New Kreg Cordless Tool Deal Fixes their High Prices

Kreg recently launched their own line of cordless power tools, and there’s no way to put it nicely – I felt the pricing was bad.

The new Kreg 20V cordless tools feature brushless motors, and the power and performance specs seem competitive. However, the pricing was relatively high, leading me to see the “Ionic Drive” platform as just another line of cordless power tools that was overpriced and unappealing.

Good news – this new tool deal fixes the pricing, at least temporarily. For a limited time and while supplies last, buy a Kreg 20V tool and get a FREE starter kit with Li-ion battery and charger!

Let’s talk a little more about the pricing.

As an example, Kreg priced their cordless impact driver kit at $200. They can cross out $250 and say $200 reflects $50 savings, but that’s still not going to sell many tools.

If you do even a little bit of shopping around, you’d see that $200 isn’t a great buy for a DIY brand impact driver kit.

At the time of this posting, you can get Metabo HPT’s latest 18V brushless Triple Hammer impact driver kit with (2) batteries, charger, and hard case, for $149. That’s a very good premium offering by a pro-grade brand. So why buy the DIY-grade Kreg kit for $50 more? On top of that, the Kreg kit offers less value since it only has 1 battery.

Amazon also has a Dewalt 20V Max XR series brushless impact driver kit for just under $200 right now. What would you buy at the same price, Dewalt or Kreg?

While not as featured, Home Depot has a Milwaukee M18 brushless impact driver kit for $99. Yes, that’s a full kit with 2Ah battery, charger, and tool bag. What are you picking, a Milwaukee kit for $99, or Kreg for $200?

Well, it looks like Kreg realized that they weren’t going to be able to sell their tools that were, at least in some cases, priced higher than you can buy Dewalt, Milwaukee, Bosch, Metabo HPT, or Flex brushless tools for.

It seems they learned this and made a very quick course correction.

Kreg cordless pocket hole machine? $299. And now it’s bundled with a free battery and charger.

Barrel-grip jig saw? $149. With battery and charger? Still just $149, for a limited time or while supplies last.

Kreg 20V Ionic Drive router? $149, and $0 extra for a battery and charger right now.

My mindset shifted. Kreg and their paid influencers kept hyping up what I see as average-looking cordless power tools at uncompetitive prices. I just didn’t see any appeal, except maybe in the pocket hole machine.

But now with this promo? It’s worth a serious look, as the value proposition has dramatically changed.

We don’t know how long this promo will last. We also don’t know how many battery and charger starter kits they’re willing to give away for free with every eligible bare tool purchase.

We also don’t know if the tools are any good. Kreg never sent us any press info and seemed to throw their full media and marketing efforts behind social media influencers and a viral advertising campaign.

But I can tell you that this deal changes how I see the Kreg 20V cordless system right now.

Maybe this was always in their plans, but I don’t think so. If this was always in their launch plans, they would have started off with an introductory offer that their paid influencers could have hyped with a sense of urgency.

Thus, I’m guessing that the first few weeks were a flop and this is the course correction they chose, at least temporarily.

I lost a lot of respect for Kreg, ever since they started selling what I saw as a cheap imported copy of another brand’s USA-made cabinetry jig. Their marketing hype and viral campaign surrounding the Kreg 20V Ionic Drive cordless system didn’t make me feel any better about the brand.

If I’m right about this deal being a reactive course correction, that’s pretty smart of Kreg and it raises my opinion of them just a little bit. If this was always in their plans, early adopters who bought into the system in its first few weeks are going to be feeling burned, and that would knock my sentiments about the brand down a couple more notches. But I don’t think that’s the case.

I think this is a temporary attempt to drive up sales and gain market share among woodworkers, and I also think it’ll work.

Hopefully it’s not temporary. I think this kind of deal pricing will be necessary if Kreg has any chance of long-term success with the new cordless line.

Tool Nut is the only Kreg retailer that I can find that is offering this deal, and I don’t know what the implication of that is.

Is Tool Nut a trustworthy retailer? I have been a Tool Nut customer for a very long time, and continue to trust them with my business.

There’s no end date to the promo, and it’s only at one the online retailer. Maybe it’s a limited experiment. All of that uncertainty creates a sense of urgency in my opinion.

I’m not going to advise you on what to do. But if I were looking to buy an eligible Kreg cordless power tool – such as the cordless pocket hole machine – I would try to make a quick decision or take my chance waiting,

Regarding the pocket hole machine, Acme Tools has the kit, with higher capacity battery, for $50 more at $349. It’s a lot of money either way, but I think I’d rather have the 2Ah battery starter kit and save the $50 for a second battery should I ever want one.