Grizzly's prices on some machines going up 25%

[Handplanesandmore]

Many folks , still the minority, say they are willing to pay "more" for American goods. That is no comfort to any businessmen who are seeing people (the majority) shop based on prices. In fact, if the majority were willing to pay more, American manufacturing would not have gone overseas to start with.

Come back one year to this thread, and we will see Asian products still dominate...because they are still cheaper and consumers still shop at Walmart, Amazon, etc.

Simon

[Cian]

To me, I read this as a president of a company that cares about helping it's primary customers...

How can this post possibly be anything but helpful to our Woodnet community.

Alerting customers is a class act. They dont benefit from the tariffs, frankly I bet business goes down because of them in the short term. I am sure many people wont/dont understand this. 

That’s how I see it, and I do appreciate Papagriz being on the forum.

[daddo]

Too bad the products couldn't be bought by Taiwan then shipped to the US and give Taiwan 8%.  


Just off the cuff.

[JQuacker]

Many folks , still the minority, say they are willing to pay "more" for American goods....In fact, if the majority were willing to pay more, American manufacturing would not have gone overseas to start with.

I'm gonna quote you on this.

[mvflaim]

I agree with Admiral, thanks for the info and I hope things all work out. In the meantime, it looks like the Supreme Court has added some to internet sales pricing for some of us.

Exactly, might as well go to your nearby tool house and buy a machine on their floor. I think it's great for small businesses who have to compete against onliine retailers.

[jteneyck]

Tariffs never work in the long haul; I see no reason for this time to be different.  

Of course American companies can compete based on value (price x whatever set of specs you consider essential); many do every day.  The woodworking machine makers here failed to innovate to offer new machines with better performance or drive down their costs.  You only have to look at the European machines being imported to see that you can have high labor costs, strict environmental standards, and associated higher shipping costs to see that it's possible.  Everyone seems to lust over Festool in the hand tool market, others over SCMI and Felder in the stationary tool end.  These are not cheap machines, to be sure, but they demonstrate how the Europeans changed with the times.  


I feel sad for the American workers who lost their jobs when the companies they worked for failed to respond to the signs that change was coming and ended up going under, who valued profit over investment in the future, who listened to their board over their customers.  I worked for one.  Some of you may remember The Carborundum Company.  It thrived for nearly 100 years making industrial abrasives and refractory materials.  When I went there in the late 70's they were using technology developed in the 30's.  Whoever developed that technology was really good because it was still making money 40 years later.  But it was clear it would never last another 40 years or even 20.  Within 10 years they started closing divisions and desperately started throwing money at long shot, high tech. technology, without the people who could get them there.  Fortunately, I worked for a division that was still on the growth side of its lifecycle and we had managers capable of seeing far enough into the future to make good choices on where to invest, and grow and hire people to get us there.  After about 110 years The Carborundum Company was sold and swallowed by a large French company, and our division got spun off as an independent company.  Best thing that ever happened to those of us who worked there.  We went from an $86 million dollar division to what is today a nearly $1 billion dollar company operating in 15 countries and shipping American made product to many more.  


It's not about tariffs.  It's about a lot of hard work and being willing to adapt and change.  The products we sell today weren't around 40 years ago, most not even 10 years ago.   

John

[Stwood_]

Thanks for the info Papa.

What is the tent sale date this year? I haven't checked the website.

Boink...




Hoping this thread stays civil

[joe1086]

Thanks Papagrizzly - I understand the heads-up in the spirit it was given.

[Handplanesandmore]

Tariffs never work in the long haul; I see no reason for this time to be different.  

Of course American companies can compete based on value (price x whatever set of specs you consider essential); many do every day.  The woodworking machine makers here failed to innovate to offer new machines with better performance or drive down their costs.  You only have to look at the European machines being imported to see that you can have high labor costs, strict environmental standards, and associated higher shipping costs to see that it's possible.  Everyone seems to lust over Festool in the hand tool market, others over SCMI and Felder in the stationary tool end.  These are not cheap machines, to be sure, but they demonstrate how the Europeans changed with the times.  


I feel sad for the American workers who lost their jobs when the companies they worked for failed to respond to the signs that change was coming and ended up going under, who valued profit over investment in the future, who listened to their board over their customers.  

John

A more recent example: SawStop which is so successful that Festoll's parent co. bought it out; it is now the #1 cabinet saw in America. The tablesaw industry refused to adopt the innovative technology (why add something and the associated cost to a product that had been working well for so many years?), and gave birth to a foe that has effectively taken over is high-end segment of sales. Guys, the technology is 100% American, but we blew it.

The finger-saving saws (some of them at least) could have been being made here in America instead of in Taiwan. So, don't blame all trade imbalances on someone else. What has government (all levels) done to encourage the manufacturing sector to survive or thrive? In terms of tax support, skill training, and infrastructure? Sooner or later, we will see China dominating the electric car market, like the solar market, and then we complain about imported electric cars!

Simon

[Tony Z]

We are in the first act of a three act play. I appreciate Grizzly notifying us of the price increase and why. By the same token, his honesty would indicate if the tariff situation is resolved, that the price increases would disappear.

My customers are concerned about aluminum and nickel increases, and secondarily the potential qualification of tariffs on our goods we export, that are iron based. It is a sheet storm.