Is Harvey using Bait and switch pricing?

[Melvin Feng]

Mel, thanks for confirming the 18bx and Woodcraft. That is exactly what I did. I went down to my local Woodcraft and they said it would take a couple of weeks to be shipped to them. I just need to pull the trigger and order it.

While the Harvey appears to be a nice machine the BX was a better choice for the price and has a longer and stronger reputation.

Good luck! While I've had other issues with Laguna's customer service, the 18BX has been a great machine for me, and I hope it continues to work as I expect!

[George Yetka]

Ask if there is a discount to commercial address. I do this for everything I dont pick up. You may find its half the price. I ship everything to my office which has a forklift. Im in a good position that I have a rack truck with a lift gate that I can take home and back right up to my garage.

[James Jayko]

Did you read my original post and comprehend what I stated? I thought I was going bonkers when I looked at their shipping costs. But then I delved into other vendors and manufacturers.

Their padding their margins by a inflating shipping costs while appearing to be competitive with pricing.

Their != They're

[Steve Demuth]

I think their pricing is pretty transparent - you look up the tool, scroll down to the bottom of the page, and there it is, tool price, and shipping. Doesn't seem to be anything underhanded about it.

My own experience with Harvey has been that they're very accomodating on shipping, when asked.

[Frederick Skelly]

Charging a lower price to be competitive in order to draw people toward your product, only to make up the difference in elevated shipping costs, is the definition of bait and switch.
Bait with a low price, then make up the extra cost in the shipping.

If your tool is higher quality, then charge more but leave the shipping cost alone. It's not there to kelp you meet your margins.
JMHO

Please know that I’m not trying to be a wise guy when I say this.
Many other businesses use similar approaches. It’s not necessarily bait and switch. The one that immediately comes to mind is restaurants - yesterday I paid $3.50 for a coke at dinner in a not-fancy restaurant. They kept the entree price competitive and made it up on the drink, etc. And we’ve all experienced the car dealer game of lowering the price of the new car, then lowering your trade-in value (so they can make up the discount when they resell your old car).

I don’t like any of it but it’s common practice. I agree with you that it’s the TOTAL price that matters.

Fred

[Rich Konopka]

I think their pricing is pretty transparent - you look up the tool, scroll down to the bottom of the page, and there it is, tool price, and shipping. Doesn't seem to be anything underhanded about it.

My own experience with Harvey has been that they're very accomodating on shipping, when asked.

Please elaborate

[Steve Demuth]

I ordered their T40 lathe and optional leg set, with some accessories, all at significant discount. The web quote had the items with separate flap-rate shipping for each of the truck freight items. I called them and pointed out they could, and should, ship them all on a single pallet, and price, and the did that, at the rate originally quoted for just the lathe. Knocked $200 freight off the quote, in other words.

[Rich Konopka]

I finally pulled the trigger and purchased the Laguna 18BX !! With the 10% off and a great local Woodcraft. It came down to the plethora of 18BX users and videos. It seems that the bulk majority of Harvey BANDSAW owners are influencers. I received free shipping from Woodcraft compared to Harveys exorbitant shipping charges.

[Patrick McCarthy]

"It seems that the bulk majority of [the] owners are influencers."

This is what i fine most annoying. I prefer the old model of a salesman making an obvious sales pitch, so you can factor in a grain of salt as you listen. With the influencers, it is more like a phony "friend" blowing smoke up you-know-where. Only a few start with a full disclosure of "I received this for free and here are my thoughts . . .", which i naively think should be mandatory . . . . but i also think everyone should be honest.

Patrick, apparently a budding curmudgeon

[Michael Burnside]

It's a great saw, you'll like it.

As far as influencers, I guess I'd retort by saying how else should these manufacturers advertise? I barely watch TV at all and most of my watching is YouTube. Now, I'm no marketing genius, but it would seem that a good way to find people like me is through influencers. If one of these influencers is a shill, then they'll quickly find me blocking their channel. Easy enough.

I prefer the old model of a salesman making an obvious sales pitch, so you can factor in a grain of salt as you listen. With the influencers, it is more like a phony "friend" blowing smoke up you-know-where.

Boy I'll take an influencer any day of the week and twice on Sunday over a salesman. An influencer getting a free tool is a far cry from a person getting paid exclusively to sell you something. I don't see how that's less biased.

[Edward Weber]

If you buy something based on an "influencer" on YT, then by definition, you're easily influenced.
Most of these types of folks on YT are not skilled enough in sales or in knowledge of their free tools to be able to sway my decision on anything. Most of the time they're trying to sell a solution to a problem that does not exist.
There should be full disclosure if they were gifted tools IMO. Some tell you, some don't or just bury the link under the video as "sponsored by". Not everyone knows what that means or to what level.

[Michael Harris Ohio]

I'm a little late to this discussion, but I just wanted to add that I purchased two machines from Harvey in late 2020, a G-700 and an HW615. Both machines were shipped from California for $249 each. Obviously, a lot has change with the price of "everything" in the past three years, so I am not surprised with the shipping cost increase, however, $500 does seem high. I can say that Harvey packaging, shipping, and equipment quality is top notch. I cannot speak to Grizzly products, but I would highly recommend Harvey.

[Rich Konopka]

Other key factors in my choice of the Laguna BX18 were the ceramic guides, table size is larger, and resaw capacity is 16”.

[Patty Hann]

Ask if there is a discount to commercial address. I do this for everything I dont pick up. You may find its half the price. I ship everything to my office which has a forklift. Im in a good position that I have a rack truck with a lift gate that I can take home and back right up to my garage.

Would a "Business" being run from a house (using the residential address) still be considered a "Commercial Address"?
I occasionally use the name of my business and inadvertently found there are perks for using it... The local Grainger people told me about the perks, (at least with their company).

[Alan Lightstone]

Would a "Business" being run from a house (using the residential address) still be considered a "Commercial Address"?
I occasionally use the name of my business and inadvertently found there are perks for using it... The local Grainger people told me about the perks, (at least with their company).

What are the perks, at least with Grainger? Do tell...