Thread: Festool prices

Sanity prevails! Hooray!

While I agree that costs have also increased over the years, it is hard to deny that Festool (and lots of other companies for that matter) are taking advantage of it's Australian customers, when there is such a large discrepancy between the landed cost of the item purchased overseas, compared to the Australian retail price of that same item.

Disclaimer : I have no desire to own any Festool products, don't begrudge those that do, and as I don't own any of their gear, I don't feel the need to "defend" a purchasing decision.

A good portion of my Festool tools has been bought new . I do have a great local bloke who also knows why I buy the Festool stuff and is most accommodating in my purchase prices over the years.

Sometimes he can't move much on price ...he also knows that I check around,more often than not I go back with the knowlwdge he has looked after me in the past and has a great service record in his attendance to me.

Overall I look at Festools prices here & yonder and wonder, however I like the tools for their design and innovative functionality, that generally overides the question on price moreover if I am upgrading with the consideration of longevity as per my usage.

I look at FOG what the market expects there which is quite considerable in the US ,they sometimes groan about the cost but buy knowing the quality of what they are buying.

Cheers

A Festool demonstrator once said to me that Festool do not design/build a product to a price, but rather to a level of quality.
I guess that sums it up.
I have purchased a number of their products knowing it is expensive, buy oh my, what a pleasure it is to use the Festool products.
Les

We have been doing Festool products for the past 15 years, there's a lot of things that consumers don't realise. To be a Festool distributor there are a few conditions like: stocking good levels of tools & there original accessories, sending staff to Melbourne every quarter for training, knowing how to help a customer not just sell the item we are making the most money on,etc....

One of the worst Scenarios that we regularly face with most other brands is price variances from week to week causing embarrassing moments when a customer walks in & finds the item he bought 2 weeks ago is now 20-50% cheaper to what he paid a couple of weeks before

Quality, price stability & service also comes at a price, it's like a Porsche to a Hyundai

At the end of the day by keeping their prices high against a good exchange rate, someone in the food chain makes more money. I wonder if prices would remain stable if the Aussie $$ droped into $0.60's?

There are only two pieces of Festool kit which I would like to have in the shed and now should be the best time to buy them, but it's not.

I have a friend with 1 sander and he loves it, but I could never justify the price for what it is.
They may say its made to a quality not a price but is it really 10 times longer (either price for parts or time) to produce a quality product?

Maybe its just the thing to have at the moment, bit like dewalt was here 10 years ago.
As I said in another post I'm not keen on dewalt either, plastic motor housing that melts when a bearing starts to sieze.. not once but 3 times on 3 table saws.

I started calling it F..ing Expensive Stuff TOOLs.

Maybe I need to use some of them to see if its really there in quality, but thats not going to happen if I can't justify buying some, its a catch 22 I guess.

Peter

Originally Posted by VEK TOOLS

We have been doing Festool products for the past 15 years, there's a lot of things that consumers don't realise. To be a Festool distributor there are a few conditions like: stocking good levels of tools & there original accessories, sending staff to Melbourne every quarter for training, knowing how to help a customer not just sell the item we are making the most money on,etc....

One of the worst Scenarios that we regularly face with most other brands is price variances from week to week causing embarrassing moments when a customer walks in & finds the item he bought 2 weeks ago is now 20-50% cheaper to what he paid a couple of weeks before

Quality, price stability & service also comes at a price, it's like a Porsche to a Hyundai

I know where you are coming from. I am/have been in a similar situation to yours with products I sell. On the surface, they are many times more expensive than a similar product from China (roughly 500% more expensive and the strength of the AUD makes my life Hell)). I understand the quality bit. I also understand that selling a quality product takes longer and requires more knowledge by the person doing the selling. All of that makes sense. AND I am certainly prepared to pay for all those things, provided the tool does what I want it to do. No argument. I expect a tool made in Germany to cost a lot more than a tool made in China. All my Bosch tools are made in Switzerland. And it shows. They're tough, they work well and they cost a lot more than the Chinese equivalents. Of course not as much Bosch stuff comes out of Switzerland now. It shows. That's OK. I paid $450.00 for my Bosch battery drill 15 years ago. I have not regretted that purchase. Spend the money and reap the benefits.

