost to get things you can't get out here (for availability or cost).

To add to what Anthony said, I can easily see why local retailers only carry such Veritas & L-N stuff as sells in reasonable numbers. They no doubt have to purchase a minimum number of any model to get the retailers' discount, & having a heap of very expensive items sitting around for months/years waiting for buyers is not a good use of operating capital, methinks. We just have to concentrate on the advantages of living in a large, sparsely-populated country & put up with the odd inconvenience it brings...

Cheers,

Originally Posted by IanW

To add to what Anthony said, I can easily see why local retailers only carry such Veritas & L-N stuff as sells in reasonable numbers. They no doubt have to purchase a minimum number of any model to get the retailers' discount, & having a heap of very expensive items sitting around for months/years waiting for buyers is not a good use of operating capital, methinks. We just have to concentrate on the advantages of living in a large, sparsely-populated country & put up with the odd inconvenience it brings...

Cheers,

If it makes you feel any better, I live in a metro area with 2 1/2 million people, a couple of hours from others the same size and a little more from a bunch far bigger than that.

There is woodcraft and rockler here, but they're pretty useless if you have any experience, and I have little desire for chinese planes that started off being a dead copy of Lie Nielsens falling out after a battle over demanding stock priority or something along those lines. Learned how little LN is probably making when they wanted to expand after 15 years of business and had to sit and wait for the bank to tell them if they could.

rockler and woodcraft are stores for beginners, though, and don't have anything really to offer someone who is making a lot, buying stock and rifling through consumables that can be found for much less elsewhere. Always kind of caused me to squint when rockler would offer a 25% coupon, I'd print it, take it to the store, buy some finish product or something I'd been waiting to try and then two weeks later see the same product at home depot further up the hill in the same area - lower cost than the coupon price.

so, rural or not - I'd get the same things here by internet as I'd get where I grew up (Gettysburg - cities in every direction, but a couple of hours away). with perhaps a better option to buy lumber at retail. But maybe not. More options to find an amish miller, though. Some of the amish have a habit of cutting trees past their property line, which could explain why their prices are so low.

Originally Posted by Ando967

Hi all,

Is it just me or does Australia not seem to receive the full range of tools from these manufacturers? I know there’s an issue with Bronze Casting or Lie Neilsen. I came across a pair of 98 & 99 side rabbet planes the other day and didn’t even realise the were made.

Even now, nearly FOUR years after Covid struck, Lie Nielsen is not back to full production. Tools which move with very high frequency continued to be made during Covid, but the speciality planes like the #98 / #99 side rebates, and Steve Latta's inlay tools, are still to go back into production. I can see no indication on the LN website of when production of these speciality tools will recommence. Lie Nielsen Australia periodically sends me emails keeping me abreast of the situation.

There is a similar story, though not as severe, with Veritas tools.
Supply of particular types of tools remains a challenge.