Staggering cost

[Chippygeoff]

I am increasingly being surprised at the cost of things. I was looking at a new machine before Christmas, it was just over £1000, if I bought it now it would cost almost £2000. I buy quite a bit of stuff from e-bay and I am amazed at what some of the clowns are charing for postage, especially from America, there was one item I looked at that cost £11-53 and they wanted £54 for shipping it over.

I was looking for hardwood the other day and contacted 2 suppliers, both on e-bay. With one of them I asked, as an example, how much it would cost me for a length of Ash or Oak 6ft long, 6 inches wide and 3/4 thick, he wanted £130 plus carriage. I know we all have to make a profit but I felt that was ridiculous. If I bought wood from this guy I would never sell the things I make.

Another thing that I just cant get my head round is tools made by festool, why oh why do they cost so much, I know the quality is good but I fail to see how their router would perform better than the one I have which cost considerably less.

 

[Dangermouse]

hi Geoff
I cant agree more, in these days of recession one would think companies would be more sensitive over prices. But the opposite seems to be happening.
As with all things tools seems, at the top end to be ridiculously expensive, no wonder firms like Clifton are finding it hard and loosing retailers like Axminster. Thats why I usually buy good old / vintage tools and machinery. Good value and usually made 1000% better.

 

[henton49er]

I buy quite a bit of stuff from e-bay and I am amazed at what some of the clowns are charing for postage.

I trawl eBay quite regularly; I am surprised not only at what people charge for goods and postage, but also at the sums that some idiots are prepared to pay for things. My general rule is to go up to between half and two thirds (including postage) of what I can buy something brand new (depends upon how good the item looks, its description, and how desperate I am to buy it :lol: :lol: ). Often, I find that bidders will bid up to and sometimes above(!!) the new price available from on-line retailers. [I was watching some chuck jaws recently that were available online for just under £39 including postage - the auction price on eBay was £39.99 plus postage, IIRC]. :roll: :roll:

There are some strnage people out there (not on this forum, you understand :twisted: :twisted: )

 

[SurreyHills]

I agree about people getting carried away on eBay. There are a couple of sellers with hundreds of "antique woodworking" items on Buy it Now for very high prices. Don't seem to sell many but I guess they are prepared to take the long view. Also amazes me that Axi seem to get very close to the store price for some of the customer returns they auction off.

 

[Gary Morris]

Totally agree with you guys, I too browese ebay, the postage differs significantly for exact same items. (ie books) I was browesing and saw one ad charging £5.60 for a small pamphlet type book, where as others £0.99 postage (all from UK) I think some people do it just to inc profit and hope no one notices.

Gary

 

[RogerS]

ChiipyGeoff...postage from the States depends very much on how heavy the thing. Most stuff automatically is sent by air or courier. £54 is not out of order, to be honest. We had to pay that to get a book sent over from Japan.

I agree re £130..that is plain daft as 6ft will be carried by most companies on myparceldelivery.com. for a fraction of the price.

Festool stuff is expensive and I have banged on in the past about it. But generally speaking, it performs much better ergonomically etc than cheaper stuff. But that is a personal opinion. Others may differ.