I have no reason to post this link other than to pass on a site that I found several months ago and thought you may be interested.
If you have not heard of the company, CPO outlets, they sell reconditions tools at pretty reasonable prices. They do offer 32 major brand name tools however one of the brands appears to only be sold as new, Festool.
You might want to poke around if you are interested in reconditioned over brand new.
I noticed that they have pretty reasonable pricing on Fein blades when purchased in 10 packs.
I bought a 1/2 sheet Bosch sander from them about two years ago and they were great. It wasn't a refurb, but a closeout due to it being discontinued.
The sander has good dust collection, but that came by having the owner punch the holes in the paper on a template that was sold separately.
This was a brand new sander, and I was surprised that was considered a $14.95 accessory. So was the lady I talked to.
She went back and talked to her boss, and he said since they had 3 sanders left and five or six templates if I would order the sander right then he would give me one. That made it easy!
Just wondering here, Leon. I know you are a fan of the Festool line, but also a savvy guy. Do you think Festool keeps their refurbs (if they actually do refurb) out of the public hands? Certain brands over the years have destroyed tools or dismantled them for factory repair parts rather than put a cheaper machine on the market.
10,000 years ago when I was buying pneumatic nailers (OK, late 70s) Spotnails made a dandy nailer that was only sold as new. Spotnails only sold repair parts to their dealer, and any defective guns were exchanged or repaired. Broken guns that were turned in that couldn't be repaired were kept at the dealer in exchange for a credit for a new gun.
This was a very efficient way to control the market. Everyone paid full price for the Spotnails products. (BTW, Duofast did the same thing.)
Just wondering. While I have never heard of anyone being unhappy with their Festool purchases, as much as they sell you know there has to be at least a return or two now and again. My WoodCraft guy tells me that any returned items (even if the customer just didn't like them) are repurchased by Festool so no "slightly used" even his the shelves.
Just wondering here, Leon. I know you are a fan of the Festool line, but also a savvy guy. Do you think Festool keeps their refurbs (if they actually do refurb) out of the public hands? Certain brands over the years have destroyed tools or dismantled them for factory repair parts rather than put a cheaper machine on the market.
I really do not know what they do with returns and or repaired tools. IIRC Festool has a 30 day return policy so there muct be some returns. My Domino has a slight problem in the beginning, The indexing pin eccentric could not be adjusted. Festool sent me a complete new bottom fence assembly, oddly it was poorly packed and came in damaged. At that point Festool requested that I send it all back to them and they did the replacement of the fence unit and tweaked all the adjustments. This was shortly after they appeared here in the US. I have had no problems with any of the other 3 Festool tools that I have purchased. On recent Domino's I have noticed that the indexing pins have been replaced with what appears to be indexing tabs. There may be a reconditioned outlet but I don't know of one, if they do it may be at the Festool repair facility sorta like Compaq and Dell had several years ago. Dell sells referbs through the internet now.
With the higher prices, I suspect that they can afford to toss one rather than remarket it as a refurb as you suggested. Perhaps they get marketed as refurbs to 3rd world countries.
In the early days of the National Cash Register company (~1900), a salesman would walk into a bar and try to sell the owner a $100 National Cash machine. "No," the owner would say, "I'm thinking of an 'Acme' machine. It's only $20".
The National Cash guy would leave and report back to HQ.
A couple of days later, another NCR salesman would show up, disguised as an Acme Cash Register salesman, and sell the bar owner a brand new Acme Cash Register for $20. Unbeknownst to the owner, THIS "Acme" machine was actually made at the NCR factory and its internal parts were made of wood and cardboard.
A week later the original NCR salesman would return and ask how that new Acme machine was working out. After hearing cuss words never before uttered on the planet, the NCR guy would offer to take the Acme machine in trade and credit the owner with $10 toward purchase of a new NCR machine.
As to the point you raised. NCR would often take in REAL Acme machines in trade which they would warehouse. If anybody, anwhere, tried to open a used cash register shop, NCR would open a shop next door, stock it with these traded-in machines, and undersell the budding entrepreneur until they drove him out of business.
Festool may well do that to keep the brand high priced. Fact is, most reconditioned tools are brand new with a box that says reconditioned on it. They come down the same assembly line and are sold cheaper. Why? If the company sold their new stuff to "factory outlets" to sell cheap, they would piss ff the regular retailers. So, the put them in the box, stamp "reconditioned" maybe reduce the factory warranty a bit and everyone is happy.
I've also seen appliances coming down the line, same deal. Same air conditioner, six different brand names, six different prices. Assembled by the same people from the same parts.
890 series router quit and I have looked for an additional one while I get the original one fixed. CPO had a reconditioned router for the same price as a new one at Home Depot. Caveat emptor!
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