My grumble is simply that Festool have not altered their prices to the advantage of Australian consumers to reflect the reality of exchange rates. Nothing has changed for the dealers. The same level of training that was required three years ago, stock levels and, of course, the difficulty in explaining the reasons why a Festool product should be the one to buy is always going to be there. Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Toyota and all the other car companies have dropped their prices to reflect the new paradigm of a strong Australian Dollar. As have many other companies. In fact, at one time in my life, I was importing premium quality products from France. Our pricing shedule reflected changes in the AUD. Of course, there were no dealers to contend with, as all sales were made direct to the consumer. I certainly understand the dealer difficulties. I've operated on many sides of the industry I'm in. Sales, service, importing, retailing, repping, training. I understand a good deal more than most.

I also understand your position of suddenly dropping prices and undervaluing the purchases made in the recent past. That's life. It happens in every other industry, every day. I paid $1,400.00 for my first cell 'phone. I recently purchased a cheapie for my partner, that works better, takes pictures and weighs half as much for $60.00. Consumers are aware of and are comfortable with this paradigm. Perhaps Festool could 'value add' rather than cut prices. Bundling accessories can be a method they could use to keep the prestige of the product, without devaluing it for existing owners.

Fundamentally, though, if Festool Australia is going to survive, they must, invevitably, understand that if the Aussie Dollar remains high (and it appears that it will), then, at some point, consumers will desert the Australian distribution for less expensive methods. And, frankly, _I_ do not want that to occur. I like having a quality product, like Festool, properly and competently represented in Australia. I am fully aware that, as an Australian consumer, I will always pay a little more for almost any product. This is largely due to freight costs, but compliance issues, rent, wages and other stuff play a part. I will always expect to a little more for these things and a lot more for quality, but when I see massive currency shifts, I want a discount. I believe that is fair and reasonable.

BTW: Your mail box is full.

How many would you need to buy to actually make it worthwhile flying to germany to buy them and still not be worse off. i.e. get your flight for free. Wouldn't be a lot.

Originally Posted by Zaphod

Fundamentally, though, if Festool Australia is going to survive, they must, invevitably, understand that if the Aussie Dollar remains high (and it appears that it will), then, at some point, consumers will desert the Australian distribution for less expensive methods. And, frankly, _I_ do not want that to occur.

BTW: Your mail box is full.

The thing you must understand is there is no buyer resistance, the product is bought on a cost benefit ratio that is very acceptable to those who purchase their products. Another thing that might surprise you is that almost everyone in the automotive panel beating/body repair industry use Festool every day. I would think their trade sales beat their hobby sales hands down.

The Germans as a general rule have a philosophy, if you don't want it take a walk. This is reflected in every industry that I know of and not many of them go broke. They will not be drawn into a pricing war as that has the inevitable result of chasing cheaper manufacturing and always leads to loss of quality. I would bet that your prediction of Festool leaving the market place will not happen.

You are simply wasting your time asking for any explanation on their part as they do not respond and never have.

Originally Posted by Zaphod

. Perhaps Festool could 'value add' rather than cut prices. Bundling accessories can be .

They have been bundling accessories on campaigns over the past 2 years, about 6months ago they had a bonus planer stand with planers valued @ $150, recently they had 1400mm guide rails at $99 Which works out at around 40% off, there is a Festool premium shop event coming up this Friday & Saturday at premium shops which there should be some red hot deals, I do think Festool has started to make more offers than in the past

Im more than happy to pay when i have the extra cash. Its taken a number of years to get my little collection together but it has been worth the pain. I actually like the fact they are expensive because its like you have joined a special brotherhood. Nothing like a secret handshake in the supermarket when you spot a fellow DF-500 user.

Did you know.... Every single Festools serial number can be traced back to the individual who not only assembled it, but also tested it in actual working conditions. Name one other power tool company in the world who can say the same.

Also, every single Festool apart from the Kapex is hand assembled by a female, strange but true.

Had the pleasure of visiting the Festool German factory last year, very impressive, there were many women in the assembly lines but don't worry men were also represented there. It was amazing to see how long it would take to assemble some tools(under 30mins)including testing & packaging. The other thing we have forgot to mention is how the tools hold there value, we had a customer that bought a Festool small router(over 10yrs old) for $450 it was immaculate. I'm quite sure they were around the $500 mark back then... Not bad for depreciation

Originally Posted by VEK TOOLS

Had the pleasure of visiting the Festool German factory last year, very impressive, there were many women in the assembly lines but don't worry men were also represented there. It was amazing to see how long it would take to assemble some tools(under 30mins)including testing & packaging. The other thing we have forgot to mention is how the tools hold there value, we had a customer that bought a Festool small router(over 10yrs old) for $450 it was immaculate. I'm quite sure they were around the $500 mark back then... Not bad for depreciation

It's been said before that things of quality hold their value down through the years.

My old man said to me, if you can afford it buy quality, buy once and don't regret it.

Cheers