Thread: Bunnings dumbing down it's stock?

You got it in one!
Ever wonder where the really good Jarrah went? Wesfarmers send it to China. Some places in Melbourne have given up even carrying it due to expense and quality.

Rob

That's interesting because I have noticed in the Tamworth Bunnings all the DeWalt gear is disappearing.

I have some of that crap 80 grit paper where one rub and its gone or it falls of before you get close to the work

Westfarmers/Bunning's must be trying to save as much doe as possible for the buyout of Coles

I went shopping elsewhere this week M10 and The Dogalouge store maybe not as much lumber but quality tools fittings etc.

bunnings target group is people that are soley motivated by price and nothing else matters. That's actually a good thing. The smaller retailer can then specialize in good quality tools and supplies. And bunnings can stick with what they do best - supporting the indian and chinese economy by selling crap. That's what happens when you let economists decide a an organizations direction. Guess what I'm studying in uni...

Good example. I've been looking for a certain type of punch that are not easy find. It's a two headed punch joined by a spring in the middle. They work so well that mine always got stolen by those that thought they needed it more than me. Bunnings of all places had them. Being one who's suspitious of anything bunnings sells I took a good close look at it. Sure enough the package said made in India - that's strke one. So only one thing to do - take it out of the package and have a closer look. The steel wasn't even hardened; the tip was real easy to mushroom - strike two. Pulled the two heads apart to test the spring and guess what; the spring is also mild steel - strike three. All they were asking for it was $1. Wouldn't even take one if they were giving them away.

By the way if anyone knows where to get the two headed punches joined by a spring let me know. The best punch going.

I also bought some steel shelving from bunnings. Thought there shouldn't much the chinese manufacturer could screw up. WRONG. Nothing would fit together with out significant forceful manipuation. Ended up throwing away the first box of shelving and taking back the rest. That was six months ago and I haven't or ever plan to buy anything else from bunnings - it a glorified junk store.

Originally Posted by Toolin Around

That's what happens when you let economists decide a an organizations direction. Guess what I'm studying in uni...

Sorry, you have to sit again for this Economics 101 tutorial.

[big retailer's] target group is people that are soley motivated by price and nothing else matters. That's actually a good thing. The smaller retailer can then specialize in good quality tools and supplies.

Nice feeling, but rarely works, and virtually only for long established large (albeit smaller) retailers that have worked long and hard to build up a niche market and hang to it with ever decreasing profits.

And [big retailer] can stick with what they do best - supporting the indian and chinese economy by selling crap.

Understandable, but incorrect bad feeling. It is the Australian economy that actually benefits from digging out the materials and designing the products that are then produced cheaply in emerging countries and sold around the world. Australia never had a competitive industrial base. You might argue that it should have done more in the past to achieve it but now it is a moot point whether the conditions to do so have ever been there.

Next tutorial: pro and cons of selling uranium to India

Back when I last installed a watering system (remember those?), I had to get a few more fittings after the local garden centre's hours. A trip to Bunnings was wasted...crappy brittle plastic fittings of visibly poor quality at twice the Nylex price.

I don't go there anymore; The local Mitre10 has Norton abrasives and good consumer grade paint and hardware. I will buy Westfarmer's shares*, but I sure as hell won't shop there.

"You can never go broke underestimating the taste of the public"-P.T.Barnum.

Originally Posted by gregoryq

Back when I last installed a watering system (remember those?), I had to get a few more fittings after the local garden centre's hours. A trip to Bunnings was wasted...crappy brittle plastic fittings of visibly poor quality at twice the Nylex price.

I don't go there anymore; The local Mitre10 has Norton abrasives and good consumer grade paint and hardware. I will buy Westfarmer's shares*, but I sure as hell won't shop there.

"You can never go broke underestimating the taste of the public"-P.T.Barnum.

Yep. You passed Commerce 101. Congratulations!

Actually there was another thread about the dumming down of Bunnings... although I was talking about the dumbing down of Bunnings staff. But it just gets plain dumber!!

I think Bunnings serves a purpose ... it does ... no really!! stop yer laughin yer wombat!!

Okay so awhile back we noticed a dumbing down of Bunnings staff... around the country it appeared that someone had decided that Bunnings only required staff that had less than a full picnic in the top paddock and knew as little as possible about anything in store... and failed to give adequate knowledgable training when they hired them... well geez not hard to see why!

And now we find someone thinks that Bunnings is dumbing down the stock they sell... taking out the high end gear and tossing up the Indian Chingalese and Tiwanese crap... in other words moving from high cost slow moving high end gear to low cost fast moving crap that for the most part shouldnt even be sold... and we wonder why?

