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No Bunnings deals anymore e.g. power tools. I think Australians have made a mistake overly criticising (and not supporting) Masters.
No Bunnings deals anymore
louuisc on 13/01/2017 - 01:26
Last edited 13/01/2017 - 12:28
Last edited 13/01/2017 - 12:28
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Lowest prices, thats their policy
NOTTT
masters need to work on prices abit but over i found service just as good bunnings and in some case better.
masters need to work on prices abit
Lol, you do realise they've closed down right? :P
just read bunnings profit articles, one highest margin businesses around
Wesfarmer$ $hareholder$ group hug?
"Lowest Prices, are just the beginning" - lol
As woolworth shareholder and ex staff member i feel woolworth could haves save master it had a place in hardware market it just need help find it.
Was full of idiots buying 10% off retail for a while, couldn't believe it. Where were these people before?
Dick Smith Electronics Stores? lol
Masters failed because it tried to sell hardware like a supermarket. Bunnings staff offer the support their customers need.
Totally agree! I did a general renovation and built a wood bar(7 seats size) and lot of handy man maintenance, all thanks to bunnings support and YouTube.
I've found the complete opposite. The Masters near me always had helpful staff, the Bunnings people just grunt an aisle number at you. I had someone serve me a while ago and said three words to me the entire time!
Found the same here. I actually liked Masters better. The customer service the clean environment and the appliances too.
They do?
At which store?
At least Masters made Bunnings put in some air conditioning.
masters was ahead in terms of online shopping - click & collect, stock levels. now look at the sh*t bunnings website …
i saw my local bunnings trying to sell dead plants … geez
i assume you saw the dead plant on the clearance rack.. which is probably something worth mentioning? probably it died peacefully in its sleep and staff hadn't found it yet.
i've bought dozens of 'only mostly dead' (a la princess bride) plants from bunnings at clearance and loved nursing them back to health. ie $30 bamboo for $2, and $55 trees for 15.. albany woolly bush for $15 etc i support business that clearance rack things rather than landfilling them..
Can you please take my bamboo. Previous owners planted it and it is absolute hell to try and get rid of and grows like crazy. Not to mention you need to be fully covered to prune it - I have learned my lesson a number of times….
yeah i have dwarf malay variety.. 3m max height.. clumping.. in pots.. think i'm covered :)
i don't like my neighbours bamboo.. went 12m high in two years.. on my northern side. it's caused many issues.
What happens if you prune it otherwise? I haven't had any issues yet at current rental.
Once you cut a bamboo stalk it won't grow higher, at least I think that applies to all varieties.. Best to just nip the top off as soon as it reaches desired height.. whilst it's still thin.. Looks better I reckon.
@Stitchy: I use the bamboo to test my katana…it's really cut down on the cost of peasants' necks to ensure I have a good killing stroke…
ahh hadn't thought of that. though i did get rid of about 30 palm throughout my kickboxing career.
@jlogic: Nah man, I could stoop to killing a Panda to test my blade…a few lowly villagers, yes; but not the noble Panda!
I call it death row. Great bargains to be had!
masters was ahead in terms of online shopping - click & collect, stock levels.
This appeals to a very specific segment of customer. Unfortunately this does not include trade personnel who prefer more human interaction and customer care at the store. This is where Bunnings wins.
My trades only buy from bunnings if it is more convinient (time effective) but they always complain the majority of products are cheap and nasty and more expensive than elsewhere even with their trade account.
Storm Pipe 100mm Bunnings $36 Plumbing store $26
@StopThatBus:
I presume you are referring to Bunnings Product Line: https://www.bunnings.com.au/holman-100mm-x-6m-dwv-pipe_p4770…Interesting you don't say which Plumbing Store.
Bunnings would probably honour their https://www.bunnings.com.au/price-policy on this Plumbing Store deal (unless it is a different Specification or Grade), ultimately meaning if you bought from Bunnings, you would still pay less.
Funny that, I found masters staff way more helpful than bunnings who were like yeah it's over there somewhere go find it yourself or oh no another bloody customer.
I'm always helping people out at Bunnings..
