A reader tipped us off about an upcoming price hike on Makita cordless power tools. I checked, and there is indeed another price increase coming. Tool dealers have started posting alerts on their product listings.
Makita raised prices on 700+ tools back in April of this year. They also downgrading a number of 18V and 18V X2 cordless power tool kits, replacing existing kits with new versions bundled with lower capacity batteries (4Ah instead of 5Ah), presumably to help lower costs while charging consumers the same.
There’s no comprehensive list of affected SKUs that I could find, but one retailer – Tool Nut – shows how much more specific tools will cost once Makita’s price increase goes into effect.
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Here are some examples:
- Makita XGT Plunge-Cutting Track Saw Kit – (+$30) $599 → $629
- Makita 18V X2 12″ Miter Saw Kit – (+$80) $1,099 → $1,179
- Makita XGT 4pc Combo Kit – (+$50) $649 → $699
- Makita XGT 12″ Miter Saw Kit – (+$100) $1,299 → $1,399
- Makita 18V Band Saw – (+$25) $344 → $369
- Makita 18V Metal-Cutting Saw – (+$15) $239 → $254
It seems that at least some of the affected tools already increased in price in April, making this their second price hike 6 months apart.
For instance, Makita’s 18V brushless barrel-grip jig saw went from $279 to $299 in April. According to its new price alert, the jig saw will soon cost an additional $20. This means that from March to October, the price will have increased by $40, from $279 to $319.
Makita’s XGT jobsite radio went from $169 to $174 with the earlier price increase, a difference of $5. It will soon increase by another $10, to $184.
The new higher pricing is said to go into effect on 10/1/2022.
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John+E
Festool do this all the time; even as the dollar has gained strength 25% over the Euro the past 18 months.
Rog
Are they trying to price themselves out of the NA market?! I ask only partially tongue in cheek.
Jared
I’m surprised. Not just because it’s so soon after previous price increases, but also because Makita already doesn’t seem that competitive to me.
When you start comparing specs, Makita seems awfully expensive compared to Dewalt and Milwaukee. I appreciate when I mentioned that in a previous post some readers insisted there’s a certain “je ne sais quoi” that makes them prefer Makita anyway. I wonder if there’s a tipping point though…
Rog
There absolutely is a tipping point. I have quite a few Makita tools but am strongly considering not adding any more to the collection.
I’ve been eyeballing their barrel grip jigsaw for a long while, but I’ll struggle to pull the trigger at $320 vs. something like Dewalt’s at half the price.
Jehremy
Yeah, I’m in the same boat. I invested completely into Makita’s 18v platform around the time the sub-compacts starting coming out, and I’ve added exclusively to it. But the lack of innovation, price hikes, and limited NA presence has soured me on the brand. Nothing wrong with the tools I have, but I can’t shake the feeling that I chose incorrectly when investing in Makita’s 18v line.
I recently found a deal on Milwaukee’s quik-lok OPE system so I picked that up (hedge trimmer, pole saw, string trimmer, and extra extension pole, and I just picked up the brush trimmer attachment). But I only have the one high-output battery to run it. I’m strongly considering pivoting over to Milwaukee now for future purchases.
There’s also a part of me that likes all the innovation and home-oriented solutions that Ryobi is putting out at really competitive price points. I recently got into their new USB line and I’m enjoying it so far, but I don’t think I’m going to jump into their 18v system over Milwaukee’s especially since I already have the red OPE tool.
its_jake
i’m “all in” on makita (a handful of tools) but recently lost a battery and if i had to buy a few other things i’d probably go ryobi tbh. i’m such a casual that it just doesn’t make much sense for me to not go with their higher end offerings
Gordon
I would too. Ryobi has been a strong contender in the last few years.
Stuart
It’s not a good sign for Makita that users would abandon their 18V platform for Ryobi’s.
Matt
Outside of a few festool items I’ve been all in on Makita for a while, until this year. I was ready to buy some cordless nailers and Makita simply doesn’t compete, so I went with Metabo HPT, then I had needed a new impact because a coworker dropped mine and cracked the case, since the XGT line came out and since Metabo HPT was doing the free battery promotion I with another HPT rather than invest more with Makita, same story with my new cordless palm router.
Metabo HPT has been equal in quality and better in some regards not excluding price for every tool I’ve bought. In hindsight I maybe should’ve went with Milwaukee because of their tool selection, but they also have a price premium over Metabo HPT.
