Bandsaw Sale Pricing

[Scott C. Williams]

I just received my October issue of Wood magazine which had a Grizzly sale add for their bandsaw model G0555. The listed sale price with pricing code 11WOODM is $425.00. I called Grizzly Customer Service to check the promotion time frame and was told they are not honoring this price due to cost of materials increase. The new price is $475, which is over a 10% increase. The sale was to countinue till September 25. For me it's frustrating that Grizzly has chosen to close the sale prior to what they have published and apparently not concerned about their customers. I am interested if anyone has recently puchased this bandsaw and at what price.

[Bud Millis]

The sad fact is this most likely went to print, with the deadline of about a 6 weeks ago. Price changes may have gone into effect after the deadline. Offtern times in the ad it says something to that extent. Sucks but crap happens.

[Dave Aronson]

I understand materials goes up, but this still seems wrong to me. I'm looking at the ad and it doesn't say anything about the pricing other than prices will go up and that you need to call in to secure your price.

[Keith Outten]

The world has changed, nothing is what it used to be.
We all must accept that past experiences have nothing to do with today and the impact of recent global events. I expect to see companies stop providing any prices in any and all print media because things change faster than anyone can commit to a long term advertisement. The Internet may soon be the only place you will see prices listed because they can be changed in just a few minutes.

Although I don't like to see it i expect future catalogs will provide a statement "Call For Prices" on every item.
.

[Bill Trouard]

With Grizzly is seems like every time I'm shopping for large power tools like a band-saw, table-saw or joiner. its best to "Call For Prices" "Call To See How Long the Back-order is Going to Be"

Seems no matter what I ask them about its not in stock, even though their website shows they have it. I can see why they are so affected by global conditions/fluctuations. They must operate on one lean business model or place their orders based on when sales/back-order meet a minimum order quantity from their manufacture. It just does not seem like they stock a lot of the equipment they sell. I feel this way due to the fact that when I did place orders they became back ordered, then they extended back ordered time frame then finally I canceled my order.

I can see why a company would not want to stock a lot of inventory in the current economic times though. They just need to do a better job of informing the consumers of this before taking orders online or publishing printed pricing.

[Joe Leigh]

Getting a bit tired of the endless excuses and explanations as to why some manufacturer or distributor can't deliver a product at the advertised price or in the advertised time frame. I don't care what the economic conditions are or how global situations, imagined or otherwise, affect the sale and delivery. That is NOT the consumers problem.
If you can't deliver the item at the WRITTEN price and in the agreed time frame, then STOP advertising it as such. Period.

[Dave Lehnert]

If one does not like a company way of doing business then buy from the competition, JET, Delta etc.......

Harbor Freight unit is on sale right now for $350

[Mark Godlesky]

Grizzly is listing the 555P on their site for $425. The green one is $475. Could this be the difference? Just a thought.

I could live with white paint for $50.:)

[Bill Trouard]

Getting a bit tired of the endless excuses and explanations as to why some manufacturer or distributor can't deliver a product at the advertised price or in the advertised time frame. I don't care what the economic conditions are or how global situations, imagined or otherwise, affect the sale and delivery. That is NOT the consumers problem.
If you can't deliver the item at the WRITTEN price and in the agreed time frame, then STOP advertising it as such. Period.

I agree, somehow company's are making it the consumers fault for poor sales. If they are trying to sell products that you do not have in stock, that is what happens. They can not guarantee the price or delivery time frame. Maybe that is why I do not own any Grizzly products, I have tried on my table-saw, band-saw and joiner. I ended up purchasing a competitor's products.

I think its a poor way to conduct business, but it seems to becoming very common place these days. Its the consumers that end up loosing out by having products back-ordered and delayed. Not sure why company's are going this route other than to minimize risk and maximise profits.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Bill....there is nothing stopping you from buying one off the showroom floor. The product is there...you see it.....no delay.

[Bill Trouard]

Bill....there is nothing stopping you from buying one off the showroom floor. The product is there...you see it.....no delay.

Yes there is one thing stopping me, No Showroom. I live in Florida, just about everything has to be ordered and delivered from somewhere else. Amazon has been good for most things, like my Rikon band-saw.

Even Woodcraft is a 200+ mile round trip

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Check around....I'll bet you can find dealers in Florida that sell Jet, PM, ShopFox....etc..... It's your choice to not drive 200 miles.....

I live in Idaho...there is 1 Woodcraft in the entire state....264 miles south....in a different time zone....

The Spokane WA Woodcraft is 110 miles away....The owners know me by my first name

There are at least 2 non-stocking dealers for PM tools in Lewiston, ID where I live.

[glenn bradley]

$475 seems to be the regular price and is a good price for a saw with those specs. A similar saw in another color is available for $679, another color for $699 and even another color for $999, if you prefer. Grizzly selss various families of tools. Some are targeting the 'best bang for the buck' audience. No disrespect but, complaining that they are not even less expensive starts to get a little silly to me. Just my .02. :)

[Bill Trouard]

I can find dealers for most things I want. Driving is not an issue either, been to both woodcrafts. I like the one in Orlando FL better bit its about 150 miles each way. but I get there faster than heading south towards Miami/Ft Lauderdale.

