US Indsutrial tool makers pickling themselves?

[slowtwitch73]

I'm a fan of quality tools.. Made in US tools often, and can appreciate why they can cost more and what goes into making them whether vintage or new.. but...

it's always stuck in my craw that there's also gratuitous absurd price gouging whenever something is for 'industry'. Don't know if it's all the open ended government contracts or what.

Case in point, I just bought a Baldor buffer off Clist for 50$. No drive flanges or on/off switch. I made the flanges no problem. Started searching for 'Baldor buffer switch' and they are all these typical odd industrial supply places, and the switch is 30$!

Too bad in one of the stock photos they included the switch manufacturer part# and I was able to get one off Ebay for 5$ shipped.

Maybe some of these companies would be in better shape if Ben Dover wasn't in charge of pricing.

 

[speed bump]

Industrial suppliers cater to industrial customers who buy a lot and keep a revolving account. Typically when I call my suppliers for a quote it is 1/2 or less of what the price their website shows. Now there are probably cheaper places to buy from but it's not worth my time to find them for a $30 widget. At home I can understand saving $100, that's sometimes part of the fun but work is a different story.

 

[The Cobbler]

parts used to be considered more of a a customer service, now it's a profit center... because it costs money to inventory, pull he order, ship it etc etc.
being that I like to repair stuff, I don't like it myself but that's reality

 

[Packard V8]

There's industry and then there's us wannabees who like using quality tools but don't want to pay for the good stuff.

I was given a good used Hilti TE-22 rotohammer which was inoperable. The problem was the trigger switch; NLA from Hilti. I asked why and was told Hilti is industrial and my tool was old enough that all those used in industry were already fully depreciated. Corporations run off balance sheets; just buy a new one and begin depreciating it.

It was a fiddly repair because the trigger switch had little leaf springs inside, but I got it reassembled and wrapped with electrician's tape. Been working for me for ten years now.

jack vines

 

[ajchien]

Industrial suppliers cater to industrial customers who buy a lot and keep a revolving account. Typically when I call my suppliers for a quote it is 1/2 or less of what the price their website shows. Now there are probably cheaper places to buy from but it's not worth my time to find them for a $30 widget. At home I can understand saving $100, that's sometimes part of the fun but work is a different story.

We should also keep in mind that a business is paying with pre tax dollars while an individual is paying with post tax dollars.

 

[BillK]

Industrial supply places dont care about harry homeowner buying one switch at a time for their buffer. For someone like McMaster Carr to have the inventory that they have they cannot sell stuff for cheap. For people like me in business what it more important is the service. I can order stuff at 4:30 in the afternoon and I will have it the next morning when the UPS guy gets here. And they have virtually anything I might need. The price really does not matter when you are trying to get a job done. The cost is just going to be passed on to the end customer anyway.

Personally I dont see how anyone can sell a switch for $5 and ship it for free without losing money.

 

[slowtwitch73]

There's industry and then there's us wannabees who like using quality tools but don't want to pay for the good stuff.
jack vines

I have zero issue paying for the good stuff. I got the exact same made in US switch.. I just didn't pay for an exorbitant markup because the plastic bag said 'Baldor'.

No wonder folks flock to cheap imports.

 

[slowtwitch73]

Personally I dont see how anyone can sell a switch for $5 and ship it for free without losing money.

It ain't much of a switch. I like Mcmaster.. order from them regularly. Some of their stocking choices are odd (like no blue tig tungsten) and once in a while a price will be totally egregious.

 

[Wrench97]

Industrial suppliers offer discounts to corp. customers with accounts. They also wait 30-60 days for their money. The price you see is not the price customers with accounts pay and as stated above they really don't care about one off walk in business.

 

[1982fxr]

I have zero issue paying for the good stuff. I got the exact same made in US switch.. I just didn't pay for an exorbitant markup because the plastic bag said 'Baldor'.

No wonder folks flock to cheap imports.

Folks flock to cheap imports because they exist.

 

[Ralf11]

Manufacturing engineers and their accountant managers flock to cheap imports because they exist.

 

[neophyte]

Industrial tool manufacturers carry replacement oarts, because companies that spend the money on high end “Industrial” tools expect to be able to get replacement parts if and when the parts are needed, and they don’t expect to have to find their own source for the parts.
The manufacturers have to keep extra parts on the shelf which ties up storage space and money, and those manufacturers like to make some money on those parts, since selling the parts mens the manufacturer nay not be selling a new grinder or whatever.
For companies with intelligent repair personnel, they may be able to source compatible, or the same exact parts from another source, if they have the time to bother, otherwise, they just find the manufacturer part number and order that.

Given that a Baldor Buffer usually runs between $300 and $700 new, and will likely last a decade or way more without issue, $30 for a replacement switch is less than a repair person would likely charge to determine that the switch was bad.
Ever price a replacement motor contactor? The plastic enclosure that might be needed would cost more than the Baldor switch.

 

[ssdave]

....

 

[WittHay]

The busiest industrial places around here dont have online sales, some barely have a website.

They might make a exception for shipping something small as a switch but would probably charge close to a $20 nuisance fee on top of what the switch would normally sell for

Usually account prices are cheaper than any online source

Its like one person buying a OEM part from a car dealer, a shop getting a similar part delivered from Napa and a diy buying online from Rock Auto. Different prices and different ways of doing business

 

[MushCreek]

Some manufacturers really do rip people off on replacement parts, though. A couple months ago, I picked up a cheap used cable home gym. One of the cables had worn through the jacket because the PO had assembled it wrong, and it was dragging across a sharp metal bracket. To their credit, Weider sells parts for this machine. The replacement cable is $129! The plastic pulleys on the machine are $76 each, and there's 23 of them! The whole machine retailed for less than $1000. Needless to say, I bought a piece of cable and some clamps and thimbles. Since 95% of these machines wind up being used as indoor clotheslines, I guess they don't sell many replacement parts.

Other companies are more reasonable. OEM parts for my Miata are very reasonable, especially mechanical/service parts.

Other companies offer no support at all. My Ridgid 12" miter saw is less than 10 years old, yet they don't sell replacement kerf inserts for it. I had no trouble getting kerf inserts for my cheap, 30 y/o Ryobi miter saw.

 

[Danglerb]

You don't see a bit of irony in looking up a part on a legit vendor site, then using the part info from that site to buy it cheaper from a random ebay seller, because the full service legit seller has a higher price?

This is why its often impossible to find part numbers or UPC on many sites.

 

[Here2Learn]

So $30 is the normal price. You scored one for $5, so how about you go back in time and come on here and gloat about how well you did to find it that cheap?

 

[matt_i]

Not to pile on, but hey, that a motor-starting-duty switch is $30 seems very reasonable to me.

Its always nice to have choices.

 

[dutchgray]

Just be glad the manufacturer still exists and you can get spare parts from them, €30 for a switch from the manufacturer is reasonable, you know it will work and the time you need to put in to order it is minimal, if you want to do the detective work and find one cheaper then thats fine.

Almost all the machinery I own the manufacturers are gone and finding parts is hard.

 

[bczygan]

Same for me.

Picked up a Dewalt double bevel sliding miter saw of a trash pile up the street.

Tested it and it needed a new switch. OEM part was outrageous (Or usually unavailable).

Looked up mfg. part number and got a working saw for a few bucks.

Bill

 

[Al Borland]

How is this any different than the prices for auto parts at the stealership, i mean dealership?