Felder/Hammer Sale?

[Gabriel Marusic]

I'm interested in a Hammer K3 Winner and understand that Felder/Hammer generally does sales around the holidays. Is that a given for them every year or something they only do occasionally? I'm not in any rush to buy one, but the chance to get one on sale certainly escalates my timeline. Oddly it seems like their US site is down at the moment so I'm not able to look at much directly from them.

[Mark e Kessler]

Yes, I have seen an end of year sale every year and a few in between usually around a show. Know that they are backlogged due to Covid, I don’t know what it is now but 6 months on the K940 I ordered, the Hammers might be different though

[Jim Becker]

End of year sales are common from industrial equipment manufacturers because many businesses have their fiscal year tied to the calendar year and year end purchases for tax benefits are big incentives.

[Joe Jensen]

I had a conversation with a Felder rep a couple months ago. The rep told me their backlog was 7-9 months for new orders. Not so much Covid manufacturing delays but more of a huge spike in demand from users who are at home due to Covid deciding to upgrade their shop.

[Andy D Jones]

Backlog is a tricky issue for manufacturers.

Having a sizeable backlog is a good thing, since the manufacturer has certainty of units sold, and can purchase materials in higher volumes, make plant improvements, etc. to reduce costs, and increase profit.

On the other hand, a backlog may chase away prospective customers who can't or won't wait for their machine to show up 4 to 5 months later (as indicated currently on the Felder online store for the A3-41.)

They also do not appear to be currently offering the straight blade model either, which may be an effort to streamline manufacturing and reduce backlog. They may have seen a low enough number of orders for the straight blade, and decided it was, at least temporarily, not a viable production option.

We'll have to wait and see whether they would rather reduce their backlog, or book more sales by reducing prices at year end.

-- Andy - Arlington TX

[Joe Jensen]

In 2010 I was fortunate to get a private tour of the Felder factory in Tirol Austria. It was shocking to see maybe 1,000 machines in manufacturing and to learn that 100% of Felder's machines are built to order with a deposit from a customer. Any machines that are on the floor are ones a customer forfeited their deposit and walked away from.

[Erik Loza]

Hello Gabriel. For your research:

-The website and e-shop have been a little herky-jerky lately. Austria is doing some IT stuff in the background and aware of this but we just have to live with it in the meantime.
-There will be holiday promos, like always. Not sure when they will release them but I would guess late November? Based on background chatter, I suspect this year's focus will be on accessories and on clearing out any remaining showroom demo machines or scratch-n-dent models rather than offering deals on new-built equipment. This is consistent with the industry. The really aggressive deals will probably be on industrial, three-phase machines rather than things like Hammers, which have always been strong sellers, rain or shine. Believe this or not, we are actually +10% over last year's sales on Hammer machines, despite the pandemic.
-We had a price increase recently and may experience another one during Q1/2021. What I am seeing is that the list price only goes up a little but the amount of discount the factory is subsidizing has really shrunk. This is due to the increased raw materials and logistics cost from our various OEM parts suppliers on the European side of things. Pretty much every other EU manufacturer is in the same boat. To anyone thinking about a Hammer machine during the next 6-8 months, my advice is "Get in line now". Or you will just pay more, later.
-There is still a several-month lead time on Hammer A3's in particular, but that is shrinking. We just had a meeting about this today, in fact. The factory is operating at 120% production capacity now. They brought in extra workers specifically to boost production on Hammer machines.

All this being said, there might be a showroom demo or scratch-n-dent machine in one of the showrooms that I don't know about so my suggestion to anyone is to call your regional Felder rep and see what's available. We are always motivated to work with you where possible. Hope this helps,

Erik

[Gabriel Marusic]

Hello Gabriel. For your research:

-The website and e-shop have been a little herky-jerky lately. Austria is doing some IT stuff in the background and aware of this but we just have to live with it in the meantime.
-There will be holiday promos, like always. Not sure when they will release them but I would guess late November? Based on background chatter, I suspect this year's focus will be on accessories and on clearing out any remaining showroom demo machines or scratch-n-dent models rather than offering deals on new-built equipment. This is consistent with the industry. The really aggressive deals will probably be on industrial, three-phase machines rather than things like Hammers, which have always been strong sellers, rain or shine. Believe this or not, we are actually +10% over last year's sales on Hammer machines, despite the pandemic.
-We had a price increase recently and may experience another one during Q1/2021. What I am seeing is that the list price only goes up a little but the amount of discount the factory is subsidizing has really shrunk. This is due to the increased raw materials and logistics cost from our various OEM parts suppliers on the European side of things. Pretty much every other EU manufacturer is in the same boat. To anyone thinking about a Hammer machine during the next 6-8 months, my advice is "Get in line now". Or you will just pay more, later.
-There is still a several-month lead time on Hammer A3's in particular, but that is shrinking. We just had a meeting about this today, in fact. The factory is operating at 120% production capacity now. They brought in extra workers specifically to boost production on Hammer machines.

All this being said, there might be a showroom demo or scratch-n-dent machine in one of the showrooms that I don't know about so my suggestion to anyone is to call your regional Felder rep and see what's available. We are always motivated to work with you where possible. Hope this helps,

Erik

Erik - really appreciate all the added information here. Super helpful as I begin down this research path and I appreciate your take on what the sale items could be. I'm actually not surprised at all that Felder is selling more in this environment than before. I've seen a lot of my own friends pick up new hobbies and focus on their own hobbies more than ever before. I'm in the same boat.

I'm going to find my local rep and give them a call this afternoon to talk through my plans. Thanks again for the info.

[Erik Loza]

Erik - really appreciate all the added information here. Super helpful as I begin down this research path and I appreciate your take on what the sale items could be. I'm actually not surprised at all that Felder is selling more in this environment than before. I've seen a lot of my own friends pick up new hobbies and focus on their own hobbies more than ever before. I'm in the same boat.

I'm going to find my local rep and give them a call this afternoon to talk through my plans. Thanks again for the info.

Sounds like a plan, Gabriel. Your local office is West Sacramento, BTW. Either Fergus or Liz can help you: 866-792-5288. You'll be in good hands,

Erik

[Gabriel Marusic]

Sounds like a plan, Gabriel. Your local office is West Sacramento, BTW. Either Fergus or Liz can help you: 866-792-5288. You'll be in good hands,

Erik

Thank you for the referral, I just had a really helpful conversation with Fergus.

[Ben Rivel]

For what its worth, bought my A3-31 and N4400 from the West Sacramento showroom and worked with both Fergus and Liz. Very nice folks and they were helpful all the way though. Pretty much what youd expect from anyone selling you something

[C Scott McDonald]

Wow! Can't believe Fergus is still there! I bought a k3 from him a long long time ago. Have to call and say hello.