Lee Valley is Expensive

[Jordan Friedrich]

hi all,

i just ordered some coat hooks from lee valley today. they were the art deco ones for $4.90 a piece. i ordered 4 of them and it is ending up costing me over $37.00 including shipping and handling and the c.o.d charge. so really when i work it out it is over $9.00 for each coat hook.
i guess i won't be spending my here again for awhile due to the fact it is so expensive. has anyone ever found lee valley to be this expensive?

jordan

[Lost in the Woods]

I've never oredered from them for delivery as I have a LV within 15 minutes of me. I have found some of their items priced higher than when I could find them elsewhere and the reverse as well. Ya gotta know your prices before ordering from them sometimes.

[Gary in Niagara]

Jordan,

You have to keep an eye on shipping costs when you buy online or mail order. When I buy from Lee Valley I order enough that the rate isn't so high.

Any order more than $20 or less than $120 will cost $9.50 shipping from Lee Valley. There is also a premium for COD orders too if you con't have a credit card.

[ArtMulder]

hi all,

i just ordered some coat hooks from lee valley today. they were the art deco ones for $4.90 a piece. i ordered 4 of them and it is ending up costing me over $37.00 including shipping and handling and the c.o.d charge. so really when i work it out it is over $9.00 for each coat hook.
i guess i won't be spending my here again for awhile due to the fact it is so expensive. has anyone ever found lee valley to be this expensive?

jordan


When I first started shopping at Lee Valley... yes, I thought it was somewhat expensive. However, the more I looked into things, the more I became convinced that in general the quality of goods offered at LVT was higher than what I was seeing at other stores. I also shopped around and learned that better quality tools were not cheap no matter where I shopped.

In your case, it seems to me that you are singling out Lee Valley for something that would be true of all stores. First, C.O.D. is expensive no matter who you shop from. Second, all mail order places have a minimum shipping charge, so like Gary pointed out, a small order is going to ding you more (in percentage terms) than a bigger order.

For instance... I went online and dug up some $4.90 hooks from LVT and shipping for four of them was $7.50. Then I ordered up a Kreg Miter jig at $175 and shipping on it was $12.50 -- only $5 more, and percentage-wise, a much smaller part of the order.

The labour is the thing to remember. The labour to box up a set of 4 cheap hooks is just about the same as the labour to box up a $200 item.

...art

[Mark Nowicki]

Hello Jordan:

Taking into consideration that to save the $20.00 in shipping and c.o.d.
charges would have required a trip either to London or Burlington, then, I think that the answer is no.

IMO, it is hard to price shop LeeValley because their products are either unique or hard to find somewhere else. I guess the answer to the question is: expensive, compared to what?

Mark Nowicki

[billh]

Service costs money. I doubt if you will find a store more accommodating of customers who are not happy with their purchase for any reason. I have no qualms about buying anything at LV because I know if I am not happy I can return the item. Apparently, LV will even pay shipping on returns and has been known to send out rebates to people who have recently bought items for which the price has subsequently dropped.

As somebody else mentioned you have to be aware of how LV charges shipping and adjust your order to minimize the impact.

[Jordan Friedrich]

Thanks all for the input. thanks art you really cleared it up for me. i will continue to shop at lee valley but i will watch the shipping charges next time.

jordan

[Dailey]

Personally I live about an hour and a half from the nearest Lee Valley (London) so I never go there unless I have other business nearby. I do the majority of my shopping there over the internet, I just look at it due to the price of gas these days spending about $7.00 on shipping is minor. Like several of the others have posted as well, Lee Valley either has higher quality products that you can find at your typical hardware store or items that they don't carry at all.

[Brent in Montreal]

Well Jordan, I've got to commend you. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone else who had the fortitude to actually order just what they needed at the moment from LV. I know in my case it's usually "well since I'm ordering anyway". Like the others have said, the shipping costs per item drop as you add more items to the order. Next time just let yourself go and order that plane, chisel, hammer or whatever else it is you've been wanting and the S&H won't hurt so much.