Masters never mad it as far as Geelong..
por que no los dos? surely?
Masters had a better website yes and was a slight step ahead of Bunnings in terms of that.
Apart from that….Their postage was expensive, the stock levels were always wrong so you had to go in or call up.
Apart from that half the time the products weren't available for click and collect or delivery.
Plus having an eBay store that participated in 20% off deals. I scored some ripper deals for taps and lamps.
To make things worse, our local Mitre 10 closed down after Masters opened so there's even less choice now.
Bunnings can pretty much charge what they want to now and get away with it and I imagine it'll be a while, if ever, before someone decides to take them on again.
same here 3 bunnings and not much else one bunnings store is 20% plus more then two other bunnings stores
What about equivalent models from Aus and overseas online sources? Amazon ?
Amazon will take a nice slice of Bunnings sales, particularly if they do a decent range (as they do elsewhere) at more sensible prices.
I also think the Screwfix model of small warehouse type stores with a serious DIY edge, could work well here - though they did try before.
As ever, it's auspost that has screwed up online competition in the past.
Scewfix was awesome in the uk
Hmmm, I don't know about your local, but I was at mine last night & they had a shitload of specials on a wide range of stuff.
I don't disagree about competition being good for consumers, but you can't lay the blame entirely on customers not supporting Masters for their failure to perform…they dropped the ball on a number of issues at corporate level in a tough market, what did they expect???
I think Masters had the wrong model. The only stores I ever saw were either too close to Bunnings or were almost inaccessible, e.g. tucked away across busy traffic. Bunnings has only recently opened a store near Chadstone; if Masters had got in there earlier then they could have established a foothold. For a store to be able to compete against Bunnings they needed to make sure they had good stocks of quality products and people who knew what they were doing; apparently Masters didn't have enough of these all round. I went into Masters when if first opened and the atmosphere just didn't make me want to shop there; product names I didn't recognise, nobody asking if I need help whilst I wondered around looking for stuff, the store itself looked "sterile". It is a shame Masters wasn't better.
totally agree with the 'sterile' thing.. except during those closing days when it became totally 'ferile'.
there was nothing warm about masters. from entry to exit. at bunnings, i feel totally ok rocking up in my ute with my muddy boots and me dog.. at masters i feel like i should have made an appointment first.
If Masters had a cheap BBQ going out the front with some cheap Snags and Onions rings happening, things might have been different. lol
They had that at the west Gosford store, obviously it didn't help.
Yeah they had the BBQ at my local as well (Canberra).
@djkelly69: Well, Masters started out in South Australia in Mount Gambier, I don't know why they went so regional first.
Later, a Masters site near Adelaide Airport opened (near Ikea). It wasn't particularly well sited, maybe they thought they would get some overflow from Ikea.
Anyway, I'd have to drive past Bunnings Mile End to get there and ignore the obvious alternative Bunnings locations of Marion, Kent Town, or Woodville as well as other Hardware choices nearer.
Masters Noarlunga and Parafield never opened.
They always had a BBQ spot out the front of my local Masters, but it was never in use.
Mate, Masters didn't give a shit what you wore
That's a little insensitive…I dressed up real nice for them & they never noticed me! :'(
It may have been sterile - but at least it was cooler. Airconditioning much appreciated.
Yes, the bigass fans don't cut it. Plus it seemed to keep the bogans with their muddy boots out and go to bunnings instead.
The biggest problem Masters had was that the idiot in charge announced, at the shareholders meeting 2 years before the first store, the plan of attack. At subsequent meetings, site locations and potential "exclusive" partners were revealed far ahead of construction beginning or contracts being signed. This all gave Bunnings an exact play book with plenty of time to update/relocate stores near upcoming Masters sites. They also tied up a few exclusive deals, leaving Masters with brands that were unknown here despite being well received in the US.
It was doomed from the first mention.
This reminds me of Myer Megamart. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megamart
With Masters, I think the naming of exclusive partners was to create a stir and induce other suppliers to supply on exclusive or cheap terms.