Some of the new XGT Makita items seem well thought out and good quality, but without any sort of reverse compatibility and with the current high cost and limited selection I can’t justify that platform.
Julian Tracy
Don’t bother with the Mak barrel grip. I bought one from a UK site before they were available here in the U.S. I primarily use a barrel grip jigsaw for coping trim with a modified coping foot.
The Makita jigsaw had many many design flaws imo:
– It was simply the LOUDEST cordless jigsaw I’ve ever used. I’ve no doubt of it’s quality (made in the UK as I recall), but damn it was loud.
– Has super bright LED lights that cannot be shut off – so they are blinding you while using it upside down.
– Most importantly – has an “auto” mode feature, which cannot be overridden, that makes it start in a slow speed and not until you start cutting does it come up to full speed. This is hugely problematic for coping trim as the coping process won’t kick it in, so I had to literally start cutting on a scrap of wood to get the saw up to speed so that I could start the coping cutting.
I’ve had 4-5 barrel grip jigsaws (including the Festool carvex — also absolutely USELESS for coping work), but my current Dewalt 20v barrel grip is a pretty decent no-nonsense simple design, which is exactly what you need for coping work. It’s also got a foot/base mount design that lends itself to attaching a homemade coping foot onto fairly easily.
Roy
The “auto mode” feature can be easily overridden by turning the variable speed dial.
As noted in the manual:
To disable or enable the soft no-load rotation function,
follow the steps below.
1. Make sure that the tool is turned off.
2. Set the speed adjusting dial to “1”.
3. Press the lock/unlock button to turn on the tool.
4. Set the speed adjusting dial to “5” by turning it,
and then set it to “1” by turn it back.
The lamp blinks twice to indicate that the soft no-load
rotation function is disabled. To enable this function
again, perform the same procedure again.
WastedP
I bought a barrel grip jigsaw for the shop at $279, once I got hands on it and used it, I bought one for myself. I would pay $320 for it. It’s the best jigsaw I’ve ever used. I like it more than the Festool Carvex and the Bosch.
Rob
The tipping point was my experience with XGT. Nuron came out with everything I needed and I jumped ship.
Rob
Quick comments/post with little data…It looks like an average price increase of 7% across all of these products. No one likes to pay more but is Makita driving this or this the retailers (who set their sales costs to the customer) passing along their annual price increase (from vendors like Makita, MILWAUKEE, dewalt, anyone who sells to routine retail) on-to the customer?
Stuart
Prices come straight from tool brands, and so this is Makita increasing end-user/customer pricing across all authorized dealers.
Retailers can sometimes advertise different pricing, but there are usually MAP (minimum advertised pricing) clauses.
Kevin
100% true. All retail goods and their respective manufacturers provide dealers with MAP/MSRP lists but dealer cost always varies depending on the retailer. Of course there are loopholes, think to the “add to cart to see price” or “click to reveal price” options in online marketplaces. It’s allowable because this doesn’t constitute advertising per se, rather, it’s a rate the retailer has the freedom to set completely at their discretion. A manufacturer has no authority over what a retailer sells an item for, only what they advertise. The practice was originally implemented to prevent market price dilution due to retailers undercutting each other on a common product. Anyhow I digress; this price hike is absolutely pushed directly from Makita. They most likely saw it as justifiable because inflation it a term being discussed every day in the US. If I had to guess it’s party an inflation measure, partly a cash grab to maintain higher margins. Reason being that despite what many people my think, the margins on cordless tools actually aren’t that good. They’re pretty pitiful compared to other consumer products. For instance, you’re average prosumer cordless drill likely has a bill of materials of $40 to $50 in parts alone. More niche tools can be even worse considering there’s less demand for it and the design and parts list isn’t as practically scalable. Where they make their real earnings is batteries. Standard lithium ion battery pack (not using special alloys) are incredibly cheap to make in all respects. Bill of materials is low, ease of manufacturing, and total parts list. It’s essentially just ordering huge amounts of stars are size cells, making tons of one size fits all chipsets, and the different case dimensions. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve gotten the price down to sub $18 all in for standard sized packs. That’s why the battery prices never change. Margins are already sky high. The tools on the other hand, they want to get them in consumers’ hands so they’ll have a compelling reason to buy more batteries but they can’t just give them away. I suspect it’s a bit of both types of reasoning for the price hike. Inflation affects margins, and they want margins to sit in a certain sweet spot in the case of the tools themselves.
