Is Harvey using Bait and switch pricing?

[Rich Konopka]

I have been looking at the Harvey Bandsaws for a few months. I’ve finally decided to buy either the Harvey top of the line Alpha Hw615 which weighs 400lb or the Laguna 18bx. When I compared the price of the Harvey sticks a $500 shipping and $35 tax fee on EVERY harvey machine sold. I checked the shipping cost for my 900lb Hammer A3-41 and it was $400 from Austria. I checked Grizzly, Saw stop, Laguna and they were all substantially lower shipping.

Me thinks they are lowball pricing and adding on inflated shipping to boost profit margins.


PS- i just calculated out shipping cost for the same saw to Canada at $350 CAD which is $264 USD at current exchange rates.

[lou Brava]

Not a fan of Harvey & there shipping so I went Grizzly. Besides the paint the saw is exactly the same using same parts made in same factory.

[Rich Konopka]

Not a fan of Harvey & there shipping so I went Grizzly. Besides the paint the saw is exactly the same using same parts made in same factory.

What Grizzly model are you referring to?

[John Kananis]

If you call them, they'll give you a better price over the phone.

I have been looking at the Harvey Bandsaws for a few months. I’ve finally decided to buy either the Harvey top of the line Alpha Hw615 which weighs 400lb or the Laguna 18bx. When I compared the price of the Harvey sticks a $500 shipping and $35 tax fee on EVERY harvey machine sold. I checked the shipping cost for my 900lb Hammer A3-41 and it was $400 from Austria. I checked Grizzly, Saw stop, Laguna and they were all substantially lower shipping.

Me thinks they are lowball pricing and adding on inflated shipping to boost profit margins.


PS- i just calculated out shipping cost for the same saw to Canada at $350 CAD which is $264 USD at current exchange rates.

[Bill Dufour]

Where does Harvey ship from? Same to Canada or different.
Bill D

[Jim Becker]

Where does Harvey ship from?

California, I think...but I could be wrong about that. LTL freight costs remain high, unfortunately, too, and with Yellow out of the market, it's unlikely to abate anytime soon.

That said, I agree with the comment to call Harvey directly on the "old fashioned phone". (even though it's likely a wireless device ) They tend to offer better pricing than trying to time a constantly moving sale price. I saved a few additional dollars on my G700 that way. Freight was above $300 for that at the time but the delivery was excellent with the pallet wheeled from the street up to the temporary gara-shop. My driver was also a budding woodworker, so there was good conversation, too.

[Bill Dufour]

Harvey has a warehouse in Montclair, California and one in Vancover BC. So shipping to western Canada should be cheaper then shipping clear across the USA.
I know nothing about either countries custom duties or taxes from China or anywhere else.
I do know that Canada Post cost a lot more then USA mail. No idea if shipping cost ratio is similar.
BillD

[Edward Weber]

The "having to call" and "timing a sale price" just puts a bad taste in my mouth.
This isn't a flea market, set a price and stick to it. I don't know if it's bait & switch or some other type of gamesmanship but, it's not for me.

[John Kananis]

Folks don't notice but Amazon does this sort of thing all the time. Especially with certain items. Do this, look up an expensive set of headphones 300+ and watch it over a period of a week or two. You'll be impressed how much it moves.

The "having to call" and "timing a sale price" just puts a bad taste in my mouth.
This isn't a flea market, set a price and stick to it. I don't know if it's bait & switch or some other type of gamesmanship but, it's not for me.

[Bill Dufour]

Not bait and switch. Bait and switch is a low advertised price and you go in or call and that one is sold but we have similar at higher prices. That is why car ads are required to show vin numbers at that price. The dealer has to show paperwork showing that vin was sold at that price before you asked. If the DMV paperwork is forged they will have to explain to the dmv why they should keep their license to sell cars.
For things like machine tools they can say limited to stock on hand or limited amounts.
Bill D

[Richard Coers]

If you already have that kind of attitude about Harvey, you better go with Laguna.

[Aaron Rosenthal]

Harvey pricing model also drove me nuts, so I emailed them and got a better price than advertised on their site. Since I was just home from a stay in hospital for Pneumonia, I had them deliver it, even though I'm only 15KM away.
Great saw, by the way.
As far as freight costs, I'm not sure when you last looked at shipping costs, but, oh, baby, everything's going up.

[Rich Konopka]

As far as freight costs, I'm not sure when you last looked at shipping costs, but, oh, baby, everything's going up.

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.

[Jim Becker]

Rich, when you're comparing shipping costs, be sure that it's apples to apples. Some sellers provide the base shipping cost, but when you add in things like lift-gate service (kinda required for most of us) things change, sometimes more dramatically than we prefer. I'm not suggesting you are wrong...'just suggesting to be sure the comparison with others is valid.

FIY, the shipping for my slider last fall was $1200 and that was with terminal pickup on my own trailer.

[Edwin Santos]

I have been looking at the Harvey Bandsaws for a few months. I’ve finally decided to buy either the Harvey top of the line Alpha Hw615 which weighs 400lb or the Laguna 18bx. When I compared the price of the Harvey sticks a $500 shipping and $35 tax fee on EVERY harvey machine sold. I checked the shipping cost for my 900lb Hammer A3-41 and it was $400 from Austria. I checked Grizzly, Saw stop, Laguna and they were all substantially lower shipping.

Me thinks they are lowball pricing and adding on inflated shipping to boost profit margins.


PS- i just calculated out shipping cost for the same saw to Canada at $350 CAD which is $264 USD at current exchange rates.

How recently was your Hammer A3-41 purchase?