There is a serious movement on through various media to get EVERYONE doing their own thing with DIY programs showing how EASY simple and quick it is to DIY and how happy you will be doing such a simple thing... AND some of those shows are linked VERY heavily to Bunnings... so as these new ubeaut turned on to DIY by the idiot on the idiot box that tells them the price at Bunnings and shows them with great joy and relish how easy it is to DIY ANYTHING so Bunnings being the only hardware store name shown on the show... hell they even do the show at Bunnings every now and then!! and give prices!!

What I reckon is a hoot is the way they give say 3 prices for a different thing like say wheel barrows... to show how different the items are for a different price... ALL within Bunnings only items sold by Bunnings!... they dont compare with M10 Home hardware or any other one JUST BUNNINGS!! AFLAMINMAZING!!... comparing the range of wheel barrows and the range of price... but Bunnings only

Now thats not to say the new ubeaut DIYer is dumb... just he wants to get in and do it just like Rob did on that show the other night so they take his advice and go to... Bunnings... and shell for the stuff he quotes on his segment of the show... and so instead of say Triton which by the way Im yet to see Rob use any Triton on that show... they by Ozito GMC etc... and Bunnings moves a bunch of cheep gear to a dumb DIY (Please read uninformed) and instead of going to M10 or HH to do a comparison they THINK its already been done!! cause they did a comparison on the show didnt they? of course they did and Bunnings had the best price didnt they... and so they buy from Bunnings without even considering the others... great marketing and advertising strategy!

Actually the other week I went in to my local here in Bunbury to see if they had ordered the Triton engineers and log vices I ordered a couple of months ago... and I noticed that theres a definant lessening of the Triton range... Im heading to Rockingham on Tuesday so will call in to both Rockingham and Mandurah so called super store (which apparently Bunbury is as well but has less than half the amount of tools as either of the other two) to verify my suspicions here... and they didnt have them hadnt even ordered them as I expected but they "would be getting some in the next week please come back say Wednesday next week?" as expected... no wukkers not bothered I dont need them that much... but I had ordered them and had been expecting a call but they had not ordered them nor called nor even intended to do either which as you would be aware caused me to sorta loose my block a tad...

But back to the thing... I actually believe Bunnings serves a purpose! I do... it gives work to those without a clue about DIY (or much else) ...it supplies a growing niche market of dumb DIY (please read uninformed or biased informed misguided or whatever dont read it as an insult) and it means that for serious woodworkers or those who prefer to pay through the no... err pay a fair price for better quality it keeps them in the big box and out of our hair!!

So all up I reckon its a good thing.

This post is in no way an attempt to slur insult denigrate or cause undue stress or hardship upon anyone who actually likes Bunnings works for Bunnings or whatever... it is just my simple opinion based upon my own experiences... and I do on occasion wander in with nothing and cruise out with some cheep Chingalese Tiawanese or Indian crap... but then I KNOW its crap and have NO delusions about its quality or durability.

I feel for the poor buggar that THINKS theyre getting a bargain when really theyre getting a major risk to life limb and safety... but because their dopey hero on that show on the idiot box said it was the ducks friggin knuts and he wouldnt bullshyte me would he no so its gotta be bloody brilliant... its them that are being sucked in and its them that the ER departments of hospitals around the country are seeing more and more of!!

Actually I think Bunnings works a twofold two pronged target customer base

1) As above

2) the tradie in a rush who knows what hes buying is crap but needs to get the damned job done quick and only has a few bob in his pocket until the last or second or third last contract pays up... they know the damned drill will be inadequate but they know it should just do the job at hand then they toss it... quick easy gets the job done... then when they get paid for those jobs they did last friggin year FINALLY they go buy the equipment they should have bought in the first place but couldnt because the damned customer hadnt paid up!!

I think there is one important factor that has been overlooked in these posts,.Not everyone can afford to go out and buy the best quality tools and have to be prepared to accept second best when it comes to buying their tools. It also depends on what work is intended to be done. Not much good buying a $200 drill for instance when you are only going to hang up a few towel rails in the bathroom. A $30 drill will still drill holes and a hole is a hole albeit drilled with a $200 drill or a $30 drill.
I have bought some of these cheaper tools for certain jobs because I will only probably use them occasionally and at the lower price suits that purpose.
I have also had bad experiences over the years with some of the so called better quality tools and they have also failed in a very short time frame. I have had several Bosch Drills for instance and every one of them I have, has malfunctioned and I thought they were suppose to be better quality tools. To get these better quality tools fixed means they have usually got to be sent away and you are without the tool for several weeks sometimes. At least with the cheaper tools, you can afford to replace them.
Its different if you are a tradesman and you need to use the tools repeatedly every day in your work, but even so, there is a point where you are just paying for the name with some of these tools and they are no better than some brands that are cheaper.
Yes, some people are guided by the price when buying tools but that stretches both ways, there are so many people who think that if an article is expensive, it is better, I have found out over the years, that is not always the case.
The head guys who run Bunnings are not stupid, they cater to the majority and not the minority. If there was a great demand for the more expensive tools and they sold quickly then of course Bunnigs would continue to stock them but in business it is not profitable to have an item sitting on your shelf for months and not.sold.
It is so easy for someone who has the means to say " buy this brand or this one but dont buy that one because its cheap and nasty", unfortunately there is a lot of people out here who can't afford to pay high prices for most things and we have to be thankful for companies that do sell products that are within our reach and not reserved for the privileged few where price is of not an issue.
I am shortly going to purchase a new TS and would love to buy one of the better ones that would be ideal for what I want but unfortunately the one I would really like is nearly $2000 and my budget is half that so I have to compromise and buy the one I can afford. Thankfully there is a TS available at my price and yes, its brand X but thats all I can afford.
So I say good on the companies who produce Brand X, for the man who likes second best.