Stuart
It’s possible that Makita USA planned to split the price hike into two parts six months apart from the start. Or maybe they didn’t, and the first wasn’t enough?
The holiday season is coming up. Makita is ending a season of aggressive cordless outdoor power tool promotions, and in a few weeks they’re going to need to offer aggressively-low pricing on cordless core power tool kits, “special buy” combo kits, and maybe select popular tools as well.
Home Depot will likely have another “buy this, get a tool or two for free” promotion, an event that Makita has reliably participated in for years.
Their North America profits were pitiful last year. https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/makita-tool-business-performance-2022/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
If I had to guess, I would say that Makita’s prices are going up nearly across the board to help subsidize holiday season promotions and similar, without which Makita might lose too much market share to maintain competitiveness.
Their XGT line seems doesn’t seem to be selling well here at all. I purchased an XGT track saw and it has been an abject disappointment. I’ve seen numerous complaint online about quality issues, such as crooked saw plates. Most retailers have few and even zero reviews on XGT tools. I have yet to see any XGT tools at Home Depot stores. None of that can be helping.
Meanwhile, brands like Dewalt have been pushing PowerStack, while Makita 18V is stuck at 8-year-old battery tech – the 5Ah first appeared around 2014. They also have a 6Ah battery, but it’s built with 18650 cells, and so I’d recommend the 4Ah or 5Ah battery over that one.
Kevin
Ahhh you have a very compelling point. Holiday pricing didn’t occur to me but that’s a very good observation. Especially when factoring in timing and end-user price.
I hear what you’re saying about the XGT line. I had higher hopes for it but unfortunately it does look like it’s underperforming. Overall I’ve noticed Makita has been on a downward trend here in the US. They just seem like they’re not being competitive enough aren’t giving the US customers what they really want.
Rob
It’s been pretty obvious that Makita USA doesn’t really want to sell XGT here and are doing so begrudgingly.
It’s been bad enough that after almost three years in (Japan), we’ve got mostly random bits all over the trade scape but no actual set of tools to get specific jobs done.
But it gets worse, waiting for any of it to get here because they’d rather build lawnmowers for Home Depot to position Ryobi against.
Julio
Makita doesn’t sell to the end-user. They sell to Home Depot, who sells to the end-user. Home Depot dictates what they sell the product for, and last I checked, those price tags were bring printed off by Home Depot associates.
Also, every consumer goods company on planet earth is taking price up right now.
Stuart
Sorry, that’s just now how retail pricing works. Home Depot isn’t setting the prices here. Many of the affected products, such as XGT, aren’t even sold in HD stores.
Julio
But Home Depot didn’t have to take the retail prices up. They could have elected to remain as they were. Same with outside channels who are selling XGT products. Makita doesn’t sell direct to the end-user, they sell to retail channels who then sell to the end-user, so the narrative of this conversation is backwards. Forgive me if I’m not seeing the whole picture.
Stuart
Dealers and tool brands have extensive pricing agreements. If Makita says prices are going up, prices are going up.
If one retailer says they’ve been told prices are increasing and this will apply to all authorized dealers, which is what is happening here, it’s usually a reliable portrayal of what’s been set in motion.
Keep in mind that retail price increases usually involve wholesale price increases as well.
In my experience, retailers will hold each other in check. They’re like kindergartens when any one is in violation of pricing or promotional practices. “How come THEY get to do that?!”
Mopar4wd
Not really Kevin is right. pricing for most big items is set by an OEM and then the dealers (like Homedepot ) list it for that or an agreed discount. I used to do some buying for a retailer, and some vendors had almost no pricing rules, things like hardware, rope, etc we could sell for whatever we wanted. But the more complicated the items and the bigger the brand name (electronics tools clothing etc) the more rules they had. I remember one contract we had we were allowed to advertise at 5% under MSRP all year long and we could go to 10% under I think 4-5 times a year and 1 sale a year at 20% off. Now this was all advertised prices we could sell for less but had to do the add-to-cart thing. Then you would also have sales promos done by the OEM that flowed down to the retailer.
The retailer I worked for (sporting goods online retailer) hated these rules with a passion and got involved with several lawsuits with vendors over this and even dropped a huge vendor in the industry when they raised our wholesale costs after we kept selling under their agreed selling prices. Now from this retailers stand point they were buying in enough volume that their costs allowed them to undercut alot of competitors so they very much would have preferred to sell well under MSRp where as some of their small competition much preferred the pricing arrangement as it allowed them to compete with the big boys.
