Kreg has put their new Rebel 20V cordless pocket hole tool on sale, taking $50 off the price of the kit. It’s now priced at $300 rather than $350.
It appears Kreg cancelled their corded Rebel pocket hole machine, and I was told this was done so they can focus on their cordless tool system. And now they’ve cut pricing on the 20V kit.
In my opinion, none of this is a good sign – it signals that their first month has not been going well. If they had planned on sales from the start, it would have been in the form of “introductory pricing.”
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In another recent deal, they started giving free 20V starter kits with the purchase of bare tools.
Kreg couldn’t have launched their cordless power tool system at a worst time – nearly every brand dialed up the tool deals recently. Lowe’s, for example has new Kobalt 24V promos where you can build up a 6-tool cordless combo kit, with brushless motors and compelling specs, for the shockingly low price of $249.
Early adopters of Kreg 20V tools are likely feeling burnt right now – hopefully they can get price adjustments.
I asked Kreg for details about how their cordless power tools stand out from all of the existing professional and DIY options already on the market, but they couldn’t give me a convincing answer.
The tools don’t look bad – not at all. But I also haven’t seen any good reason woodworkers should buy into the limited Kreg system, at least not aside from the pocket hole tool. That could explain why they cancelled the corded version and just lowered the price on the starter kit.
It seems that the Rebel pocket hole tool has the potential to lure customers to the new platform, but is the $300 price low enough yet to do that?
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If this was on your shopping list, should you buy now, or wait for another price reduction? I’m not sure what to think.
If you previously preordered the other deal, where you buy the tool and get a free starter kit, the new sale pricing on the kit is better. With the kit, you get a 4Ah battery rather than 2Ah, and the discounted price of $300 matches that for the bare tool. You might want to cancel your preorder and place an order for this discounted kit instead.
Thank you to Fred for the heads-up!
Doresoom
I’m still using my discontinued K5 jig. I tried the 720 when they released it and it was terrible – I ended up selling that and keeping the K5.
The only real advantage I see for this new Rebel is adding pocket holes to large panels. If you’re doing a lot of that I can see the time savings paying off. Otherwise I suspect most people will just stick with their existing jigs and a drill.
al
I just don’t understand the target market for this cordless system. 99% of people who have a need for a cordless pocket hole jig are already bought into a cordless tool system. They are not making the swap to Kreg drills/drivers if they already have Dewalt/Milwaukee. If you aren’t someone who needs the cordless pocket tool jig, why would this system be on your radar at all? The catalog is limited and pricing uncompelling.
Double D
Based on your comment, I’m holding out for cheaper pricing now…
Bonnie
Maybe the specific kind of customer who shops at Woodcraft/Rockler rather than Home Depot. It’s all I can imagine really. Those stores generally only carried Festool in terms of cordless tool lines, though apparently now Rikon has a small 12v line? When did that happen?
MM
Woodcraft had a good deal going the other day where you could get $10 off a $40 order. I took the opportunity to stock up on some Mixol pigments and I just received the package a couple days ago. They threw a catalog in the box; there’s a big spread of all these new Kreg tools in there, all at full MSRP, just in front of the Festool section.
Joe
The price, even with the sale is a non-starter for me. A nice to have tool that requires its own batteries and is expensive is just too much. I would either hold out for a dramatic price drop after the holiday or just hope that if the whole lineup is a flop and is discontinued that they would license the tool to another company as the “Kreg pocket hole tool by Dewalt” or something like that.
fred
I was able to see the tool in the wild at a local Kreg dealer. It was on display without battery attached. I posted about my first impressions on one of Stuart’s prior updates. The blue plastic parts seemed like they might be not-too robust – especially a blue slide together jig (that was laid out next to the tool) which was said to be for narrow stock.
Bonnie
Sounds like every other Kreg tool I’ve used. I don’t think I’ve ever been wowed or impressed by them, at best a “well for the price I guess sure”.
Nathan
They make jigs. And people now make jigs with their 800+ dollar 3d printers. Ok. My regular pocket hole thing I think k4. Has the hole inser come out with clamp to do panel hole with a cordless drill. I can’t see this being better.
Get rid of the new style and go back to the old style.
Jared
I think you posed the key question: “It seems that the Rebel pocket hole tool has the potential to lure customers to the new platform, but is the $300 price low enough yet to do that?”
In my mind the pocket hole tool remains the sole reason to buy Kreg’s tools over the many more compelling, and often less expensive, competitors. If it’s a sufficiently-useful tool, I could see someone buying it and then later getting other tools since they are already invested in the battery platform.
At $300 though, it’s the sort of thing you buy because you would use it a lot, not the sort of thing you buy for a project or two. That’s not going to entice many people into the system.
kent_skinner
I think the decision to stop development on the corded version will bite them in the long run. They already spent the money.
I don’t think yet another brand of mid level, uninteresting cordless tools is a good idea. There’s an infinite number of cordless tools out there, competing at every price point. And there’s new additions to the list frequently. It simply can’t expand forever.
I wonder if Ryobi will release one soon. They could do it for half the price, and there’s a million people using that platform (which I bet is as well made as Kreg).
I just don’t see this ending well for Kreg.
fred
Kreg patent protection will likely delay Ryobi and others until the patents expire. That’s also why there are no Domino tool copies right now. But Kreg has to “make hay while the sun shines” – sell enough of these as an entry portal to the cordless platform – or otherwise probably write the whole venture off as a loss.
EBT
If you are a cabinetry person, doing lots of face frames and needs for pocketholes, you’ll have some more professional from Castle.
If you are doing only a few pocket hole wood frame projects, the manual jig that uses your screwgun or drill, is way cheaper and easier.
This looks cheaply made, and uses their battery. Not long for this woodworking world.
fred
The niche that this might fill – is when you are doing a lot of pocket holes outside the shop where a Castle machine is impractical That’s probably a smaller niche market than Kreg would have hoped for.