My guess is Planex's are probably the most returned tool.  People buy one to do there house, return it in 30 days.  Thus why there are always Planex on recon and always at a good discount.

The CT36 and CT48 have a place I'm sure, but a CT48 is big and now with cyclones, I would think even in shops where the 48 might have made sense in the past, now it doesn't so much.  A CT26 with cyclone is only 1" taller than a CT48 by itself.  Of course neither is below 36"/900mm bench height.  In a non-cyclone world, I guess in a shop the CT48 makes some sense. A bag hold almost twice that of a 26, but only cost 20% more.  So there would be some value.

So you have some big vacs that probably most folks don't want now, and a tool that gets constantly returned.  I would think festool does all they can to just stop them from piling up on them.  Thus the "3 CT48 combo kit" comment.

I seriously hope that is not why there are so many of them and hope the same is true for other tools. The people, if they exist, who are doing this are pushing their rentals until those of us who are buying. As for the Planex I do not see an amateur buying one to do their house. A properly done drywall job cannot be done by an amateur as a once off. Additionally the pros I know do not require one and their work requires very little sanding.

Of all the Festool products sold here in North America, I could imagine that as percentage of those sold, the Planex, Conturo, and DF-700 would be the most likely to be used for a project and then returned under the 30 day policy once the project is completed.

Offering that return policy is a powerful marketing tool.

Peter

At least with Festool, because of the recon, the stuff doesn't get trashed, etc.  Good return systems work well for stuff that just goes right back on the shelf, or has a system like recon.  The problem is stuff that goes to a dump.

I'm sure Festool has worked out the math and worked out that even if something has a high rate of return it's worth it. Just from a gateway drug standpoint. Someone might return the planex, but keep the vac. Or they return both, just to remember how nice things where and end up buying some other stuff they keep.

Even for those who don't make the 30 day return, items like Planex still see lot of getting re-sold by folks. Which is nice to see. A tool just works thru a community as people do their homes.

I do wonder how much Festool learns for improvements to tools from the 30 day return. Some tools probably come back like they have been in battle, good way to look for weak spots in tools, get a sense of how people are using them.

never knew there was similar products to the Planex. Never seen one at a home depot.  Did look at sunbelt, $160 for a week, $510 for 4 weeks.   So someone can buy a Planex and return it in 30 days get money back and maybe pay for some shipping, or they can spend $510 bucks and get nothing back. Or wait for a used one to show up on recon for similar prices to a 4 week rental, but have it for life, and or sell it on craigslist.

I'm not saying I would buy something, use it and then return it. But we all know a lot of people will.

never knew there was similar products to the Planex. Never seen one at a home depot.  Did look at sunbelt, $160 for a week, $510 for 4 weeks.   So someone can buy a Planex and return it in 30 days get money back and maybe pay for some shipping, or they can spend $510 bucks and get nothing back. Or wait for a used one to show up on recon for similar prices to a 4 week rental, but have it for life, and or sell it on craigslist.

I'm not saying I would buy something, use it and then return it. But we all know a lot of people will.

You may be overestimating the visibility of Festool.  We have one dealer in town, an Acme Tools, and I have only ever encountered one other customer in their tiny Festool area; 99% of the people I see come into that store swarm to the same brands they can get in the big box stores, likely because they have an account or something.  Even then, it doesn't compare at all to the swarms in the big box stores.  We're a 250k+ population Metro Statistical Area.

The one other Festool customer I encountered was buying a CT36 (or whatever they had in stock at the time; they only had a single DC, can't remember if it was a 36 or 48) and Dust Separator to replace his recently-dead vac and cyclone so that he could finish his kitchen project.  His wife was with him and talked him INTO the cyclone and a set of bags; I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone.

In any case, they have a Planex in that store, but it probably has more dust on it from sitting than it would get from being used to sand drywall.  I only know about Festool because I needed a HEPA-certified DC 5 years ago for some lead paint cleanup, and it was about the only thing I could get in town on short notice after a bunch of googling and searching.  Any time I go in to ask questions about other Festool tools, they either don't have anything in stock and/or the staff have no knowledge about them and laugh and say "never used it, I could never afford that stuff..."

slavi makes a good point about asbestos, too, with rentals.  It'd sure be nice if the rentals had waivers for people to sign about the hazards and did pre/post testing before renting it out again.

I wish Festool would think about the people on the West Coast, so we wouldn’t have to wake up at 4:00 am to be able to buy something


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darn guys, so unfair to us west coasters!  All that's left is the CT36...ugh.

Wow, I've been waiting for the TS75 and Domino 500 forever.  Good to know at least what I'm missing, thanks for keeping this thread updated guys!

Cordless Drill T 18+3 Li 3,1 I-Compact just posted art 10:58am EDT.

Very odd listing.  Includes 3.1Ah batteries (yay! light!) and the CentroTec, Jacobs, and Eccentric Chucks, but not the Right Angle chuck, which is what used to be included in the old 3.1 model from the factory (model 575695).

Grabbed it anyway, because I've been looking at a model with the 3.1 batteries at my local dealer and I can still get the Right Angle chuck separately (or use the one from my C12) and still be money ahead of the local dealer's "discontinued" price.

Yeah, I definitely stopped relying on the pictures; the listings for the newest 4.0 model of the T 18+3 had the RA chuck in the picture, but not the descriptions.  If I end up with a RA chuck in the box, it'll just be icing on the proverbial cake.

If that T18 comes with all the chucks, that would be a sweet deal.

Here's what I received - I also got all the manuals - Drill, Charger, and Battery.

Just picked up the conturo. Hoping to love it and find it as useful as the demos look.


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VAC SYS Clamping Module System Set is up currently.

Cordless Drill QUADRIVE PDC 18/4 Li 5,2 I-Set-SCA is up.

Final entry for the day, it appears.