Example
Say a Bike rack has an MSRP of $500
The OEM says you can advertise it at $475.
The local bike store will advertise and sell it at 475 or 500 and make 15-20% (maybe more just numbers pulled for example)
The online mega retailer will advertise for $475 and make 25% due to volume rebates (or just straight volume) discounts.
In this case the mega retailer may want to sell at $450 and increase their volume at the expense of profit, even more, but the OEM wants to keep as many retailers as possible so they will try to fight it. Plus it keeps their brand name as more valuable.
Now if a OEM has less pull these rules become useless and not everyone has them. But if you ever wondered why things like Ipads are the same sale price at every retailer now you know.
TomD
This is exactly it – the manufacturer is protecting themselves FROM Home Depot with MSRP and MAP – because HD could easily undercut every other retailer they have, which would drive those retailers to not carry their product anymore, which would effectively turn the company into a house-brand producer.
The retailers can counter with their OWN discounts that apply to everything, but many of the sales we see are *manufacturer* sales – notice how so many stores are running something like $20 of $100 of Brand X right now? That’s because the manufacturer will rebate back the $20 to the retailer at the end of the month (we used to call these SPIFS).
Kevin
I’m sorry but that’s just not how it works in the case of Home Depot. Home Depot is a retail juggernaut. They don’t play by the same rules as other small retailers. If you want to sell power tools in their stores, they explicitly state that overhead merchandise is to be consigned over to them and the manufacturer only collects on what sells. It seems crazy but that’s the kind of power Homed Depot has as a major retailer. When a tool sells, Home Depot takes there percentage and kicks the rest over to the manufacturer. They have to play ball because Home Depot is likely their single larges source of sales.
SamR
In 2017, when I started buying cordless power tools, finding which cordless power tool brand to invest in and stick with was tough.
I examed every tool brand available to the average consumer, and from that search, Makita felt to me a not accessible brand to invest in due to its lack of availability and high price.
However, until I read this article, I was entertaining the idea of buying some of their tools since it is a “Japanese” brand. It must be reliable, but with those downsides, pricing issues (high price point, price increases, lousy price planning), not many promotions or sales, and not sticking with the 18V platform. I decided I am not buying any Makita.
P.S. I am buying in Milwaukee M12/M18. And unfortunately, I see some Makita behavior in Milwaukee, such as the 36V, lack of good promotions, and 2021+ new tools being overpriced!
Star
Got a makita tool set for my birthday day. Fell in love with makita but also Dewalt is what I see mostly at job sites
Tim D.
I find it in poor taste to raise prices across the board twice in a single year. I’m sure the people that run Makita are aware of this, and wouldn’t be doing this if not necessary. I’ve come to conclusion that prices on everything are going up ( generally while quality goes down), and the right time to buy a tool is always “right now”.
I’m a mostly makita shop with a smattering of other brands. I personally like Makita’s tools and ergonomics better than most. I like how they are not owned by TTi or SBD, and hope they stay that way, If that costs me 7% more, so be it.
Mopar4wd
Makita does seem to be slipping in the US. A couple years ago I was almost ready to jump in on Makita after years of Dewalt 18V and Ryobi. I have some older Makita corded tools (grinders and sanders) that I love. In the end pricing pulled me into Dewalt 20V and Metabo HPT.
Since then I have been pretty happy with not going Makita not due to the tools (the people I know who use them daily really like them) but the pricing and availability. The local Home depot and independent tools place near me both seem to be stocking far less Makita then a year ago, and the prices are alot higher compared to sale pricing on other brands.
Kevin
I agree, Makita has become less competitive in recent years and further slipping. Their premium tools are of the same quality that they established their reputation on but they command a high price. The cheaper high volume sales offerings are of relatively low quality compared to competitors. Sure they’re more budget-centric offerings, but failures are also somewhat common on those models – ironically the failures are typically the motors; Motors being what Makita made when they originally established.
Munklepunk
Makes me glad I stopped needing to buy tools a year ago, I like Makita but there is always a limit. If I had to start over it would probably be Metabo or Bosch.
Julian Tracy
I was all Makita tools for my remodeling business for years, but added the Dewalt 20v 7.5” mitersaw as it was easily less than half the price as Makita’s at the time, which was around $550 baretool. Since then, any new tools are generally Dewalt versions.