The head guys who run Bunnings are not stupid, they cater to the majority and not the minority. If there was a great demand for the more expensive tools and they sold quickly then of course Bunnigs would continue to stock them but in business it is not profitable to have an item sitting on your shelf for months and not.sold.

There is something wrong with this argument but I can't quite put my finger on it. Bunnings always had a mix of cheap and better gear, but the point was there used to be a choice available. Now when I walk into Bunnings it's feeling more and more like I'm walking in to a 2dollar shop without the expectation that a better quality alternate will also be available on the shelves.

I think the guys who are running Bunnings are changing their business strategy, as they are entitled to do, however doing it so soon after having cleaned the main opposition off the market is what I find disquieting.

I understand the arguments that carrying slower moving stock on the shelves is an overhead, however with things like sandpaper I find the cost overhead argument a bit spurious. I've bought my share of single use ozito's (and had them replaced without question when they broke, what about that overhead?) but I'd happily pay the premium for decent sandpaper and other consumables every time, and I don't think I'm alone, so why is Bunnings going down market there?

As far as the more durable items go, I guess I'll just be spending more time shopping around at places like Glenfords.

Munruben has a point there. I also have a few cheap tools in the shed that I bought for a specific purpose.

There have even been times that I have been pleasantly surprised by what I got for the money.

There are quite a few people on this forum that have a cheap Ozito rotary hammer drill and sing it's praises. Now I don't know what a good quality rotary hammer drill costs, but if you have a particular job to you don't mind paying your $49 or whatever, do the job and toss it afterwards.

I also have several GMC tools, including 2 hammer drills for $29 each, that have been going for several years, the Bosch drill they replaced was quite a few times that price, looks identical and probably came out of the same factory and died just after the warranty expired (a whole ONE year).

There seem to be quite a few power tool manufacturers trading on their past reputation and putting a different colour on the same cheap Chinese items and charging several times the price with a shorter warranty.

So, it is all too easy to criticise Bunnings, and I do at times, but at the end of the day they are fulfilling a demand. Most of the time I can walk in to a Bunnings store and walk out with all the items on my list, try and do the same thing in the smaller stores and you may have to visit 3 or 4 and still not have everything. On top of that Bendigo doesn't have 3 or 4 alternatives! The only other alternative is Home Hardware, quite good, and Mitre 10, totally useless - doesn't even stock the items in the latest brochure!

IMHO Munruben and Big Shed have more or less summed it up. The only small weakness there is that the Bosch, Telefunken etc. you are talking about are not the original German products, they are cheap stuff with a big old name. Fuzzie, there is nothing wrong with M's argument. You are right that it does not apply to sandpaper, though; the explanation there is that if 99% of WD's "dumb DIY (please read uninformed or biased informed misguided or whatever dont read it as an insult)" buy one type of item it is uneconomical to offer another type of the same item with a tiny market share.

As regards comparing shops, it is quite common to find that all chain stores sell a lot of cr*p for the reasons already discussed, but some sell the same cr*p at higher prices than others, either because they have a heavier overhead structure or are just more greedy.

ETA: I just noticed that the system does accept fully spelled crap (unless it makes an exception especially for WD ). So, you see? It's everywhere! let's live with it!

Originally Posted by Frank&Earnest

The only small weakness there is that the Bosch, Telefunken etc. you are talking about are not the original German products, they are cheap stuff with a big old name.

I think that the likes of Bosch are not doing themselves a service with that marketing strategy, it plays right in the hands of Festool and GMC. Why pay Bosch prices for GMC quality, so people say let's pay a "bit" more and get Festool. So what are people getting extra for the Bosch type market segment? Nothing that I can see, same "quality" and less warranty.

Other companies are doing the same thing wiht a range of products, including bandsaws and wood turning lathes.

We should also not forget that Bunnings et al are not aiming at the majority of people that frequent this forum, they are aiming at the mass market DIY people that just want to hang a shelf, paint a room etc. They serve that market very well, much better than any other company has ever done. It will be interesting to see what Wesfarmers does with Coles, can only improve their market share I think.