Thread: Price rise

The dream just keeps getting further away !

Ot (already haha) that link has a triton track/plunge saw on it.

Whilst there are risks, it is just another reason to import privately.

A Festool price increase? What can I say?

Inevitable really, given the current (declining) exchange rate of our South Pacific Peso.

Apart from their sanders (which are excellent) Festool products are in the main ludicrously overpriced crap.

Only now they're even more ludicrously overpriced crap!

not only do you need to mortgage your house, now you have to sell one child as well.
Don't think I'll ever own anything green.

Originally Posted by Ratbag

A Festool price increase? What can I say?

Inevitable really, given the current (declining) exchange rate of our South Pacific Peso.

Apart from their sanders (which are excellent) Festool products are in the main ludicrously overpriced crap.

Only now they're even more ludicrously overpriced crap!

That is partly a ridiculous statement. Crap it isn't and never has been, overpriced it has always been and always will be. No one can say it is crap, there is only one better brand (Mafelle). Others may be better value for money that that is a very subjective thing for each individual and always leads to keyboard wars on fora world wide. For instance I would not buy the Kapex as I think another brand is better value but I do own one of their cordless drills and it has taken a beating and always works and has some very nice features that suit me.

Originally Posted by Ratbag

A Festool price increase? What can I say?

Inevitable really, given the current (declining) exchange rate of our South Pacific Peso.

Apart from their sanders (which are excellent) Festool products are in the main ludicrously overpriced crap.

Only now they're even more ludicrously overpriced crap!

Yes they are overpriced, always have been and I'm sure always will be. Those of us who have the money and want a good tool will buy them regardless of cost. Those who haven't the wherewithal to afford them can buy other tools. No need to come on here calling them crap just because you have a beef with their price.

Pretty sure that their dealers have no control over their pricing, which is set by Festool and not the individual sellers.

Not everyone can afford a Rolls Royce (nor would everyone want one) but that doesn't stop us from buying another vehicle which is going to be overpriced if it's new, whether you like it or not. There are always cheaper brands around everyone is free to buy them.

I have had a number of Festool tools for around 15-16 years now and to date none of them has ever let me down. Prior to that I had killed a number of other brands of the same tools on a regular basis.

Crap tools... I don't think so. Just a little out of the price rang of many.

If you have a genuine beef with their tools take it up with Festool. Before denigrating a company please read this

Just out of curiosity which of their tools (apart from sanders) do you own and call crap and why?

Originally Posted by cava

Whilst there are risks, it is just another reason to import privately.

Beware. Apart fro power supply problems, I think you'll find that bringing your own tools in from overseas will void any warranty here in Australia, so if it breaks don't expect to get it fixed by a Festool dealer anywhere in Australia. I could be wrong but it has happened with other tool manufacturers and I'm pretty sure Festool is the same.

Cheers - Neil

I have to agree with what Neil said. I too own a few tools in the Festool range and they are great. Yes they are expensive, but some other well known brands are not that much cheaper. Very few companies stand by their products like Festool do. They adjusted my 5 year old router including freight free of charge. No quibbles and very professional and friendly about it.
Have a look around, other products are also going up in price due to the falling AUD.
Les

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

For instance I would not buy the Kapex as I think another brand is better value....

Whilst I do not have a Kapex (but have drooled over them ), for information only, what other brand do you think is better value Chris?

The reasoning is that hopefully in the not too distant future I may, just may , be forced into buying a mitre saw.

For my purposes I bought the Bosch Glide Saw. It is not necessarily better in fact in some ways, dust collection is one it is inferior to the Kapex in, but in other ways it suits my needs better in that I can get it hard up against the wall of the shed and that means it suits the bench that was already there. I would use either as in practical user terms there is nothing between them IMHO. Price was not a consideration, the footprint was the decider. If I was doing site work no way would I have the Bosch as it is too damned heavy.

I'm very happy with the kapex, its very well calibrated straight out of the box (did a nice mitre job on a picture frame the other day) and the laser and dust collection is handy. Would probably buy it again, but not certain. It'd be great to also have a bosch glide or another 12" sliding saw with a cheaper blade in it for working with building/ gardening timber and docking recycled furniture timber to rough length. I often baby the kapex because I want to maintain the blade and its alignment.

