Prime Tools UK?

[84TurboBuick]

Just a quick question....

Since the guy that runs the Ultimate Garage has to be a crack head with the prices he's charging for Facom stuff.....

I was wondering if anyone has ever ordered anything from Prime Tools UK and had it sent here to the U.S.?

If so, and if you remember, was the shipping reasonable or just crazy exspensive.

They have some good deals, even with the exchange rate, its the shipping that scares me. A good price turns bad with super high dollar shipping fees!

 

[superautobacs]

Sorry, I don't have an answer to your question, shipping is likely going to be a downer.

JFYI, the owner of Ultimate Garage frequents this board regularly.

 

[tony p]

No experience of them sending stuff abroad (I'm in the UK), but I've had a load of stuff from Prime over the past couple of years and the service has been very good and very quick. I think only one order took more than three days and that came with a written apology. Had several orders with lots of small items and never a mistake. They seem to be diligent and on-the-ball.

They seem to be fair on domestic deliveries - free on orders over 65UKP I think (except really big items that probably come direct from manufacturer) and small orders they will do by some other method (for eg regular mail or whatever is cheapest) if you ask. Based on that, I'd expect them to be as fair as they can on overseas orders. The problem, I suppose, is getting fast delivery at a low price - but that's true anywhere.

Send 'em an email enquiry with a "theoretical" order and see what they suggest for delivery - my experience suggests they will try to be helpful. Good luck!

I've never had need to telephone or correspond with them, but I think do phone orders so they might handle a query like that 'live; if your phone charges are not too high!
Their website is a touch laborious to wade through and make sure you haven't missed something (you can access the special offer lists separately) and just occasionally an item is listed at two slightly different prices - there are so many items there I guess that sometimes they just miss one when adding or revising. There are some gems there if you browse - check out those Beta copper-beryllium tools (not sure they qualify as a 'bargain' though!). The website does say "We do not seek to make a profit from P&P".

 

[84TurboBuick]

JFYI, the owner of Ultimate Garage frequents this board regularly.

That would be fine with me. Maybe then he could explain how alot of the Facom stuff I see from other vendors (which is also new stock) is often 30 - 40% cheaper than his prices.

Just as an example:
I just bought a brand new 19pc Polyamide punch set for $79.00 shipped!! He has it listed for $170.00 plus shipping!

I really do like his inventory, he has a great selection, but the prices are outrageous!

I think I'll take Tony P's idea and just e-mail Prime Tools and see what shipping would run me.

 

[UK Steve]

That would be fine with me. Maybe then he could explain how alot of the Facom stuff I see from other vendors (which is also new stock) is often 30 - 40% cheaper than his prices.

Just as an example:
I just bought a brand new 19pc Polyamide punch set for $79.00 shipped!! He has it listed for $170.00 plus shipping!

I really do like his inventory, he has a great selection, but the prices are outrageous!

I think I'll take Tony P's idea and just e-mail Prime Tools and see what shipping would run me.

When you try prime tools also have a look at www.uktools.co.uk I understand he ships over the pond quite a lot.....

 

[rhandwor]

The expense for shipping is higher than US fees. What I do is make an order then they calculate shipping fees before you accept the order. I've ordered from other companies but not this one. Expect appx 9.99 pound for insured small packages. You also have to sign for it.
McCormick ships with DHL buts its also not cheap.

 

[tony p]

I'm told that UK Tools (as mentioned by Steve) are good for Ko-ken too, if you like their stuff. Can't remember if i've used them before, but having a look at a few things there right now. Some of their pricing looks pretty keen, if the shipping works out 'reasonable'.
Let us know how it goes!

 

[ultgar]

Just a quick question....

Since the guy that runs the Ultimate Garage has to be a crack head with the prices he's charging for Facom stuff.....

I was wondering if anyone has ever ordered anything from Prime Tools UK and had it sent here to the U.S.?

If so, and if you remember, was the shipping reasonable or just crazy exspensive.

They have some good deals, even with the exchange rate, its the shipping that scares me. A good price turns bad with super high dollar shipping fees!

Not sure I like the "crack head" remark but here's the deal with Facom....

Stanley-Proto supports only 600 of the 10000+ items that Facom offers. They bring an additional 150 part numbers in for me on a special order basis. These are commonly used hand tools and sets.

The rest of the items I have to import from Europe...lately out of the UK as there is still an exchange rate advantage vs the Euro. When you factor in the cost wire transfers, customs fees (9% on hand tools), exchange rate surcharges (on both credit card and wire transfer transactions), cost of air freight, etc.....and then realize you have to go back to Prime Tools for warranty as this is considered a grey market purchase, the tool is not as cheap as it appears online.

