Capitalistic RIP OFF! Warning!

[RadiomanATL]

So, this morning I decide to look on line at Home Depot and Lowes for a wood stove. We were going to buy one last year and never got a chance. Both Home depot and Lowes had the same stove to heat a 1500 square foot home for around $599 last year, the same parent company made them for both companies, under each company's private label or exclusive label...but my research found that it was the same company making both and the features and benefits of the toves at both stores were identical...but at times one store over the other offered free shipping....

I go to home depot and the cheapest stove is around $1200 bucks this year!!!!!!!!

Go to lowes and about the same, 2 for $1000 bucks but many for $2000! And NOTHING LAST YEAR WAS $2000, $1400 was the mnost expensive stove and it was for a pellet stove which are more expensive...

Both stores were the same, they raised their prices by 30% to 50% from last year and I am so pissed we did not buy it last year before they decided to GOUGE US...

At first, coming from the retail industry, I thought what in the world could have caused these astronomical price increases on EPA approved wood stoves? Could it be the metal that had spiked in cost, or the labor in the foreign country making them spiked?

Then I thought, those son of bitches expect heating oil prices to hit highs and people being willing to pay more for a wood stove...hmmm, I said to myself, I am really hitting on something and lowes and home depot decided to PRICE FIX together on it...which is ILLEGAL btw....

THEN the real LIGHT BULB WENT OFF...the son of a bitches at home depot and lowes raised their prices on EPA APPROVED wood stoves 30% or more on last year's prices......


DRUM ROLLLLLLL.....................

Because we have a 30% TAX CREDIT available from our government's stimulus package to encourage the purchase or investment in any heating system that is good for the environment, and the newer wood stoves emit nothing now, so they qualified for this credit...

AND THE SOB BUYERS at Lowes and home depot decided to GOUGE US and raise their prices so that the TAX CREDIT is worth nothing to us consumers and they get to pocket the money for selling $1200 wood stoves to us while the government's tax credit that was suppose to actually be for us is essentially given to the BIG CORPORATION that raised their prices for the event, and not us....

This is NOT the government's fault...this is pure GREED of the corporation and price fixing by them both, imo, so that they both have the same prices...instead on one of them not raising their prices, we have them in cahoots on pricing.

Damn it....this really pisses me off...

Care

I think this rant is very reasonable assuming that the details are correct (I don't kow, of course, but I assume you're right).

If you live close enough to me, Care, I've got a great woodstove, suitable for heating a small home (and it's pretty, too!) that I'll sell you for about half it's original retail value if that helps.

Details aren't correct.

 

[Care4all]

Sorry Care, but Lowes has EPA approved wood stoves on their website that heat 1800 square feet for as low as $729.

Summers Heat at Lowe's: 1,800 Sq. Ft. Wood Burning Stove

There are two models on display at our local store under $650.

No they don't...put in a zip near me...try 04669 or 04605 where they make you put in a store location near you...

I did, it said:

In Store
Buy online and pickup at your local Lowe's store: LOWE'S OF ELLSWORTH, ME​

The stove we were looking at last year was this one, we have a small home, less than 1500sq feet for the whole home, we were trying to buy a wood stove to put in our huge center home fireplace to heat the downstairs...

Englander 1,000 Sq. Ft. Satin Black 35 to 1 Wood Burning Stove - 12-FP at The Home Depot

THIS STOVE WAS $600-$650 LAST YEAR. This year it is $1099

I AM A RETAILER, and I know that prices DO NOT GO UP FROM $600 TO $1099 in one year....THE MANUFACTURERS cost of goods DID NOT GO UP 90% WITH A COST HIKE.

I can see 5-10% AT MOST for the prices of steal to go up....20% if demand is up, supply is down, oil prices are up (Which heating oil prices are down $1.30 from last year at this time)

We are in a recession, world wide....prices are not raised without thorough contemplation...and the tax credit was part of that contemplation.

When demand rises, the product does not always rise in price....not if supply is available.

The other thing that could be happening here, which I have considered, is that they are bringing in the product or beginning the season with product at an inflated retail price because they plan on promoting them at a marked down price, and by law, you have to have the product at a higher, full, retail for 1 month before you can say it is a sale price or reduced price....

Since i began this search, both lowes and home depot have LOWERED the price of a couple of stoves, and are saying NEW LOWER PRICE...so i could have caught the inflated prices at the beginning of season....when i first panicked???

care

 

[RadiomanATL]

OMG!!!11!!111!!11ELVENTY!~!

