prices

It’s the EU mind set, I think.
I don’t think they understand free market forces.
Probably because they don’t have a trully free market.
I have a retail business where I sell a Danish made product with a similar marketing concept.
I have no control over the pricing of this product.
I had to sign a contract where I could loose my business if I am caught discounting that product.
I suspect Festool is marketed the same way.

The term here is resale price maintenance, which is part of a strategy to prevent brand devaluation (not to be confused with price fixing). Often viewed as anti free market it is a necessary evil. I hate to make broad generalizations, but here it is. American manufacturers and retailers tend to compete on price, which for many sectors is a lost battle in a today’s open world with emerging economies. Germans tend to compete on quality. That’s why Craftsman turned into crapsman and Festool remains Festool.

IMHO, they can take it and SHOVE it!

They are obviously living in a different world…

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: https://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/index.php?media/albums/users/joe-lyddon.1389/

I can’t even begin to understand any company’s marketing and pricing strategies. But I do understand the intersection of quality, price and utility. At least as it applies to me.
There are tool brands I will never consider purchasing because their quality is too far from their price or utility and vice versa. Festool, Black and Decker, Dewalt and Craftsman, are but a few. YMMV.

-- Gene 'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

I’m not convinced that there would not be support for quality, American made products with prices higher than the B&Ds and the HFs of the world, but not in the stratisphere like the FTs out there.

A good start might be labeling laws which require “country of origin” prominetly displayed on all manufactured products.

In general I think most people want quality products. Then also they want to feel like they did not get ripped off. You provide a good product and at a reasonable price, folks will buy it; no matter where it comes from.

As long as some slick willy can come along and get the cheapest crap from China they can find and stick an American brand name on it and then obscure the country of origin in microscopic print they have an unfair advantage. They sell bunches of cheap crap that way. That’s how Walmarts of the world got to be so big.

I don’t feel price is a good point to evaulate quality.(I can think of a lot of items that would apply to good or bad.)
I had a 50,000 dollar Lincoln that wasn’t really any better than the Olds 98 I had (1/2 the price) My point being you reach a point where you’re paying for a name period. I can’t believe a 400.00 Festool drill will drill any better than a 100.00 DeWalt and in todays economy things just keep going up. The average price of a new car now is 30k. How many people has that shut out of the market? and GM just announced a 6% increase for 2013. I just hope they don’t want my dollars for another bail out.

-- Life is good.

I have no problem with Festool costing more – as inventors and innovators, their R&D costs are bound to be high, their relatively low volume of production and high quality means each unit costs more.

It surprises me that Festool are going ahead with another annual price increase, when demand for furniture making and carpentry services is in a real slump (well they are here, anyway). It just seems arrogant to me.

I don’t own any Festool products myself, I am too much of a tightwad to pay one and half times what a Dewalt costs for something that a Dewalt will do perfectly well.

I agree. Festool, and many others included.

-- Roger from KY. Work/Play/Travel Safe. Keep your dust collector fed. [email protected]

Hey! Ya takes what the market will bare (was that the correct word?). They seem to have a following much like some turning stuff and planes.
I don’t have any green/black stuff.
Saying that, we just bought a ‘11 Caddy for 50% of orig. price, and my HF dust collector works well. I also pay good bucks for W. Butcher cast steel hand tools. Whatever floats your…...........
Dang! Sounds like I’m a price whore.
Bill

-- [email protected]

I’m not trying to sound like someone who only cares about themself, but Festool raising their price doesn’t affect me one bit.

-- In this world there's two kinds of people my friend. Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig.

Doesn’t bother me either… I couldn’t afford them before… & never will… LOL

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: https://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/index.php?media/albums/users/joe-lyddon.1389/

eh. could be the devaluation of the US dollar, of course the euro is in the crapper too, and increase in manufacture and logistic costs. I own a domino, which is a unique product. Is it worth the price to me? Yes. It saves me space, does what it’s supposed to and does it very well. It saves me time and money by not having to buy lots of other equipment that I don’t have the room for. It just fits my needs. As to quality, it’s top notch and very accurate out of the box. But, then again, there may be value in some of their tools and none in others. Like others have said, I don’t see how a 400 dollar drill can drill a hole any better than dewalt. But then again, the TS55 tracksaw is a pretty neat concept and with their other tools being able to accept their track system, while cool, not sure if a 700 dollar festool router is any better than the PC7518….