Prime Tools and other UK Facom dealers are a bit upset right now as all of the 70-80 Mac tool distributors in the UK can now purchase and sell the whole Facom product line. A lot of the deep discount "special offers" you see on the UK website are the result of Facom UK dumping their overstock inventory. There are some good deals right now but make sure you know what your landed cost will be. SD

PS - the pricing I have set on common items is based on my replacement cost. There are still some old Facom items on Ebay (limited quantities) at very cheap prices...these were purchased from SK when they dumped all the Facom inventory in 2005-2006. With regard to your 19pc punch set you purchased, that is a current Stanley/Proto Facom item that lists for $235.00. Your $79 shipped price is well below distributor cost.

 

[Joe Mamma]

Since the guy that runs the Ultimate Garage has to be a crack head with the prices he's charging for Facom stuff.....

He's not good with answering emails too. I decided to take my business elsewhere a long time ago . . .

Joe Mamma

 

[84TurboBuick]

Not sure I like the "crack head" remark but here's the deal with Facom....

Stanley-Proto supports only 600 of the 10000+ items that Facom offers. They bring an additional 150 part numbers in for me on a special order basis. These are commonly used hand tools and sets.

The rest of the items I have to import from Europe...lately out of the UK as there is still an exchange rate advantage vs the Euro. When you factor in the cost wire transfers, customs fees (9% on hand tools), exchange rate surcharges (on both credit card and wire transfer transactions), cost of air freight, etc.....and then realize you have to go back to Prime Tools for warranty as this is considered a grey market purchase, the tool is not as cheap as it appears online.

Prime Tools and other UK Facom dealers are a bit upset right now as all of the 70-80 Mac tool distributors in the UK can now purchase and sell the whole Facom product line. A lot of the deep discount "special offers" you see on the UK website are the result of Facom UK dumping their overstock inventory. There are some good deals right now but make sure you know what your landed cost will be. SD

PS - the pricing I have set on common items is based on my replacement cost. There are still some old Facom items on Ebay (limited quantities) at very cheap prices...these were purchased from SK when they dumped all the Facom inventory in 2005-2006. With regard to your 19pc punch set you purchased, that is a current Stanley/Proto Facom item that lists for $235.00. Your $79 shipped price is well below distributor cost.

First off, let me apologize for the "crack head" remark.... I was a little peeved at the moment.

Second, thank you for explaining your price stucture, I'm sure many here wondered how the price came about.....

However...with that said....

I do have a hard time believing that inventory in such large amounts is still laying around E-bay vendors 4 yrs after being dumped by S&K. I could be wrong, but the punch set I recieved was in pristine condition and did not have the look of lying around a wharehouse for that amount of time.

I did get a reply from Prime tools (very quickly) and they gave me a ballpark of $75.00 to ship a 35lbs box to me.

I think with their prices and semi-decent shipping costs, I have a new Facom tool vendor.

 

[ultgar]

However...with that said....

I do have a hard time believing that inventory in such large amounts is still laying around E-bay vendors 4 yrs after being dumped by S&K. I could be wrong, but the punch set I recieved was in pristine condition and did not have the look of lying around a wharehouse for that amount of time.

I did get a reply from Prime tools (very quickly) and they gave me a ballpark of $75.00 to ship a 35lbs box to me.

I think with their prices and semi-decent shipping costs, I have a new Facom tool vendor.

There is still a lof of old inventory from the SK days and probably will be for a few more years to come.

Stanley-Proto is very sensitive to distributors selling outside of their country's boundaries. Technically, Prime Tools is supposed to sell Facom & Britool products to end users in the UK only. If the Facom UK and Stanley-Proto management (in Conyers GA) see increasing grey market sales, they are likely to take issue with this to protect their US dealers/distributors and Stanley Supply (a separate division of Stanley that offers Facom toools through their catalog sales). SD

 

[rhandwor]

I purchased a couple of Koken items from http://uktools.com/ Shipping cost $9.99 for a couple of 1/4 drive sockets.
Just go through the process if shipping is to high don't click on pay.

 

[Monte]

Are there any more UK companies who also accept paypal like uktools ?

 

[kiall1987]

Lots do I deal with a couple good vendors in my area pm me if you want more info ?

 

[PrimeTools]

I was alerted to this string by a customer in the UK and whilst pleased to be reading some positive remarks about our prices & service, I am concerned that you guys maybe giving the US distributors of Facom a hard time a little unfairly!
To set the record straight, the guy from Ultimate Garage is correct in saying that Stanley have made it very difficult for US distributors to get hold of Facom and there are real costs involved in them sourcing many items.

Also, Ebay is a huge problem for distributors worldwide, as many items get dumped into this market and we regularly see items still available some 4-5 years after they are discontinued. There are also a few ebay sellers who may be a little less honest than the majority of us! We were offered a very large and cheap consignment of Facom by SK Tools in April 2008, which I recall included some punch sets, so this is a possible source of the ebay sets.

I should really be trying to capitalise on the comments here, but dont like to see guys who are trying to make an honest living called crack-heads etc. In reality the punch set at $79 was an absolute bargain - cheaper than any distributor anywhere in the world would pay Facom! (Even on a promotion).

We are happy to export a number of quality european brands worldwide, but believe in fair play and respect for reputable competition, on who's toes we try to tread only very gently!