Even google is in on the capitalistic rip-off!! Ebay, and Ace hardware too!!!


Englander wood stove - Google Product Search

Face it, this has nothing to do with price fixing or gouging by either Home Depot or Lowes.

A few possibilities:

The price of the Englander model is higher this year. The retailer must pass along this higher cost in a retail markup.

The stove you saw last year was either not the same model or not manufactured by the same company as this years.

You say you used to work in retail and you can't even think of these possibilities, and instead jump to the "OMG price gouging rip-off!!!"??? My guess is that you weren't a success.

 

[Care4all]

OMG!!!11!!111!!11ELVENTY!~!

Even google is in on the capitalistic rip-off!! Ebay, and Ace hardware too!!!


Englander wood stove - Google Product Search

Face it, this has nothing to do with price fixing or gouging by either Home Depot or Lowes.

A few possibilities:

The price of the Englander model is higher this year. The retailer must pass along this higher cost in a retail markup.

The stove you saw last year was either not the same model or not manufactured by the same company as this years.

You say you used to work in retail and you can't even think of these possibilities, and instead jump to the "OMG price gouging rip-off!!!"??? My guess is that you weren't a success.

I DID consider these possibilities. you just ain't reading them for some reason?

And it is the SAME company, not a new manufacturer....and it is the same 35 to 1 stove with the same features and benefits as ly....we will see if this stove comes down in price and this is just their FAKE original higher price that they will promote off of....

Care

 

[RadiomanATL]

OMG!!!11!!111!!11ELVENTY!~!

Even google is in on the capitalistic rip-off!! Ebay, and Ace hardware too!!!


Englander wood stove - Google Product Search

Face it, this has nothing to do with price fixing or gouging by either Home Depot or Lowes.

A few possibilities:

The price of the Englander model is higher this year. The retailer must pass along this higher cost in a retail markup.

The stove you saw last year was either not the same model or not manufactured by the same company as this years.

You say you used to work in retail and you can't even think of these possibilities, and instead jump to the "OMG price gouging rip-off!!!"??? My guess is that you weren't a success.

I DID consider these possibilities. you just ain't reading them for some reason?

And it is the SAME company, not a new manufacturer....and it is the same 35 to 1 stove with the same features and benefits as ly....we will see if this stove comes down in price and this is just their FAKE original higher price that they will promote off of....

Care

You considered them, and then when presented with evidence that every brick and mortar retailer is selling them for approximately the same price you decided to ignore this inconvenient fact.

Suit yerself. But the evidence bears out that this isn't some sort of capitalistic conspiracy.

Oh yeah, the prices will drop in late January and February. Thats a given.

 

[dilloduck]

A. Stop killing trees. Do you realize the pollutants you are introducing into the air.
B. Maybe the business is now paying for the health care of their employees.

 

[Valerie]

A. Stop killing trees. Do you realize the pollutants you are introducing into the air.
B. Maybe the business is now paying for the health care of their employees.

I was thinking that too, dillo.

 

[dilloduck]

A. Stop killing trees. Do you realize the pollutants you are introducing into the air.
B. Maybe the business is now paying for the health care of their employees.

I was thinking that too, dillo.

copy cat

 

[RadiomanATL]

A. Stop killing trees. Do you realize the pollutants you are introducing into the air.
B. Maybe the business is now paying for the health care of their employees.

I was thinking that too, dillo.

copy cat

I was thinking that she probably saw them in January or February when the retailers were slashing the prices to move them out of the store to make room for spring merchandise.

 

[Care4all]

So, this morning I decide to look on line at Home Depot and Lowes for a wood stove. We were going to buy one last year and never got a chance. Both Home depot and Lowes had the same stove to heat a 1500 square foot home for around $599 last year, the same parent company made them for both companies, under each company's private label or exclusive label...but my research found that it was the same company making both and the features and benefits of the toves at both stores were identical...but at times one store over the other offered free shipping....

I go to home depot and the cheapest stove is around $1200 bucks this year!!!!!!!!

Go to lowes and about the same, 2 for $1000 bucks but many for $2000! And NOTHING LAST YEAR WAS $2000, $1400 was the mnost expensive stove and it was for a pellet stove which are more expensive...

Both stores were the same, they raised their prices by 30% to 50% from last year and I am so pissed we did not buy it last year before they decided to GOUGE US...