[billh]

Well Jordan, I've got to commend you. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone else who had the fortitude to actually order just what they needed at the moment from LV. I know in my case it's usually "well since I'm ordering anyway". Like the others have said, the shipping costs per item drop as you add more items to the order. Next time just let yourself go and order that plane, chisel, hammer or whatever else it is you've been wanting and the S&H won't hurt so much.

There was a thread on either this or another forum where there were a lot of complaints about shipping being tied to the dollar value of the order rather than something better related to the actual cost. I don't know if we would really be better off with this method at LV since IMO they are reasonable.

We must remember that the shipping cost is more than the stamp, somebody has to buy the shipping materials, pack the order, etc as well.

[Lars in Hamilton]

Seems that you have a problem with shipping charges. So does Lee Valley, check it out at http://www.postalproblem.ca

Lars

[Woodbridge Woody]

In my opinion, they are VERY EXPENSIVE for some things, and fair for other things. For example, a jacobs chuck for their mini lathe costs $45. This almost threw me off my chair. The chuck should cost no more than $15. Either they're buying it from the wrong supplier, or else they're raking in the profits.

As for return their allegedly great service, I can't say that I'm a believer. I go to their West Toronto store. In the last 2 years, they've had major turn-over in staff. The staff now are almost clue-less about hands on woodworking. In fact, one staff person didn't even know if he could return something to me that was bought a week prior. He had to check with his manager ! (Yes, the manager returned it promptly, but it took another 10 minutes delay.)

I have yet to meet a staffer at the West Toronto store who actually knows about the products they sell. Very sad turn around in events.

Woody

[Mack C. in Brooklin ON]

Hi there Woody; you might want to check out the original date of this thread. It's over a year old.
Nevertheless, however correct or incorrect you may be, rather than spouting off random statements of your experience, it would be nice to hear your specific encounter with the staff as well as what other establishments might be charging for the Jacob's chuck.
With an inventory as large as LV carries, you would be hard pressed in any other tool establishment to find someone who knows everything about everything. It's up to us to educate ourselves. Depending on your purchase, possibly you should have given the forum members an opportunity to educate you rather than expect the LV staff.
Lastly, I have no relationship to LV (I can only wish that my father had the foresight), their return policy is 2nd to none as well as the shopping experience I have every time I visit there.

[billh]

I just looked and found in the lathe accessories section a Jacobs chuck with either a #1 or #2 mandrel which is threaded for a drawbar for headstock use for Cdn. $32.50.

No point in saying what other chucks cost elsewhere unless there is a quality comparison.

I shop in the Ottawa store and I most often buy turning items. I have had clerks who could discuss what I was buying and some who expressed a wish to "try turning" sometime. I do know that if I ask a question they can't answer they will find somebody who can. To put this into perspective, even though I consider myself a woodworker hobbyist, I'd be very hard pressed to give knowledgeable advice on various tools especially things like the proper tuning of a hand-plane.

I just received a letter from LV the other day saying that there was a problem with some of the tilt-gauges they sell. Complete instructions on how to check out the problem and if I have any trouble to contact them for a replacement. Who else does this? Who else sends out unsolicited refund cheques when they feel that a customer has paid too much money for an item under certain circumstances? Who else runs educational seminars and donates the tuition money to charity?

