It’s time for another round of example of funky retail price math, this time featuring the new Makita 18V cordless hammer drill.
I recently posted about the drill’s seemingly inflated torque claims, but here we’re just talking about tool pricing.
The new Makita XPH16T 18V cordless hammer drill kit seems a bit pricey at $359.
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This kit comes with the drill/driver, 2x 5Ah batteries, and a tool bag.
The screenshot is from Tool Nut. Acme Tools has the same price, and I saw the same at other authorized dealers.
The new hammer drill is also bundled in a 2pc cordless combo kit. This XT296ST kit comes with the same XPH16 hammer drill, an XDT14 impact driver, 2x 5Ah batteries, charger, and tool bag.
The XDT14 launched at least 5 years ago – I referenced it in a 2018 post – and I found mentions of it in emails dating back to 2016.
It’s a bit strange for a brand new hammer drill to be paired with an older impact driver like this one.
The price for this 2pc combo kit is $339. Again, the same price is found at multiple authorized Makita tool dealers.
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The drill kit is $359. Add in an impact driver and… the price goes down by $20?
At these retail prices, they’re basically paying you $20 to take the impact driver. Even if you don’t need it, $339 is lower than $359.
I’m not saying that this is a good price – $339 still seem high for what you’re getting.
At the time of this posting, Milwaukee’s M18 Fuel hammer drill and impact driver combo kit is $379 at Home Depot, plus you get a bonus battery. Both tools greatly outclass the ones in this Makita combo kit. Earlier this week, the Milwaukee combo kit was $349 for the two tools, 2x 5Ah batteries, charger, tool case, and a bonus battery.
$339 seems like a lot for a kit with a compact hammer drill and several year old impact driver.
Is the drill-only kit priced at $359 to make this combo kit seem like a great price at $339?
Actually, that makes sense. I wanted to try the Makita XGT cordless impact driver, and the way things worked out, I saved a lot of money by getting the combo kit with the hammer drill rather than just the impact driver in a kit, plus I got an extra bonus battery too. That was a few months ago, before the last price increase.
Maybe these kits will be discounted in a couple of months for the winter holiday shopping season, but it’s too soon to tell.
Purchase Links
Buy the Drill Kit at Tool Nut
Buy the Drill Kit at Acme Tools
Buy the Drill Kit at Amazon
Buy the Combo Kit at Tool Nut
Buy the Combo Kit at Acme Tools
Buy the Combo Kit at Amazon
TomD
I would be interested how the kit arrives, but not willing to pay $700 interested.
Because in my distributor days, we would sometimes have a slow moving older product, and instead of taking them back we’d tell the retailers to combine it with a newer product as a “kit” with a SPIF – the end result would be they could sell them out and clear out the older inventory.
So if the cheaper kit is the expensive kit with the old box taped to the side, that might be what they’re doing. But if it’s all in one box it means it’s a factory assembled combo and is confusing.
Stuart
I’d be extremely surprised if it wasn’t a packaged set.
This is a new SKU combo kit.
Some retailers create bundles using different kits and components, where everything is comprised of separately boxes items, but I highly doubt that’s the case here.
John
I really hate all the pricing games everyone is playing with cordless tools. Makes me feel like I can’t justify buying anything until there’s some last-minute sale. Like the Milwaukee hammer drill you mentioned for $379…I just got that one from Home Depot two weeks ago with a 5ah and 2ah batteries for $189. I would have been upset having paid almost $400 for it to then go on sale for nearly half price out of the blue. I’d much rather see consistent pricing across the line instead of mismatched combos and various batteries.
Stuart
That hammer drill bundle was a great deal. I don’t recall seeing hammer drill-only deals before, it’s usually the 2pc set due to sales volume pricing flexibility.
Using holiday promos as an example, pricing can be $99 for a drill or impact driver kit, and then $149 for both. Or $129 for each kit and $179 for both. A combo kit that’s less expensive than a kit with just one of the tools? Why?
Consistent pricing doesn’t sell tools to consumers. Harbor Freight tried that with the Hercules line and have since jumped into the same promotional pattern as other major tool brands.