At first, coming from the retail industry, I thought what in the world could have caused these astronomical price increases on EPA approved wood stoves? Could it be the metal that had spiked in cost, or the labor in the foreign country making them spiked?

Then I thought, those son of bitches expect heating oil prices to hit highs and people being willing to pay more for a wood stove...hmmm, I said to myself, I am really hitting on something and lowes and home depot decided to PRICE FIX together on it...which is ILLEGAL btw....

THEN the real LIGHT BULB WENT OFF...the son of a bitches at home depot and lowes raised their prices on EPA APPROVED wood stoves 30% or more on last year's prices......


DRUM ROLLLLLLL.....................

Because we have a 30% TAX CREDIT available from our government's stimulus package to encourage the purchase or investment in any heating system that is good for the environment, and the newer wood stoves emit nothing now, so they qualified for this credit...

AND THE SOB BUYERS at Lowes and home depot decided to GOUGE US and raise their prices so that the TAX CREDIT is worth nothing to us consumers and they get to pocket the money for selling $1200 wood stoves to us while the government's tax credit that was suppose to actually be for us is essentially given to the BIG CORPORATION that raised their prices for the event, and not us....

This is NOT the government's fault...this is pure GREED of the corporation and price fixing by them both, imo, so that they both have the same prices...instead on one of them not raising their prices, we have them in cahoots on pricing.

Damn it....this really pisses me off...

Care

I think this rant is very reasonable assuming that the details are correct (I don't kow, of course, but I assume you're right).

If you live close enough to me, Care, I've got a great woodstove, suitable for heating a small home (and it's pretty, too!) that I'll sell you for about half it's original retail value if that helps.

What kind of make on the Stove Ed? and does it have legs or is it on a pedestal? We are looking for an old fashioned looking with legs....it can't be too big, because our house is small and we do not want to overheat it or waste wood on a large wood stove....we have a huge center home fireplace that is big enough for me to walk in to it, (I kid you not...the opening is 3 and half feet wide by 5 feet tall) that we plan to set the wood stove in and run the pipe up the chimney....from this chimney there is a clay pipe that leads in to the master bedroom up stairs that is surrounded by brick, maybe 7 feet up on one of the bedroom walls that we can run another double pipe through to also heat the upstairs....or to put in another stove for up there.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Wait a second, prices rose because the Gubbamint got involved...and you're surprised?

 

[Care4all]

A. Stop killing trees. Do you realize the pollutants you are introducing into the air.
B. Maybe the business is now paying for the health care of their employees.

We got our wood from an arborist, only already dead trees or limbs....and even with burning wood or pellets now, there are virtually NO POLLUTANTS, or a very small percentage of them, omitted in to the air with wood stoves now....much less pollutants than me burning heating oil....this is ONE of the reasons we wanted to get one...our fireplace is an environmental DISASTER...burns much too much wood for very little heat output compared to a wood stove...Ben Franklin was an environmentalist and he was the one who invented the wood stove, the Franklin Stove....it burned less wood and heated better and you could cook on top of it......

I think they have always been paying healthcare for their employees, but you are right...the prices to pay for their employees health care have gone up double digits each year for the last 10 years...so yah, that could be it...

Care

 

[dilloduck]

A. Stop killing trees. Do you realize the pollutants you are introducing into the air.
B. Maybe the business is now paying for the health care of their employees.

We got our wood from an arborist, only already dead trees or limbs....and even with burning wood or pellets now, there are virtually NO POLLUTANTS, or a very small percentage of them, omitted in to the air with wood stoves now....much less pollutants than me burning heating oil....this is ONE of the reasons we wanted to get one...our fireplace is an environmental DISASTER...burns much too much wood for very little heat output compared to a wood stove...Ben Franklin was an environmentalist and he was the one who invented the wood stove, the Franklin Stove....it burned less wood and heated better and you could cook on top of it......

I think they have always been paying healthcare for their employees, but you are right...the prices to pay for their employees health care have gone up double digits each year for the last 10 years...so yah, that could be it...

Care

Wear more clothes if you insist on living in Maine

 

[Cold Fusion38]

i don't know what you're looking for exactly, but there seems to be a bunch of the on craigslist. i don't think they wear out so i'd buy a used one.

classifieds - craigslist

Not sure if you'd want to buy anything off Craiglists considering it might be stolen.

Though I have found instances where one could "buy" the time of a certain type of lady off Craigslist.