Mostly Bunnings (and especially Harvey Norman) are ahead of the curve on this because they do what is called land banking.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/retail/property-developer-bun…
Bunnings can afford to be selective (now) about buying any abandoned Masters Warehouses by using Woolworths own mantra of never paying too much for an acquisition.
No
Masters were earning 30% less revenue per store, using a 30% larger floor plan. Hence, their revenue per square meter was shockingly poor.
If you add in the fact that they used non-Australian brands that customers were unfamiliar with and that their sales staff were less familiar with the products - they were doomed to fail.
'[P]roduct names I didn't recognise, nobody asking if I need help whilst I wondered [sic] around looking for stuff.' Sounds exactly like Aldi.
Aldi seem to do pretty well for themselves?
Masters had the worst customer service I have seen from any company. Also, they wasted too much floor space with large, rarely selling items (like baths) rather than go with the Bunnings idea of having more relevant floor stock. I wont miss them, but I've never been a fan of Bunnings attitude (when they started, way before Masters, they undercut the local smaller hardware shops until those went out of business, and then jacked the price up).
Masters was not the answer to stopping Bunnings' monopoly due to the very poor business model they had.
I reckon there'll be almost no great offers from Bunnings this year. They will get positive results purely as a consequence of the Masters closure.
Next year, when they stop receiving the benefit of Masters closure in their 'Like For Like' results they will probably reintroduce offers to stimulate sales and drive their comp performance.
Bunnings were smart not to participate in a race to the bottom on product quality and stuck with what they knew.
This may have impacted on their volume purchasing in the short term, and with Masters gone, such savings might resume and be passed on.Currently Bunnings offer https://www.bunnings.com.au/price-policy so people can and do use this.
I think you are being optimistic.
Realistically bunnings will deliver strong sales growth this year without doing anything. THey should also deliver improved margins by not having to compete with Masters. It was clear they used to do markdowns specifically to counter Masters offers (ie Friday night offers that always included products directly in competition with Masters specials)
Next year they will have to do something to beat this year and this will be without the free kick from Masters closure. This could be done a few ways but the easiest two would be increasing discounts (stimulate sales) or raising prices (there is no competition) My bet would be they will take option 2 and prices will rise, but over time that creates opportunities for low price entrants to come into the market (whoever they might be?!)
Lack of competition can only be a bad thing for customers.
It is difficult to reconcile why Bunnings would see the need to deeply discount against Masters that really in the end wasn't a threat.
(Unless Bunnings/Wesfarmers thought that the JV Partners Lowe's had really deep pockets and were going to tip more money in for a really protracted fight).My guess is that it was about Bunnings maintaining offering some discounts to "their" customer base and stopping and leakage to Masters on any level.
I think they did this quite successfully but then they were already established and entrenched or dug in.
Others remaining in this space are now Metcash (owner of Mitre10 and TrueValue Hardware).
@holdenmg: I agree, it was definitely a ploy to prevent any bleed to Masters. I would expect them to go to war with any new entrant into the market. If another player were to get a significant foothold in Australia it would be catastrophic for them.
The next couple of years Bunnings is going to need as much cash as possible to fund their global expansion so they will be delighted Masters has fallen on its sword.
i don't really agree with your usage of the term 'fallen on its sword'.. to me, that speaks of honour, sacrifice, taking responsibility.. didn't really feel these virtues related to masters (but otherwise i agree and get your general gist)
@Stitchy: that phrase can be used in a few ways. I did not intend to imply any honour in their downfall, more that Woolworths chose to call it quits, it wasn't a Dick Smith type collapse (for example)
So I guess variant 2 below was my intended usage, variant 3 is the more honourable expression that you refer to.
Definition: Fall on one's sword.
Used other than as an idiom: To commit suicide by allowing one’s body to drop onto the point of one's sword.
(idiomatic, by extension) To resign from a job or other position of responsibility, especially when pressured to do so.
