Machine tool shows, any deals?

Question for you guys that usually go to all these machine/manufacturing shows, do they usually have any "show specials" or any deals you might not get any other day of the year that make it worth attending and bringing the cheque book? or is it really just an eye candy and bs'ing with the sales guys "vacation out of the shop" type thing where nobody's ready or wants to do business and most of them can't even give you a price on anything(what happened here at the little local show last year, no machine but just dealers, it was a joke)

Mostly wondering cause we got CMTS coming up here in Canada, which is the largest show we got and its right around the time I should be ready to buy a new something. Never been to it yet, and not sure if I should bother or not. Only one dealer I got pricing from seemed somewhat interested to sell anything this year, and there's a 90% chance they'll be the ones I buy from. Just not sure if the other dealers might sharpen their pencil a little better at a show where I'd hope they'd try to be a little more competitive all standing next to each other, but maybe that's just wishful thinking.

Anyway, back to work, these handles don't crank themselves... yet...

I went to IMTS last year just to get refreshed on a lot of things. I do recall there being a few "deals" but it's not like everyone has 10% off of everything. If you are in an industry that needs to stay on top of things, I would go primarily for that reason. The other would be if you're in the market for a particular machine and, if you know they will be well represented, then you can easily comparison shop. So, from your standpoint, if you went in as if you weren't 90% settled on Brand X, you might end up changing your mind.

Not familiar with CMTS (how big, etc.) but you can learn a lot by just walking around these things and just observing and asking questions. Be careful about having your badge scanned; assume everyone is going to at least follow-up with an email and that will cost you time down the road (more the annoying phone calls though). I swear some people are in there just getting paid to scan badges and a bonus if they hit enough.

Good luck,
The Dude

I bought a new YCM NSV-102A w/a Tsudakoma 4th this year right at Eastec time, here's my experience.

I looked at 4 MTBs. Samsung, YCM, Toyoda, and Doosan.

All pretty much where willing to give 10% off list as a "standard" ime.

I was able to squeeze some more then others, although the MTBs I looked at are not exactly apples to apples machines, they all had their pro/cons.

Toyoda fell off my list first as I didn't find their machines a stand out in anyway. The verticals are made in Taiwan, and lacked features I wanted in my price range that other MTBs offered as standard. I felt they depended on their name somewhat, and right around the time I was looking the local seller/rep dropped Toyoda, so I felt it wasn't a great match.

Samsung offered a decent machine at a fair price, they were really willing to play on the machines they were showing at the show. If I could have worked it out to have the show machine shipped to my shop directly from the show I could have got a great deal, they didn't want to bring it "Home" with them. Was good pricing, freight included, and they doubled the warranty to 2 years instead of 1 for the show machines only. If the machine you want is being exhibited, go for the throat on that machine.

Doosan, I almost signed the paperwork on. Doosan also offered nice incentives on the show machines, and their sales rep in my area is a great guy, I would have been happy with a Doosan. I only ended up with the YCM because it had everything I wanted, I didn't have to compromise at all. The machine I bought was not exhibited at Eastec, but was able to get a much better % off then the "standard" I mentioned above. Pit them against each other, I do the same with loans.

Another point I should make. I got quotes for the Tsudakoma 4th from all 4 MTBs. The quotes were all over the place for the same 4th axis table. Up to double from the lowest to highest quote from each MTB. That gave me an idea how low they could actually go, and I used that in my favor. I called them on the high quotes, and they moved on pricing.

SND said:

Mostly wondering cause we got CMTS coming up here in Canada, which is the largest show we got and its right around the time I should be ready to buy a new something.

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I was at CMTS last time around in 2015. I wasn't in a position to be buying at the time, so I didn't negotiate on anything. There were numerous advertised "show specials". As I didn't try to buy any machines, I'm not sure if you could swing that deal outside the show. They did have lots of machines up and running. Not all vendors, but all the majors had machines running throughout the show.

I think the advantage of going to the show is that in one day, and one trip, you can see numerous dealers that you would otherwise take days and numerous trips to accomplish. If you are, say, looking for a lathe, and you're looking at a HAAS you can see them running. If they tell you some feature they have, and you think, hmm, I wonder how Mazak does that, Mazak is just a couple aisles over. You can go right over and ask someone in their booth. Then if you discover something you like on the Mazak, you can wander back over to the HAAS and see how they handle the situation. The controls are on, so if you have a question about how something works, they can show you right there.

It sounds like negotiations have the same advantages if you want to work a couple vendors at the same time. No experience on that front yet.

I have been going to CMTS for quite sometime. If you are in the market for new equipment, it is a great place to compare models that you are interested in. You might also see a model or manufacturer that you might consider, but you were previously unaware of. I always learn something or see something new at the show. The only real deals that I've seen at the show is when you by the floor models.

It's not unusual to get a "deal" at the machine tool show but I don't think it would be any better than haggling with the salesman. Haas is pretty set on their prices but the import guys seem to have a little room in their pricing, especially when they know you're looking at other machines. Also, you can get things thrown in such as tooling and delivery if you work it. I have never been shy about working a salesman.

I've been to several different shows, there always are "show specials" the last couple of days if you take the one they have on the floor at the show. Those are now "Demo" models and thus qualify as "used" machines.

Alloy Mcgraw said:

I bought a new YCM NSV-102A w/a Tsudakoma 4th this year right at Eastec time, here's my experience.

I looked at 4 MTBs. Samsung, YCM, Toyoda, and Doosan.

All pretty much where willing to give 10% off list as a "standard" ime.

I was able to squeeze some more then others, although the MTBs I looked at are not exactly apples to apples machines, they all had their pro/cons.

Toyoda fell off my list first as I didn't find their machines a stand out in anyway. The verticals are made in Taiwan, and lacked features I wanted in my price range that other MTBs offered as standard. I felt they depended on their name somewhat, and right around the time I was looking the local seller/rep dropped Toyoda, so I felt it wasn't a great match.

Samsung offered a decent machine at a fair price, they were really willing to play on the machines they were showing at the show. If I could have worked it out to have the show machine shipped to my shop directly from the show I could have got a great deal, they didn't want to bring it "Home" with them. Was good pricing, freight included, and they doubled the warranty to 2 years instead of 1 for the show machines only. If the machine you want is being exhibited, go for the throat on that machine.

Doosan, I almost signed the paperwork on. Doosan also offered nice incentives on the show machines, and their sales rep in my area is a great guy, I would have been happy with a Doosan. I only ended up with the YCM because it had everything I wanted, I didn't have to compromise at all. The machine I bought was not exhibited at Eastec, but was able to get a much better % off then the "standard" I mentioned above. Pit them against each other, I do the same with loans.

Another point I should make. I got quotes for the Tsudakoma 4th from all 4 MTBs. The quotes were all over the place for the same 4th axis table. Up to double from the lowest to highest quote from each MTB. That gave me an idea how low they could actually go, and I used that in my favor. I called them on the high quotes, and they moved on pricing.

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Don't mean to be an ahole but I have to laugh at that based on older machines I know