If you are buying time with a (certain lady) off craigs list I just don't know what to say.....It's like buying a used car from a car rental place. EVERYONE drives a rented car like it's a rented mule. THEY BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF IT! Now there is the fact that they do take care of maintnance but still. Kinda like going to a whore house for a wife.


I have no idea what the hell my previous rant had to do with the topic(sorry).

 

[KittenKoder]

Here's the thing people have not mentioned, the weather is changing, it's getting colder, and it's getting colder quick. Thus ... prices on things to keep warm go up. You don't buy such things in the fall or even winter, you buy them spring and summer when they go on sale.

 

[xsited1]

Here's a price history of the stove Care wants to buy:

Englander 1,000 Sq. Ft. Satin Black 35 to 1 Wood Burning Stove

Englander Wood Burning Stove - Satin Black: Compare Prices, View Price History and Read Reviews at NexTag

If the price was raised solely because of the government tax credit, I can certainly understand that. I remember when the American auto manufacturers complained about foreign competition, so the government imposed tariffs on foreign-made cars. As soon as that happened, the US car companies raised their prices to compensate.

 

[KittenKoder]

Here's a price history of the stove Care wants to buy:

Englander 1,000 Sq. Ft. Satin Black 35 to 1 Wood Burning Stove

Englander Wood Burning Stove - Satin Black: Compare Prices, View Price History and Read Reviews at NexTag

If the price was raised solely because of the government tax credit, I can certainly understand that. I remember when the American auto manufacturers complained about foreign competition, so the government imposed tariffs on foreign-made cars. As soon as that happened, the US car companies raised their prices to compensate.

As I keep saying, get rid of the power of regulation and the companies will just have to compete for a change.

 

[RadiomanATL]

Here's a price history of the stove Care wants to buy:

Englander 1,000 Sq. Ft. Satin Black 35 to 1 Wood Burning Stove

Englander Wood Burning Stove - Satin Black: Compare Prices, View Price History and Read Reviews at NexTag

If the price was raised solely because of the government tax credit, I can certainly understand that. I remember when the American auto manufacturers complained about foreign competition, so the government imposed tariffs on foreign-made cars. As soon as that happened, the US car companies raised their prices to compensate.

Here's the telling part of your link:

Available Since: Aug 31, 2007

So it was introduced to the market at a low price (by the manufacturer) and when demand for it took off they have raised the price to $1000 to $1100 since.

An introductory price. It's an eeeeeeevil capitalistic conspiracy !~!!~1`1~!`!~~~!!!!!

Edit:
And oh yeah...it looks like the price has remained steady since May/June of 2008. So this time last year (October 2008) the price was approximately the same as it is now.

But it's all a conspiracy of those evil capitalists....sure...

 

[xsited1]

Here's a price history of the stove Care wants to buy:

Englander 1,000 Sq. Ft. Satin Black 35 to 1 Wood Burning Stove

Englander Wood Burning Stove - Satin Black: Compare Prices, View Price History and Read Reviews at NexTag

If the price was raised solely because of the government tax credit, I can certainly understand that. I remember when the American auto manufacturers complained about foreign competition, so the government imposed tariffs on foreign-made cars. As soon as that happened, the US car companies raised their prices to compensate.

As I keep saying, get rid of the power of regulation and the companies will just have to compete for a change.

Great idea, but that will never happen. There will be too many progressives complaining. When California was suffering from rolling blackouts, everyone blamed it on deregulation when it was just another story of what happens when politicians try to manage competition and impose their vision of a market.

 

[KittenKoder]

Here's a price history of the stove Care wants to buy:

Englander 1,000 Sq. Ft. Satin Black 35 to 1 Wood Burning Stove

Englander Wood Burning Stove - Satin Black: Compare Prices, View Price History and Read Reviews at NexTag

If the price was raised solely because of the government tax credit, I can certainly understand that. I remember when the American auto manufacturers complained about foreign competition, so the government imposed tariffs on foreign-made cars. As soon as that happened, the US car companies raised their prices to compensate.

As I keep saying, get rid of the power of regulation and the companies will just have to compete for a change.

Great idea, but that will never happen. There will be too many progressives complaining. When California was suffering from rolling blackouts, everyone blamed it on deregulation when it was just another story of what happens when politicians try to manage competition and impose their vision of a market.

That's the sad part, people are so lazy these days that they just don't even learn when the facts stare them straight in the face.