Certainly, not always the least expensive, but certainly always the best in my book.

billh

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Hi Woody
Woody I guess you haven't got a clue what it takes to make a live center, I for one can't see how they are able to even make those things for that money:confused:
As for expensive, I've got a catalog here that's at least 10 years old, from before I retired, and it has some prices in there for live centers, those are considered low prices, and yes they are for metal working, still just have a look, better hang onto your chair, if you almost fell off for the $45.-- one:lol:
Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

[J.P. Rap]

Hi Woody
Woody I guess you haven't got a clue what it takes to make a live center, I for one can't see how they are able to even make those things for that money:confused:
As for expensive, I've got a catalog here that's at least 10 years old, from before I retired, and it has some prices in there for live centers, those are considered low prices, and yes they are for metal working, still just have a look, better hang onto your chair, if you almost fell off for the $45.-- one:lol:
Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

Those prices are ridiculous, What are they made of? gold?
If I'm not mistaken, those are dead centers. At least that's what they look like.
I work in a number of manufacturing facilities and from what I've seen, with the right tools, to make one of those would take less than a minute. Probably closer to 30 seconds. I know guys that can whip out Morris tapers at a couple of minutes a-piece doing it by hand.

That said, we were talking about chucks, not centers. Chucks have a lot more parts and require a lot more machining than a center (live or dead) yet they whip them out by the thousands per day. How? Automation. One machine cuts one part continuously all day. with enough machines you can make all the parts for thousands of chucks every day. All that's left is assembly and most of that is automated these days.
Jacobs chucks do require a certain amount of accuracy but they are by no means a precision tool. It you need precision you would have to go to something like a collet chuck at a considerably higher price.
FWIW

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Hi JP, I don't know how I got that mixed up, :oops: but no that's a live center with the separate nose cones, all those pieces and the inners are hardened and surfaces ground, MT are ground if done properly, not just machined.
The centers also have needle and ball bearings in them, (as precision drill chuck have).
Anyway good quality chucks are also more expensive, but not like those centers.
A good quality 1/2" drill chuck from Jacobs still runs close to a hundred bucks though.
Have fun and take care, see you tomorrow after lunch.:D :D
Leo Van Der Loo

[lashing]

I absolutely agree that Lee Valley is expensive. At times to the extreme. However I cant say I've ever had a bad experience there. You wont get shafted with a bad tool at Lee Valley, they will take it back. I have not been to every location but the Steeles location I visit seems to be very well staffed.

You could go to Home Depot etc and get made in china tools from someone who has no clue whatsoever. Made in China isnt always bad, I have a $20 chinese hammer drill that refuses to die. But if you want to take someones time and get service than I guess extra $ comes in. Sometimes its worth it to buy certain tools at a premium. Other times no. But honestly, how many retail places attend you like Lee Valley? Not many.

[Drew in Victoria]

hi all,

i just ordered some coat hooks from lee valley today. they were the art deco ones for $4.90 a piece. i ordered 4 of them and it is ending up costing me over $37.00 including shipping and handling and the c.o.d charge. so really when i work it out it is over $9.00 for each coat hook.
i guess i won't be spending my here again for awhile due to the fact it is so expensive. has anyone ever found lee valley to be this expensive?

jordan

Jordan I am sure that it looks expensive but you are getting quality and just how much is that worth? I have priced out coat hooks at a local store and have found the good ones to be $16-20 bucks each so $9.00 is not too unreasonable as far as i am concerned. :rolleyes: The other option is to just stop wearing clothes then you will have no need for clothes hooks. :shock: See simple solution to simple problem. :lol: :lol: :mrgreen:

[wilburville]

i always try to look at the cost of shipping and compare it to what it would cost for gas to drive to that location and back again and after doing so the shipping doesn't seem so bad. it even looks better when the location requires driving through a city like toronto. bill.

[Les@Brownsville]

jordan, I am surprised that since you have been a member of this forum since 2006 that you did not know it is a no no to make a derogatory comment about LV.

Cheers Les

[Tim in Milton]

Note to self......

Bookmark this thread so that it can be revived in another three months time :rolleyes:

[OttawaP]

There pricing does seem a little "off" at times. In this internet world it's not hard to find comparables. That being said they are ususally my first destination when in need of something, but I will price most things around to make sure. For example router bits at LV are better quality and the pricing generally lower than the comparable Freud at the box stores. Can't complain about the quailty and price of the handplanes compared to other brands (for the two I own). I find it's mostly the small consumable items that for some reason seem studiply exensive.