Makita has had SO MANY dud tools – the inflator with no auto shutoff, the sander with horrible ergonomics, the multi tool with horrible ergonomics, the barrel jigsaw with so many design flaws, the grease gun that took years to introduce, ect…
Add a few price increases and the fact that Dewalt does significant better tool + battery deals, I’m pretty much off the radar for any new Makita tools for the foreseeable future. Coincidently, the Makita tools I do have (many many of them), are so well built that I really don see them failing anytime soon with one-person professional use.
A few Makita standouts:
– their 10” cordless mitersaw – quite excellent in accuracy and easily better then the Festool Kapex in dust collection. Only flaw was the huge circular table that precluded making any sort of crown molding fence for.
– their new multi- wireless BT speakers – can link up to 10 speakers from one BT source. Even just one speaker has amazing sound with great bass.
– their black colored subcompact sawzall – an absolute compact beast. The internet dude that tears down tools with colorful commentary took this saw apart and was fairly amazed at the quality build.
– their 18v x2 cordless chainsaw. Based on their Dolmar saw heritage – the cordless makita is much better built than the comparable red or yellow model.
– the Makita 18v x2 tracksaw: excellent design – the scoring feature is a game changer, the blades easily as good as the Festool blades and just an overall great tool – don’t miss my Festool TS55. (I really only cut sheet goods with it, so the riving knife is less of an issue to me personally.)
Munklepunk
The 20v DeWalt chop saw is half price for a reason. For starters it’s brushed and gutless unless a 6ah flexvolt is attached. But it does have the shadow line, dim as it is.
Tim D.
The inflator has an auto shut off, just no way to automatically hold the button down to get to the auto shut off.
Nothing a velcro strap doesn’t fix. You shouldn’t need it, as it should have been built in, but its still nice there’s a workaround.
RBD
I walked into HD and a whole crew of employees were repricing Milwaukee tools. I asked, are prices growing up or down, they replied, up!
I believe both manufacturers and retailers are marking up now so that you become accustomed to this new price then they put them on sell in November for Black Friday/Christmas to make you think your getting a great deal, when your actually paying the April price hike, it’s taking advantage of difficult times in our country.
SamR
I agree. I start to believe, for many reasons, that manufacturers and retailers or whoever decides are somehow creating inventory shortages by holding goods in warehouses and not giving shipping and delivery dates.
And I think they are doing so to make those prices more acceptable to the consumers.
Al
I’ve owned Makita for over 30 years. Their tools are becoming junk. I purchased the 18 volt circular saw four times now. This last time was less than 3 months old and the guard cracked. The drills burn out the batteries don’t last. It maybe time for me to change tool brands
Colin
I really like makita, both for ergonomics and past reputation, the star wars look appeals to my early 80s childhood.
Between the lxt/xgt stuff and the lack of good nailers, they’ve lost me to metachi.
I just got the new 36v triple hammer Bolt kit, plus a free four amp battery, all for $239 with the deals metabo is running. I bought it off Stuart’s recommendation, and its an awesome impact driver.
Metabo is offering at least as good gear and shows you they care about your business with backwards compatible tools, while makita is going a very different route.
I think metabo hpt, which has really struggled to gain market share, is going to soak up a lot of makitas business.
Matt
Agreed, I recently made some similar decisions. With the free battery promotion I’m going to have a lot of Metabo HPT by the end of the month. I was just about to go in for their cordless table saw but buying the new Sawstop instead.
LK
I’m guessing we’d all agree with the assumption that ‘all the tool brands are attempting to maintain or increase revenue during this inflationary period’.
Makita has made it known they will raise costs.
What I think we should all be afraid of is what the other color tool brands may be sacrificing in order to maintain the same prices during the same period.
Stuart
Makita USA, or rather North America, contributed a ~15.5% share towards the company’s overall revenue in 2021, but only 0.8% of overall profits.
To me, that suggests Makita doesn’t have as much headroom as other brands.
I also believe Makita’s prices are going up nearly across the board (again) in order to help maintain their desired pricing in highly competitive product categories.
Frankly, that’s what I would do.
Retailers pay for “loss leaders” in various ways. This could be how Makita USA is recouping the money they’ll lose/spend on their competitive promotions and “special buys” this year.
SamR
All the info is new to me.
Cleary Makita has some significant cost and budget issues; otherwise, why do you sell high and barely make any profit in the NA market?
Tim D.
To gain market share?
Makita seems to be much more popular in other areas of the world.
Leif Silfwerbrand
I have used Makita power tools since they introduced them it seems but enough is enough with this last increase I will cease my friendship with Mikita.
Will be looking forward to explore new brands
Leif