(idiomatic) To voluntarily take the blame for a situation.:)
This was asked and answered in the previous thread:
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/274112?page=1#comment
especially in respect of Ego products which were on Clearance from Masters that was closing down due to a Business Model that was unsustainable. Further, these Ego product lines were never even on offer at Bunnings.The ACCC couldn't force Masters to continue trading to maintain a cosy competitive duopoly, although it may have benefited some (other than Woolworths Shareholders) and created a few jobs for a short while.
hope amazon challenges bunnings and dethrones them
Amazon will most likely dethrone eBay in Australia, put enormous pressure on the duopoly Coles and Woolworths in groceries and really upset retailers like Target, Big W, Kmart, Harvey Norman and JB HiFi.
Bunnings has it own special place and only a direct competitor could seriously challenge them.
US hardware retailers The Home Depot and Lowe's could poise a serious threat to Bunnings if they set foot in Australia, but Australia's market size is far too small for international hardware retail giants to expand to.Amazon will most likely dethrone eBay in Australia, put enormous pressure on the duopoly Coles and Woolworths in groceries and really upset retailers like Target, Big W, Kmart, Harvey Norman and JB HiFi.
Honestly, whilst that would be a dream scenario for consumers, and I would love it, I sincerely doubt it will happen any time soon…it's just the usual mass media cash-for-comment beat-up! ;)
US hardware retailers The Home Depot and Lowe's could poise a serious threat to Bunnings if they set foot in Australia
You mean like that Lowe's/Woolworths joint venture "Masters"?
OP, a quick search: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/deals/bunnings.com.au reveals numerous (and often high voted) recent Bunnings deals.
Is it just because they are not to your liking?
Mate you forgot to check the "I am associated with Bunnings Warehouse" box while posting your comment.
Come on guys, it is not like that Masters was around for a long time - only 5 years or so, and there weren't many to compete with Bunnings in any case. As mentioned, always use the price match policy (admittedly there is a lot of expensive stuff in there) and sometimes you may get someone silly like I did calculating the price match; one time a manager calculated the price match as the difference plus 10%. The store attendant looked at the calculation a bit funny but the manager was adamant - so something (I cannot recall what), went from $130 (price match of something I found online for $80) to $130-50-50-5=$25. I did not understand the full extent of the Bunnings price match but thought ok… and no, I did not abuse it.
lol. That is certainly not their policy. That manager must have been a bit under the pump that day. But hey! You must have been grinning from ear to ear with that deal
I'd recommend people support HOME Hardware, Mite10, and their local hardware store now before it's too late and Bunnings' monopoly grows even larger
bought a hot water pizza base at Bunnings $49 well they are on ebay for 99.
went to the trusty old hardware store and they had a better quality one for $17 just one example!
Auto stores have a lot of hardware and they have sales. There's heaps of Supercheap Auto hardware deals that have made the OzBargain front page.
Bunnings is more expensive but you pay for convienance
Hated how bunning had the stupid greating policy put in place while masters was around….. now that masters is gone all the sh1ts leave me alone which is fantastic.
And i have aeen some sales on dewalt battery tools at my local plus the od ozit battery drill for peanuts.
Only good thing about bunnings is the sausage sizzle
I was given a very bad impression when I asked the manager why they don't have any bicycle parking at their (Masters) store. The impression I got was that they simply didn't care about doing more than the bare minimum legally required. No concern for customer experience in general.
(Note: All the Bunnings stores I have visited have had bicycle parking.)
That's weird because my masters had bicycle parking and bunnings doesn't lol
Masters setup right next door to small hardware stores, put them out of business then folded, no love from me, they were in it for a fast buck, didn't make it and screwed up local economies in the process.
Well Bunnings in Cairns did the same thing, little guys closed. Population is about 150K Bunnings been in Cairns for over a decade, Masters opened near next street about 3 years ago, so Bunnings built on another site across road from them twice the size it had!, like tit for tat bloody ridiculous at the time but now locals flood there. Also the tradiesI know always bought at Bunnings due to choice of goods.
Is Bunnings still open there, or did it drive out local business then fold and leave zero service to the area?
It sure is, hardly a spare parking bay today, its massive one of the largest Ive been in.
not sure why as 2 smaller hardware stores went caput when B built the first one, another larger one and is not doing the business they were Im told.
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I agree. The only time that my local Masters was packed was after the administration was announced.