Microsoft Live 25% cashback

[Bas]

Microsoft's Live search is doing all sorts of promos to get people to use it. Competing with Google is hard. I posted previously about getting 70% discount on magazines (now 50%). You can also get 25% back on items purchased on eBay via "Buy it Now auctions". I had been looking for a new drill and finally pulled the trigger last night on the Makita drill/ impact driver combo:

$201 (including shipping) after 25% cash back.

<enable mode on>What else can you get? How about a brand new Grizzly G0555 band saw for $372.75, including shipping! Time to start buying!
</enable mode off>

So how do you get the discount? Go to live.com and search for something like "Grizzly" or "Makita". In the search results, look for a link at the top that has a Live Search cashback logo next to an eBay link . Click on the logo.
On eBay, shop for your favorite tool Check out as normal. Somewhere in the checkout process, it will tell you Cashback is active, and show you how much you'll get back. Note that you have to complete your purchase within an hour after clicking the link.

Once the purchase is complete, you'll have a message in your eBay message box about Cashback. Open it and click the button. This will link your eBay account to your Live Cashback account (if you don't have a Cashback account yet, you can set one up as part of the process). It took a day for my cashback to get posted, so don't fret if you don't see it right away.

The catch? You don't get the money until 60 days after the cashback is posted. I consider it saving for my next tool Also, this only works on Buy It Now auctions, Best Offer doesn't work. Shipping charges aren't eligible for cashback, so try and find auctions where the shipping cost is included. And you can only get a discount up to 3 times (per account anyway....). Some products, like cars, are excluded - read the terms and conditions.

[fsdogwood]

I took advantage of this, when it was 25% the last time, now waiting
for my $220 to become ready.
Used my 10%-off bay coupon, to make it sweeter.

[TracyP]

Thanks for posting that Bas. We appreciate all your hard work in trying to save us money. You are indeed an ENABLER . That does sound like a sweet deal. And by the way, manufacturers photos do not qualify as Gloat Pics!!

[Bas]

Originally Posted by newtowood

And by the way, manufacturers photos do not qualify as Gloat Pics!!

No worries my friend. When my friend in the Big Brown Truck arrives, I'll post REAL gloat pictures. Just getting my post count mileage out of this purchase (it's a combo kit after all!)

[TracyP]

Originally Posted by Bas

No worries my friend. When my friend in the Big Brown Truck arrives, I'll post REAL gloat pictures. Just getting my post count mileage out of this purchase (it's a combo kit after all!)

post count mileage, I think you should get 4 or 5 for that purchase.

[Douglas Robinson]

FWIW Authorized Festool Dealers are no longer permitted to list their products on EBay because of this 25% off option. A couple od weeks ago you could have gotten a Kapex (normally $1,300) for $975. Festool did not like that.

Doug

[WoodWrangler]

Originally Posted by Douglas Robinson

FWIW Authorized Festool Dealers are no longer permitted to list their products on EBay because of this 25% off option. A couple od weeks ago you could have gotten a Kapex (normally $1,300) for $975. Festool did not like that.

Doug

That is really crappy of them ... that makes me like the company even less. I hate (read that HATE) the idea of price fixing that they use. It should be up to the dealer if they want to make less on a sale in hopes of more volume ... NOT the manufacturer. Bad system.

[rsitzejr]

They all started doing it to give the store front stores more of a chance. Take my lathe, it was the same price, exactly the same price everywhere I looked, online, in stores. Same with a lot of stuff, people go to the stores, shop, then go home to find it cheaper online. I do this myself, and will keep doing it.

[Bas]

Originally Posted by rsitzejr

They all started doing it to give the store front stores more of a chance. Take my lathe, it was the same price, exactly the same price everywhere I looked, online, in stores. Same with a lot of stuff, people go to the stores, shop, then go home to find it cheaper online. I do this myself, and will keep doing it.

I can understand why Festool does this. Their stuff is expensive. To sell it, they need to get exposure in stores. Online, one sander looks much like another. But with such high prices, a 10% difference between store and web really adds up quickly. If I'm in the store and I see a $60 sander, I am likely to pick it up right there, even though I might be able to get it online for $55 (shipping usually offsets the sales tax). But $400 vs. $360, that's dinner for two at Chili's.

I don't like it either, bu does the "price fixing" bother me? Not really. Lots of good choices in power tools. True, they may not be as quiet, or as efficient at dust collection, or do something unique like the Domino, but you can't have it both ways. Festool can do those cool things because they charge high prices. If they have to compete with the Ridgids and Porter Cables and Deltas, the quality would have to go down.

[WoodWrangler]

I hear you ... but still don't like it. Not to mention if you buy it online you can avoid the tax ... which on a Festool will be a fair amount ... commonly more than $50. By not letting their "brick and mortar" dealers compete on price, they are virtually keeping internet savvy buyers from ever buying in a local store due to tax alone.

It's a messed up system. I do like the Festool products I've used, as well as Sawstop, Fein, and others ... but truly dislike their business practices in this area. If you let the market move at it's own flow the price will land in a fair zone, but when you "fix" it you don't let normal forces of the market do their job.

[WoodWrangler]

Originally Posted by Bas

Festool can do those cool things because they charge high prices. If they have to compete with the Ridgids and Porter Cables and Deltas, the quality would have to go down.

Don't get the retail price confused with the cost (or what they sell it to the dealer for). They can still have expensive products, be innovative, be creative, collect dust, and market profusly ... and not need to price fix. The ability to let dealers set the price lets the dealer decide how much margin they want to make on items. This is why the same quality Makita tool can be available at the big box store and online and the mom&pop stop for different prices. Same quality, same innovation, same dust collection ... but those varing dealers set their price to get you into the store. No impact on the manufacturer.

[Bas]

Originally Posted by WoodWrangler

No impact on the manufacturer.

That's the part I'm not sure about. Festool has unique products, and a unique (well, for the tool market anyway) "fixed" pricing model. I can't help but think they two are related. I'm sure somebody did the research and figure out the most optimal price point.

I wonder if they adopted this model to protect the B&M stores, because Festool _needs_ live exposure. If you go to Klingspor, the Festool stuff is out on a table ready for demonstration. Most of the other tools aren't. You don't sell beds by looking at them behind a window. You encourage people to lie down on them.

Yes, the sales tax is a factor, but remember, you're supposed to pay sales tax on good you buy out of state. Most consumers don't do this, but businesses do - and I'm sure that's a big part of their market. Plus, shipping costs are a factor too. Bob Marino charges $35 shipping on orders from $300 to $450 - that's more than the typical sales tax!

The free market is a wonderful thing. It allows companies to compete, which lowers prices. It also allows companies to gouge others, fix prices and try to extort other companies (the whole Sawstop licensing thing...). What I'm waiting for is for somebody to figure out there might be a market for quality tools somewhere between the BlackandDeckerDeWaltRidgidHitachiPorterCables and Festool.

But apart from all that...yeah, it would be nice if that stuff weren't so expensive 'Cuz I want one of them Domino things.