Originally Posted by Austin_Turner

I often baby the kapex because I want to maintain the blade and its alignment.

That is something I refuse to do with any tool, if it can't stand the day to day rigours of the job it fails as a tool. My Festool drill has been dropped off ladders, kicked along floors etc, in fact everything imaginable that a working tool has to put up with. It has never been treated a special tool and I treat the Bosch as a saw to cut things as I would a Kapex if I owned one. It cuts firewood as well as dressed timber and my BS has cut more firewood that re-sawn timber.

Yep I am also known to have a swag full of Festool tools have had some of them since they had the blue catches on the containers ,they are still going well.
These tools have cost me a lot of money I guess in the outlay of all of them over time ...justified ultimately by the jobs that I have done, and the design that ergonomically suits me for protracted use is a factor that comes into decision.
I have been lucky to have been able to test drive tools at my local bloke which also was a bonus in my view!

Overpriced at times I may have thought, however I have bought for the tool to last as you do with any introspective tool purchase.I will continue to support the product because of the good runs I have had over time.

I have also a multitude of other brand tools in my shed most do not see the light of day ..I'm overdue for a garage sale here, the Festool is what I reach for as I am set up for those with 2 dust extractors the mini and the 26 catering.

I believe Festool/Protool build upto a standard much like your Rolls Royces, than up to a price which has many factors where the RRP is decided on.

My 2c worth + tax

Cheers

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

That is partly a ridiculous statement. Crap it isn't and never has been, overpriced it has always been and always will be. No one can say it is crap, there is only one better brand (Mafelle). Others may be better value for money that that is a very subjective thing for each individual and always leads to keyboard wars on fora world wide. For instance I would not buy the Kapex as I think another brand is better value but I do own one of their cordless drills and it has taken a beating and always works and has some very nice features that suit me.

I say that some of my own personal Festool purchases are crap. I also contend that some of other's Festool purchases that I've had the (dis)pleasure to use are also crap.

Both of my Festool Jigsaws are crap: PS200 & 300.

My 2 Festool cordless drills are also crap: old technology, underpowered, often uselessly slow, and with limited battery capacity & life.

My Kapex was worse: inaccurate, unreliable and downright dangerous! Likewise for the 7 that a local TAFE purchased that required decommissioning!

My Festool OF1010 router is, in comparison to my 3 Elu/DeWalts, an ergonomic disaster. In contrast to the above statement, Mafell has been marketing the same designs in routers for the last 20-25 years as Festo/Festool, and therefore aren't superior designs.

My CT22 vac is well designed, but realistically no measureably better than my 30 year old Festo/Makita/Stihl vac that was designed & manufactured by WAP.

By contrast, my 5 Festool sanders are excellent tools, not only in their own right, but especially so due to the unsurpassed range of excellent abrasives available.

Mafell DO indeed make the world's best range of beam, plunge, pendulum, panel and pedestal saws available, however much of the rest of their range leaves a lot to be desired. Their Cuprex Jigsaw, while supremely powerful and using Mafell's large-capacity proprietary modified twin welded Bosch blades is nevertheless grotesquely overpriced and no measurably better in power, performance or capacity to the more modestly priced equivalent Swiss-made pro model from Bosch.

Mafell, also in common with Festool, have the world's stupidest soleplate tilt setup in their latest Jigsaws: i.e. you need to CHANGE the whole bl.....dy soleplate (assuming of course that you've actually purchased said accessory soleplate AT EXTRA EXPENSE and actually remembered to pack the stupid thing & actually taken it to the worksite) if you want to make a cut at anything other than 90 degrees!

It's insane!

Their routers are similar in design, production and execution (i.e clones) to superseded Festool equivalents. Their sanders are effective but crude and mirror designs from Rupes and Kress. Likewise their (small) planer is bettered elsewhere. Their big ones however, are dangerously awesome beasts worthy of the utmost respect!

There are some Festool purchases that I've made that I find rewarding, pleasureable to use and excellent value for money.

It's said that a fool and his money are soon parted. There are also Festool purchases that I've made that I bitterly regret, and feel angry about, that make me feel deceived and taken advantage of.

And foolish.

I therefore contend that in my own experience the price to performance ratio of much of Festool's range is frightful. To charge (even more) premium prices for products of such profoundly inadequate performance is unconscionable.

An interesting discourse.