Lee Valley Shows its True Colo(u)rs

[JohnD]

"We can either float prices daily and make the exchange rate work exactly - or fix prices and tolerate exchange differences, until we can correct them - which for us, is annually."

"Thanks for the clear and correct explanation - yes - we set our rates in June, and hold for a year"

I guess they hold the prices for a year if the exchange rate movements are favourable to Lee Valley. They have announced increases for Canadian customers starting Jan 5 to offset the weaker Canadian dollar. Too bad they didn't lower prices when the Canadian dollar went up. Heads they win, tails you lose.

John

[Robatoy]

And now Rob Lee is supposed to compromise the health of his fine company to make 'you' happy?

Had Robin Lee been the 'cause' of the US dollar/Canadian dollar problem, then I would also hold him responsible.

He owes it to his business to put it first. It is his business to do as he seems fit so that all his employees can at least have a chance at keeping their jobs. (Which may or may not be possible due to the enormous economic mismanagement beyond our control.)

[JohnD]

I 'applaud' your 'use' of irrelevant quotation marks for 'effect'.

I have merely pointed out an obvious inconsistency in Lee Valley's stated policy when a currency move that went in their favor and the opposite behavior when it did not. They are free to do what they want, as a privately-held company. Not sure if raising prices, against a stated policy, in this turd-bowl of an economy is the smartest move, but I simply wanted to point out the lack of consistency with former company statements.

Are you the unofficial Lee Valley apologist?

[nailshooter41]

ROTFLMAO.... I'm dying over here!!

Seriously.... your hot buttons....

Sometimes you really crack me up!

Robert

[Tom Watson]

It's bidness. I don't know if you own or have ever owned your own bidness but times is hard and bidness does what bidness needs to do. Mr. Lee has employees who depend on him to make intelligent decisions

- so that they can continue to have jobs. It looks to me like Mr. Lee is doing just that.

tom

[JohnD]

Wow.

What I said, using smaller words, so as not to confuse, is the following.

When the CDN dollar went up, Robin Lee said his hands were tied, the fact that LV products cost way less in the US was regrettably out of his hands, due to the long-term currency-buying and catalog-printing policies of Lee Valley. The fall of the Canadian dollar is, apparently, easier to address, in the form of price increases to Canadian customers. I know it is subtle, but do you see the inconsistency. In the first case, when the currency movement benefitted LV, no change could be made, due to currency commitments, and catalog printings. In the latter case, when the currency movement harms Lee Valley, then they abandon recently-distributed catalog pricing and push it up. All I am saying, Einstein, is that this is inconsistent.

I am not suggest> >

[Ed Pawlowski]

Who cares what he said a few years ago. Things change. The economy certainly has.

Sounds like your beef is with Mr. Lee so you should take it up with him, not us. No one here can change the policy, but he can.

[Leon]

You always have the option to not do business with Lee Valley, but then it would be heads they win and tails you loose also.

[Robatoy]

Was that an attempt at condescension?

[Robatoy]

Before this little misguided thread, your last contribution, JohnD was:

1. JohnD

As a group, we have JohnD to thank for that contribution. 3-1/2 years ago since we heard anything from him.

Sometimes people leave for one reason or another, and sometimes we miss them. This is not one of those times.

[alexy]

Good for him. Glad he got that figured out, and hope that will allow him to continue to provide excellent tools and service at good prices.

Or, if you have issue with their pricing, why don't you deny yourself the use of any LV tools. I'll be glad to hold any planes for you until you get over it, and promise to keep them in good use.

[LD]

Before this little misguided thread, your last contribution, JohnD was:

1. JohnD

As a group, we have JohnD to thank for that contribution. 3-1/2 years ago since we heard anything from him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And?

[Upscale]

No, it's business. Robin's first duty to his company is to see that it doesn't lose money. When the Canadian dollar was worth more than the US buck, it was only that way for a relatively short period. Nobody is immediately going to change prices under those conditions until they're fairly sure those rates are going to stay fairly consistent. They didn't stay that way for long so no prices were changed.

However when the dollar went way down again, immediately LV would be losing money, so he has to address that condition immediately. That's his duty and it is what he did. There's no greed or inconsistency there, just ordinary business.

[Maxwell Lol]

Only from your perspective. From LV's - it's profitable both ways. As Tom says, it's business.

Perhaps LV is doing this because most of their business comes from the US, and if they have to show "favorites," they pick the one that gives them the most profit.

Now if you have a suggestion that will allow LV to do the "right thing," and remain at least as profitable, please enlighten us..

[Tom Watson]

Fuck You.

(are those words small enough for you?)

Regards,

Tom Watson

[Jim Hall]

I shop around, watch for sales and find the best price I can and leave it at that.. I just bought a Veritas twin screw vise for a new workbench project from Lee Valley. I found other stores that sell it, but all were more expensive. Lee Valley's current free shipping was enough of a bonus for me.. Other things I buy elsewhere.. Doesn't do much good to get ticked about price changes in a particular store.. Just let supply and demand principle take care of that..

[tom_murphy]

Robin stated a policy. He didn't sign a contract. He is allowed to change policy, and it's possible the the economic situation forced him to do so. I don't know.

You seem to have a low opinion of Robin, or of his company. I have no idea whether it's justified or not, but in any case you simply need to buy from someone else. Give your business to someone whom you respect, based on whatever business behavior pleases you. I doubt Robin will miss you anyway.

[Jim Weisgram]

[...snip...]

One possible explanation of why Lee Valley is doing differently today than several years ago: a larger percentage of their business is Internet driven, therefore they are comfortable changing prices before the next catalog comes out. Perhaps most if not all customers can check prices on the web site and are comfortable doing so. A few years ago, that was likely less true.

[MikeWhy]

I'm not a financial advisor, so don't take this for gospel. It's common business practice to hedge against commodity price movements by holding futures on those commodities. This has the effect of locking in the price of that commodity. For LV, USD currency futures would lock in an effective exchange rate for their US sales revenues. Losses from an adverse price movement are offset by gains on the futures contracts, and vice versa. To not hedge this way amounts to speculating on the commodity market. That's a valid business model also, but should be undertaken as a conscious decision. Maybe this will shed some light and take some of the angst out of the discussion. But what does that mean in context of LV price adjustments? Was John so far off mark to cry "Foul!" in the face of LV's stated policies? Sales projections were undoubtedly skewed by the suddenly tight retail market. They would then be over hedged, and losing money on the exchange rate. It might also be they were playing a little lose and free with the long term CDN strength on the dollar, scraping a few extra pennies on the favorable exchange rate. They would then be under hedged and over exposed. This is the scenario John paints, that LV was playing the market in their favor with their customers' pocketbooks. Who's to say? I'm guessing there was a little of both.

[Larry]

"MikeWhy" wrote in news:oXO7l.4299$ [e-mail]:

Lot's of over-analyzing snipped....

You're beating up on a guy that is only doing what he needs to do to stay profitable. The bottom line is that in my experience they have always had good quality products for sale at a fair price. Add to that excellent customer service. If you think you can get the same product/price/service somewhere else, you're free to shop elsewhere.

Myself, based on past experience I believe I will continue to receive the same value I have in the past and will continue shopping there. I don't believe the core values have changed, only the current market. YMMV

Larry