Not sure how we got going down this road. My comment was that every time I try to buy equipment from Grizzly They are Out Of Stock. So like you pointed out, There are other dealers and other brands. I ended up purchasing other brands from other suppliers. sometimes mail-order other times within driving distance, Orlando, Tampa, or as far as Tallahassee FL

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Bill...... I just waited over 5 weeks for 2 Jet Air Filtration systems that I ordered through the Woodcraft Store in Spokane.

The problem isn't related to just Grizzly.

Attention Woodworking Shoppers:

Few woodworking tools are made in the US and Canada. Most of those that are manufactured on this continent either most people can't afford them or cannot justify the added expense.

Manufacturing plants even in foreign countries don't manufacture 1 of anything unless it's a very expensive custom tool. (Read this as you can't afford it or can't justify buying it) They manufacture in manufacturing runs and they have runs for other tools already scheduled. Thus even if Grizzly was to place an order today for a "run"....a large number to justify the retooling necessary......they may have to wait.

Then there is shipping.....key portion of that word.....ship......as in a very large containerized cargo vessel. It has a schedule so even if the plant has something...it may have to wait for a vessel to deliver it to the US......Sorry..... if they used FedEx Overnight.....you probably couldn't afford it.....

Even if you can afford some of the more expensive European manufactured machines....guess what....they don't build some of them until you order them....and so you pay much more for probably better quality but you still have to wait....


Back to the OPs problem.....

as pointed out he could buy a G0555P for the price he was willing to pay $425....plus shipping.

He could also buy the competitions closest similar machine. Checking Woodcraft's website....the most similar 14" PM $999.99....the Rikon $949.99.........the Delta $699.99......the Jet $899.;99.....and yes at Harbor Freight you can buy a 14" b/s for $349.99. The point is there are other products out there at higher prices but typically they are carried buy a dealer and of course, the dealer has to make some profit.......

A couple years ago....PM indicated that the price of their PM3520B was about to go up significantly due to increased manufacturing costs....of course everybody and his brother that had been thinking about buying one....ordered one....you know it.....they sold out of their onshore inventory and a lot of folks had to wait...... it's part of the global economy and manufacturing situation.......

and BTW Bill..............the reason they don't have the tools in stock is they are selling their inventory. I would bet that other competing companies would love to sell the volume that Grizzly does......

Grizzly fills an interestingly wide niche in the woodworking market with their business plan. It's an area that their competitors have seemingly ignored. It's quite a stretch in quality and price between HF .....and PM........Mini-Max.....Jet......Oneida........General........ even General began importing products so they could capture some of this business in that price/quality area of the market.

At the expense of upsetting some of those at Grizzly that monitor this and other websites, you can get better fit and finish by paying more in some cases but the Grizzly products are a lot of bang for the buck. And that IMHO is what their business plan is based on......

BTW....I checked my equipment catalogs.....and some of the w/w power tool retailer websites ....most have a price change without notice escape clause.

For the record I have a Grizzly jointer G0490X and a Grizzly 12 disk/oscillating spindle sander. I paid full retail for them. I am not on Grizzly payroll....I am an invited volunteer at SMC and I did receive a coffee cup that Keith made with my name on it. I also own Oneida.....Mini-Max......several Jet tools.....Ridgid.....Delta......General International ......

[Matt Kestenbaum]

Actually this is a violation of truth in advertising laws...sounds funny right, but there a definitely limits to what you can say and or promise in advertising...if they keep this up or do so as a matter of repeated business practices an attorney general will make an example of them. Especially if there are complaints.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Matt....We are not a court here and we don't have enough information to determine IF there was a violation....if there was intent.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

With that.....I'm going to lock this thread. I will start a thread in the Moderators Forum and invite any Moderator or Administrator to unlock this thread or move it as they deem necessary and appropriate.

Here's Keith's Dec. 20, 2010 message concerning Rants:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before You Rant Read This December 20th, 2010

"It is the intent of SMC to permit the airing of concerns regarding the suitability of a particular product, or the quality or sufficiency of customer service provided by a vendor in any particular instance provided there is not a breach of contract component involved.

However, these threads often deteriorate into a "piling on" and develop a very negative tone. That doesn't assist other viewers in assessing the overall advisability of whether to buy this particular product, nor to assess the overall customer service provided by that manufacturer/vendor.

In order to be fair to the many vendors that provide woodworking products, the following policies will be in force:
The original poster must have first contacted the manufacturer/vendor and have attempted a solution PRIOR to posting the thread.
The original poster should provide factual details of the problem, and details of efforts that have been made with the manufacturer/vendor to rectify the problem.
Subsequent posts must be limited to suggestions to the original poster to assist in rectifying the problem - not to pile on because you had similar problems.

SMC is a woodworking forum. The intended purpose is to provide a community in which useful information may be shared among the members. Threads that do not achieve that purpose will be locked, or removed if necessary." SawMill Creek is not a Court of Law and we are not in a position to judge a breach of contract case here, therefore SawMill Creek will not become a stage or a courtroom for a legal dispute between two or more parties, it just isn't our mission.


I am of the opnion that most of the posts here just "piling on" posts with no help for the OP.

It turns out the OP had an equitable Grizzly alternative available and the piling on posts are of no value to him.