A reader sent in a tip that all Bridge City Tools are on clearance at Lee Valley.
Robert (thank you!) writes:
Lee Valley is discontinuing carrying Bridge City tools, so they are offering 20 to 60% off what is left. Downside is a lot is already sold out.
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Almost everything is sold out already, except for a couple of tools (such as the Kerfmaker jig) and accessories.
Lee Valley has not disclosed the reason for this, but I cannot say I blame them.
Taking a look at Bridge City Tools’ homepage today, this is what they show:
Bridge City Tools has all kinds of “super offers” this weekend, with the center scribe being sold for $189.
Lee Valley had the Bridge City CS-3 center scribe on clearance for $175, from its original price of $295.
Lee Valley doesn’t typically run discounts or specials, and when they do, it’s on very specific products. How can Lee Valley be expected to sell a center scribe at its regular price of $295 when the manufacturer is selling it direct for $189?
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Bridge City Tools had an “unprecedented pandemic deal” back in 2020.
At that time, Lee Valley had a Bridge City Tool for $50, while the company was selling it direct for $39 with coupon.
Taking a look at my inbox, Bridge City Tool Works has been sending me daily emails about their direct-to-consumer tool deals and sales.
What’s the incentive for a retailer like Lee Valley to sell Bridge City Tools when the manufacturer undercuts them on pricing?
Whatever the reason behind Lee Valley’s massive clearance sale, it looks like they’re done selling Bridge City Tool Works products.
fred
I saw the email/announcement from Lee Valley too – and wondered what was up. Your hypothesis makes sense. There seem to be a few sellers/manufacturers that will offer direct-to-consumer deals that seem to undercut their regular sales channels. If this gets to be a regular occurrence – it is hard to imagine dealers staying with them.
Wiha seems to do this every so often with special pricing on certain items or kits – but that doesn’t seem to be as frequent compared to what you describe for Bridge City.
BTW – I always thought of Bridge City as being a bit overpriced – but at least I could understand it as they were a small USA manufacturer of specialty low-volume items. When they sold out to their partner in China their pricing became harder to swallow. But I guess that there is a lot of competition via no-name knockoffs sold via Alibaba , Amazon, Bangood, and eBay
Brian
Also the quality has gone in the toilet, along with customer service.
gene
WHAT? prove it or I’m calling you liar.
Misha
All you have to do is try to return one of their Products. Their predatory purchase and return policy now falls under the fine print. All returns now suffer a 5% restocking fee as well as a 5% credit card fee. This could really add up if you bought something expensive. oh, and you’re on the hook for the return postage as well.
IronWood
No loss to Lee Valley I’m sure. Bridge City lost their way when they sold out and moved to China. I haven’t paid them any attention in a long time.
Chris+S
Very disappointed, I was going to try the chopstick pro kit…but it is the only item available “only in store”.
That’s a long drive from TN.
John Blair
I’ve been interested in the Jointmaker Pro since it was introduced but $1150 was too much. Add in the fence and it was way outside of my price range. Bridge City is running a sale down to $789. Lee Valley’s close out is $535. Add on the precision fence at Bridge City and its another $499. At Lee Valley its $265. So rather than $789 for the unit alone, you can get both pieces for $800 from Lee Valley.
Now I get to find out if I can finally cut a clean dovetail or if I have to try to sucker someone else into buying it on ebay.
Misha
John, consider a Panto router. It’s a bit more expensive, but it accomplishes a multitude of new joinery options.
Jim Felt
The fellow who started Bridge City (so named for the many nearby Willamette River bridges) persevered for decades as a innovator and small manufacturer in a world of corporate competitors/consolidations/Third World competitors. Mostly pre-internet. I’m pretty sure he believed the promise of selling out to a much larger (Chinese based) firm would perpetuate his tool design legacy.
Post COVID and the world in general doesn’t seem to have supported what I believe was his intent. And the acquire’s likely promise.
Darn.
Arlan Crane
I bought some Bridge City tools back in the 1990’s, and even invested many thousand dollars in their stock at that time. Then they went bankrupt or whatever and their stock was worth $0. They gave a big middle finger to their most loyal supporters. I haven’t trusted them since, nor bought another tool. I’ll be surprised if they survive.
Steve
I agree.! They screwed the town of Portland and all the loyal people who worked there! I too purchased a bunch of their tools in the 90’s into the 2000’s. When John sold it a few years ago to a Chinese based manufacturing facility I was very upset! A complete sell out and no loyalty to US based manufacturing!
Never ever will I buy there tools again!!
Kurt
I ended up unsubscribing from Bridge City’s mailing list as they were emailing every single day. Someone should tell them they aren’t Amazon LOL.
Kevin
I’m not surprised – I was one of the first retailers who signed on to sell the Chinese made tools in late 2016 when BCTW decided to license their designs to Harvey Industries for international sales outside of the US. I started selling these Chinese made versions because I owned and liked the made in the USA versions and at the time the pricing allowed us to offer them at less than half of the price of USA versions but with equivalent quality that was supervised by BCTW USA.
However when BCTW USA was sold to Harvey in 2018 the quality oversight disappeared and the prices more than doubled. I decided to discontinue selling their tools in Aug. 2018 for various reasons.
Lee Valley started selling their tools at the end of 2018 and I had hoped that might a good fit as I like to see toolmaking companies succeed because it fosters innovation and gives woodworkers more choice.
Albert
Is this Kevin from Northwest by any chance? If it is, thanks for the files last year, they’ve been great!
MattG
Bridge City Tools has never made much sense to me. I buy higher-end tools, buy once cry once. There is a reasonable upper limit and BCT’s is always way above that. A company like Woodpeckers they at least have some tools that are more reasonable on sale, or an occasional one-time tool that solves a problem I haven’t already solved with a much cheaper tool and is worth the splurge. I get the boutique tool maker niche Bridge City is in but I don’t get the specific market they are going after. I don’t want their planes, they look good but very uncomfortable to use and not any better than other good planes. Marking and measuring stuff my Starrett is all I need. The center finder is cool but way overengineered for a simple problem. The jointmaker is super expensive and has me changing how I work for no compelling reason. The kerfmaker is interesting but again, there are other ways that are a lot cheaper and work just as well. I have no idea who makes chopsticks and pencils. I just don’t see enough people lusting after their tools, especially now that they are Chinese-owned. China is a one-trick pony, cheap and either disposable or good enough but not high-end. No surprise they’ve been undercutting Lee Valley, that’s always been a cultural problem for China trying to do business in the west.
gene
I have both pre and post acquisition BCT and the quality absolutely is equal. I also have Harvey machines and they are on par or better than the competition. WHY? because they actually manufacture machines for other labels. They’re facilities all meet or exceed ISO certifications. Y’all need to get your facts straight. They’ve made high quality products achievable for the everyman unlike Woodpeckers, Lie Nielsen, et al
Josh Hammett
I just cant give my money to China. Ill pay double based on principles.