Hon Cho
It’s a game with perpetually moving targets. The manufacturers and retailers play “fiddle with the prices” and “repackage the goods” over and over to keep product moving and extract whatever money they can out of their customers. It may be frustrating to customers but sometimes it works in a customer’s favor when the stars align.
fred
Home Depot sometimes also offer tool bundles with “funky math” pricing. They might list a bare tool for $X – but then have the same tool bundled with a pair of safety glasses for slightly less money or have it bundled with a battery as a special buy for the same price. You sometimes need to scroll through their offerings to see what combo is the best price. The HD thing – may be different than what Makita does – in that HD may be selling off remaining stock of special deals (SKUs like the tool plus glasses in my example) at a special price.
Stuart
Yes, but that’s Home Depot promotional behavior. Here, the Makita kit and combo kit are priced alike across multiple retailers.
Munklepunk
That’s how I got the M18 brad nailer. Regular price was more that with a 2.0 and safety glasses.
Rog
Boy, really piling on ol’ Makita in the last 24 hours… 🙂
Stuart
ToolGuyd is about better understanding things beneath the surface. I also find it interesting when things don’t add up.
A = $359
A + B = $339
I’d love for someone to be able to explain this.
Big Richard
Looks like different chargers with each kit. I can’t imagine that fully explains the price difference though.
Stuart
https://toolguyd.com/makita-18v-battery-charger-dc18wc/
Could be part of it.
Harrison
Lol I wonder what Makita USA has done to him this time. The Makita rage is strong.
Stuart
Seemingly inflated torque specs, topsy-turvy pricing, and new super-slow chargers? They won’t – or can’t – explain any of it.
Can we get the new XGT jig saw here? No. The new USB charging adapters with lights? No. But they keep launching more “new” Outdoor Adventure tools, which are simply existing products just now in olive green instead of teal.
Show me another professional cordless power tool brand that’s doing things like this, and I’ll post about them just the same.
LK
It’s an editorial site so we can’t really expect much objectivity.
TTI and Milwaukee in particular seem to get a lot of good press here as they have open lines of communication with the masthead and have invited them to tour facilities, etc. I remember the absolutely dovish coverage about Milwaukee’s failing impact wrenches.
Makita seems to be consistently in the doghouse because they cater first and primarily to their larger overseas markets which really isn’t out of the ordinary in any business.
Stuart
Makita isn’t the only tool brand with R&D primary based overseas and USA efforts primary consisting of marketing, sales, and support. But they’re the only brand that seems to retaliate for my lack of obsequiousness.
I was warned about them at the first media event I went to13 years ago.
They’re not “in the doghouse” with me, we just have very different philosophies about free media coverage.
I asked a question about 4Ah battery compatibility once, since there were concerns about compatibility warnings published in other markets, and the answer I received focused on the 3Ah battery’s charging time.
I’ve since come to the conclusion that they’re not interested in supporting media efforts that they cannot control. That’s their prerogative. So instead of asking answers privately and waiting for explanations and insights that never come, I send questions that are never answered and I discuss the topic anyway.
I believe in thoroughness, and so if a story is lacking, I point fingers as to the reason why, lest anyone assume I missed something or didn’t ask.
Before ToolGuyd and at the end of the day, I’m a tool user, and one with a lot of experiences and opinions to share.
Makita isn’t just a brand I report on, it’s a brand I look at when making new purchasing decisions.
The deepest frustration is that, in my opinion, Makita USA is rotting, and in a way that impacts end users.
XGT *finally* has a new jig saw. Great! But you can’t buy it here. How many other tools and accessories has this been true for?
They play pricing games, sometimes to end users’ benefits, but many times they seem to only benefit new customers. Most tool brands play pricing games.
Makita Canada advertises the 18V LXT hammer drill as delivering 1,150 in-lbs max torque, and the XGT drill 1,240 in-lbs. Makita USA advertises what all evidence says are the same exact 18V and XGT hammers drills as both delivering 1,250 in-lbs max torque. WHY?
If I can’t see any reasonable explanation, and the company will not provide any reasonable explanation, what am I supposed to say other than that there’s a discrepancy Makita USA cannot or will not explain?
I’ve written things about Milwaukee products that they’re not thrilled about, and the same with Dewalt and other brands. The difference here is that those brands won’t slam the door on me for not coloring within their lines.
