Thread: Kapex the cheapest i have seen

Originally Posted by barned01

interesting read TP1 it doesn't give me confidence however that this is still not happening considering the lack of negotiating room i had when trying to purchase one.

I do understand what you mean. There are plenty of legal 'tricks' distributors can do to keep prices up. For example they often allow very low initial profit margins for dealers followed by complex rebate structures paid at various times in the future. This does make it a bit more difficult to discount because the dealer could be out of pocket for some time until all the rebates come in.

Having said that, I think Australia's economic boom in recent years has made some retailers and distributors way too lazy. They have simply been in the business of accepting money that was thrown at them, without having to actually chase sales.

i agree with you tp1, with regards to retailers and discount.

i have only been to carbatec in brisbane once to buy a power tool, when i asked for discount, the young lady looked at me as if i had grown two heads. she was not interested in giving me discount and i was not interested in doing business with them. i do my business elsewhere these days.

maybe if they looked at the bigger picture and realized over a 1 year period, i can spend 10-15k, then they might want to give a little bit back to the customer.

regards, justin.

Most people think the seller is making a killing selling the tool for $1700 but in reality after all our lead up work to educate the customer about the features & bennifits of the product, the do's & donts to increase the saws life we average a GROSS Profit of around 15%.

By the time you take out expenses like:

1. sending staff for training in Melbourne at our cost
2. stocking the range including accessories
3. warehousing the stock
4. invoicing
5. registering warranty for customers
6. dooing the governments tax collecttion

Not forgetting we dont sell 1 of these every hour, we are left with peanuts unless your a distributor that just price matches someone elses hard work & takes the cream. As a warranty agent for Festool 90% of our warranties come from distributors that dont take the time to go thru points with customers to prolong the life of the tool not forgetting to mention they dont waste there time to fill out the warranty rego leaving the customer with a 1 year warranty instead of 3.

The other thing is if Festool didnt care about there product & allowed distributors to screw them down in price we would probably see on the labels something along the lines of:

Made in PRC, Made in China, Festool Corp..germany (hidding where it was really made,etc......

Im sure if this was the case we would have alot of this rather than this

Originally Posted by VEK TOOLS

The other thing is if Festool didnt care about there product & allowed distributors to screw them down in price we would probably see on the labels something along the lines of:

Made in PRC, Made in China, Festool Corp..germany (hidding where it was really made,etc......

Im sure if this was the case we would have alot of this rather than this

Thanks for chiming in. I don't think anyone doubts the integrity of the retailers but I'm sure you understand the stunning lapses in service we consumers must endure just to be afforded the privilege of handing over our hard earned cash.

While I really love Festool gear , I am concerned that Tool Technic Systems (Australia), who distribute Festool gear and are a subsidiary of the German parent company, have been convicted and fined in the Federal Court for being engaged in unlawful conduct through manipulating retail prices of the gear that they sell

Now it doesn't matter where the tools are made or how good they are - no company has the right to come to Australia and deliberately break our laws because they think their products are superior. Now I think everyone on the forum would understand the retailers dilemma with all this.

Now accepting that those particular practices have ceased, it is indeed unfortunate for consumers that Festool products are still being sold at RRP in many cases. I don't really want to get in to true profit margins, which apart from the Gross profit margin may well include additional rebates, discounts and incentives, because I don't think that retailers need to justify the pricing positions that they take. The consumers will decide whether or not the retailers pricing and service is justified and penalise or reward them accordingly.

Finally I have no problem with goods being made in the PRC. I remember the incredible bias that was around against Japanese gear and their motor vehicles. Many manufacturers were way too complacent and dismissive - none more so than General Motors, Look at them now.

Besides, in terms of trade, I think we get a great deal from China. Once they began buying from Australia in a big way, this country began to enjoy decent prices for our commodity exports - far better than the Japanese or Europeans were previously prepared to pay. In return we get goods at the lowest prices ever, which in the world of woodworking, has enabled so many to conduct their business or enjoy their hobby.