I am thinking of buying a Warco WM14 mill, 2 weeks ago they had no stock but will send me an e mail when back in stock, All sounds OK. on Friday just gone got an email at 3.oo saying its now back in stock, 2 hours later went on there website to order a metric one, all stock gone, item is removed from the website, it maybe some time before back in stock, so going to the show for a good deal and asking for moneyoff is a no go, now looking at a bigger mill as its in stock but the WM14 is a good price and just what I need. the bigger mills are heavy and £ 200.00 more. perhaps I will just stick to the small old mill I have.

For what it's worth, my experience at the shows is similar to your experiences. It's hard to get any discount. I bought a Warco WM18 mill with no discount but was offered some tooling to go with it at a small discount. I later bought a gear head lathe again with no discount and no extra tooling offered. Even attending the advertised open days at their home site resulted in no discount.

I think the days of discounts – even small ones are over because of the financial climate we are in. I still go to the shows for advice which I think is sometimes worth quite a lot so I go prepared with my questions and anything I need demonstrating which I have to say Warco are very good at and will spend as much time with you as necessary even if you're not buying anything.

I go to all the major shows and am going to Harrogate as usual as I think it is one of the best shows now. A lot of the shows are suffering with reducing attendance by the trade due to costs. If they don't offer a reason to buy at the shows, then people will just buy via the Internet (me included) which will make the situation worse. Of course, the shows are not just about tools and equipment. I spend more time going round the model displays and the clubs picking up as much information and hints and tips as I can. It's a really good opportunity to meet up with those that have got the T shirt so to speak and help you avoid some of the mistakes they have made and learnt from.

A

I've been to several shows where I've seen 'special prices'. Normally on the demo machines that they'd rather not take back at the end of the show, but not always. Last year, at Alexander Palace, I enquired of a certain company that resides in a town in Devon where carpets are made and was told that a discount of 'about 10%' ought to be achievable by asking – more likely if other stuff is bought at the same time. So, my motto is 'ask' – they can only say no and might very well say yes.

Quite different from the woodworking shows. Manufacturers like Record Power would rather sell machines at a discount than put them back on the lorry and take them back. I realise it's not possible with big mills and lathes but dealers should wise up and sell the smaller ones to those that can take them away.

I've always put off purchasing stuff a few months before a show and saved a lot of money buying tooling.

The entrance fee is only the cost of postage on a couple of orders and you often get deals not offered online.

> Several companies that include shipping in the price of small parts don't take it off at shows

From what I've heard, they spend more taking the stuff to (and unsold stuff back from) shows than it costs to put them in the post.

Neil

I bought my 250V-F at the Alexandra show last year and there was £100 of the posted show price without asking. As I was upgrading from a mini-lathe I already had some appropriate tooling, but the discussion meant they added a couple of chuck backing plates too.

Which all amounted to roughly 10% off.

And I hadn't intended to buy a new machine when I left the house that morning!

Only if you buy 50 of them.

For me the great thing about attending the shows is you can compare quality / finish by walking across the room.