There are boundaries and coverage guidelines that I will adhere to, stemming from something that happened with another brand back in 2013. Makita has hinted over the years what it would take to earn media communication privileges, but this would impose unacceptably strict control and influence over what I write.
They blacklisted me in 2021, for privately asking questions that I genuinely wanted answers for. Instead of answering my questions, a senior product manager left shill comments under a fake name. https://toolguyd.com/makita-xgt-comments/
Every time I tried to color within their lines, at least to the extent I could accommodate, I felt that they continued to manipulate me, holding things like test samples over my head, again as something I’d have to earn.
That’s their prerogative, and like I said it just seems that we have different philosophical views.
All that said, my history with Makita USA doesn’t play a part in this. Actually, that’s not entirely accurate. My candid thoughts are that pricing tactics like this are a sign Makita USA is desperate and struggling, possibly due to the huge expenses wasted on “Outdoor Adventure” at best, or that they’re losing too much market share.
There’s a huge disconnect between Makita North America sales and profit over the past 2 years. Cordless kit reconfigurations (18V kits shipping with 4Ah batteries instead of 5Ah), 3 price increases since mid-2022, and recent significant layoffs have me extremely concerned.
I find counter-intuitive retail math to be interesting, and avoided penning my concerns this is another ominous sign.
Seemingly inflated torque specs, pricing games like this, and bundling kits with extremely slow chargers are extremely out of character for Makita.
Whether Makita, Bosch, Dewalt, Milwaukee, or another brand, I’d post about it just the same. I walk a little bit on eggshells with Makita because I know they’re overly sensitive and hold grudges.
When they do things like leaving fake reviews in the comments section to promote XGT while refusing to answer media questions about the same subject matter – and without even telling me why – *that* lands Makita USA in the dog house with me.
When they scream at me over the phone and tell me to count on my fingers how many months I’ll have to wait before they answer media questions about a product officially announced in press communications, that lands a particular person in the dog house with me.
When they play pricing games like this, on the heels of their third price increase since last year, it deeply concerns me as a Makita tool customer.
Here’s a post from earlier this year where I posted about Home Depot and Milwaukee deal math: https://toolguyd.com/milwaukee-tool-deal-math-home-depot-012323/
Do we have a very dysfunctional relationship with Makita USA? Absolutely. I won’t bow to external influences, and they seem intent on punishing me for it. If anything, I bite my tongue a little because of that.
I’ve worked with countless tool brands, retailers, and companies big and small for nearly 15 years. Even when things were friendly, my relationship with Makita USA was always very different and often difficult. It has been an endless cycle where I won’t bend to what I see as outside pressure, and because of that they won’t work with me in the way I expect.
In the best of times, I received evasive non-answers to what I saw as fair questions. If I talk to a Milwaukee product manager and say “that tool sucked, what happened?” even in such language, I’ll get a direct answer. Even with a question like that presented in the most delicate way possible, I’d never get an answer out of Makita USA, and apparently they might blacklist me over it (again).
So what would you say I do? Pussyfoot around or abandon every topic that might hurt someone’s feelings? Or post about what I would post about anyway, and point fingers where any other tool brand would have provided insights and answers to fair questions?
I have been sharing my opinions freely here for nearly 15 years. I’m not going to change that because a tool brand believes keeps slamming their doors without even explaining why.
If I’ll post about funky Home Depot and Milwaukee deal pricing math, with Home Depot being a past and potential future sponsor, and Milwaukee a current advertiser, I’m sure still going to post about Makita kit pricing math.
A modicum of professionalism would be nice, but I realized a while ago we’re simply incompatible. Makita USA marketing leadership doesn’t approve of how ToolGuyd does things, and I won’t adjust just to please them. In modern times there are countless influencers willing to report in a manner more favorable to them. They’re not “in the dog house” because of this.
If I feel a story is incomplete, and it’s because a tool brand is incapable, incompetent, or unwilling to answer the questions needed to fill holes, I will always point fingers. I’m sorry if that gives you the impression they’re in the dog house.
I’m not even sure what happened this time. We had some interesting conversations and they offered to send a review sample (nothing ever arrived), but then they removed me from the press distribution list (again) and stopped responding to questions. I keep asking questions I hope they’ll answer, but they don’t. Okay. They’ll let me know when they’re ready. Or not. I’ve got a job to do whether they’re capable of normal and effective press and media relations or not.
All that said, I guess in a media sense I’m in their dog house, but they’re not in mine. As a tool user, they’re disappointing me on multiple levels, and pricing like this seems suspect. In a media sense, I didn’t speculation about their motivations or how I think the wonky pricing is a sign the company is extremely desperate to boost sales. I find funky pricing math interesting and noteworthy and focused solely on that. Again, this isn’t the first post of its kind, this one was – https://toolguyd.com/milwaukee-tool-deal-math-home-depot-012323/ .
James
The post you cited is a great example of the perceived bias against Makita. Read that post and then compare the tone to any of the Makita posts from the last several days. The HD/Milwaukee post is written with a novelty/confusion tone, whereas the Makita posts are very obviously negative. Granted some of the Makita topics DO put the company in more negative light than simply messing with promotional pricing.
Regarding media “spin” and the company controlling messaging, the impression I’ve gotten from a variety of sites is that Makita doesn’t really cater to social media type providers at all. (Unfotunately, one could argue they don’t really cater to any logical media). Several test sites have mentioned that Makita doesn’t seem to actively recruit social media promoters and will rarely even work with social media sites when the sites initiate contact with the company. In contrast, some other brands, particularly Milwaukee, have very active programs to get their tools into as many “influencer”, social media, and review sites as possible. There are clear marketing and R&D benefits to this strategy, but it is also means some resources are less objective than they would ideally be.
Clearly the Makita doesn’t have a coherent media strategy (at least in USA) and it is hurting them. I’m not sure they care. I’m not sure I care that much to be honest; I’m happy with the Makita tools I have regardless of their shenanigans.
Stuart
Home Depot does weird things with their pricing because their deal algorithm is seemingly left to make decisions on their own. They have a pattern of wonky automatic/algorithmic pricing, and it works to the favor of consumers.
Here, someone in an office at Makita HQ made the deliberate decision to set these prices like this.
Why?
Makita right now seems desperate for sales. They’ve raised prices 3 times since last year, their North America segment reported a loss despite substantial sales revenue, and they fired a whole lot of people as part of company-wide layoffs.
What’s the motivation behind weird marketing tactics that don’t make sense, especially given Makita USA’s economic hardships that possibly resulted from bad decisions such as how they’ve been marketing XGT and “Outdoor Adventure”?
As a consumer, I want bizarre pricing practices explained.
Here’s what Makita USA’s social media marketing strategy looks like from where I sit – give them praise and stick to the script and you’ll get attention and free tool samples. Deviate from that, and they’ll ignore your questions except to leave comments under fake names. https://toolguyd.com/makita-xgt-comments/
I’ve heard all kinds of rumors over the years about how and where they spend their social media and advertising budgets, but that’s their business.
Do you know what other brands do this? I don’t.
But none of this is the point.
Go back and read the post above. Where is the tone negative? Did I say “wow look at these shady shenanigan prices cooked up by some bloke at Makita USA marketing?”
You’re complaining about tone and bias that isn’t there.
In your other comments, you wrote:
But *I’m* not allowed to think and express the same?
James
The distnction between acknowledging someone is failing and berating them for failing is a significant one…
Stuart
Practices that go against consumer interests, and confuse and mislead consumers, whether intentionally or not, aren’t justified and shouldn’t be swept under the rug just because a company is under increasing pressure to boost sales.
A lot of tool companies are facing difficulties right now, but Makita seems to be having additional problems. Are they headwinds, or circumstances of their own poor management decisions?
They had some excellent promotions a few months ago, and I praised them for it. What they’re doing here with these kit prices are interesting to discuss just the same.
I wrote the post in an neutral a tone as possible. You pushed me to explain my stance in comments and so I did.
Brad Stronger
The cheaper combo kit has the worse new charger. Part of the shenanigans, I suppose.
Joseph Healy
As a makita user for over 10 years. I will say that I’ve been slowly switching to other brands. Namely ryobi. I used to have to use my personal tools for work/plumbing. Now I’m working for someone that supplies cordless tools. I find that while makita is still a great tool, I can’t justify spending usually double the price for a tool that being used for home repairs will be just as effective.