confused about pc polisher price

[xfactor]

Why is Meguiars price so much higher than other web sites? Is there a difference?

[sneek]

is it for the same polisher / equivelent PC?

[xfactor]

Yes, it seems to be except one says Meguiars and the other says Porter Cable.

[gb387]

With Meguiars you will get the W64DA Backing Plate and a W8006 Soft Foam Polishing Pad... and their lifetime warranty.

and Welcome to MOL!

[xfactor]

t hanks for the info. gb387 hey cecked out your gallery awesome pics. :

[gb387]

Originally posted by xfactor
t hanks for the info. gb387 hey cecked out your gallery awesome pics. :

Thanks... its kind of getting filled with other stuff but my truck is in there somewhere and some other cars. The PC has really helped out on all of them! IMO its a must!

[the other pc]

Re: confused about pc polisher price

Originally posted by xfactor
Why is Meguiars price so much higher than other web sites? ...

You’re comparing apples and oranges, on the prices anyway. On the machines it’s more like comparing Naval Oranges and Valencia Oranges.

First, the machines. The Meguiar’s G-100, and Porter-Cable models 7424, 7335 and 7336 are all variants of the same machine. They are all made by Porter-Cable and share the same basic body and motor assembly. They differ physically in their backing plates and counterweights. The Meguiar’s G-100 also comes with a lifetime warranty (vs. one year on the PC versions).

The G-100 comes with a flexible Velcro faced backing plate made for polishing pads and a good pad. The Porter-Cable models come with backing plates for abrasive disks or a screw-in polishing pad (that everybody tosses anyway).

Price wise, the manufacturer’s suggested list prices are about the same ($226 for Meguiars’ vs $212 for the Porter-Cable). When you consider the price of the backing plate and pad the G-100 effectively costs less.

The reason everybody thinks there’s such a big difference is that everybody compares Meguiar’s list price to other vendors' deeply discounted price. Big box retailers buy multiple Porter-Cable products in huge volumes at rock bottom wholesale prices and sell on razor thin margins.

Meguiar’s is a manufacturer, not a retailer. Their web business is microscopic compared to their sales through retailers and industrial distributors. The web business is meant as a service to make products available to those who don’t have easy access to the full range of products or the standard distribution channels. It’s not meant to undermine the standard channels, only augment them. If they were to sell direct, below list they’d be alienating their biggest customers.

There are authorized Meguiar’s dealers that do discount the price on the G-100, perhaps no quite as deeply as a big box retailer can discount a Porter-Cable, but deep enough that when you consider the backing plate, pad and warranty the difference is small (and, given the trade-offs, I would personally consider the G-100 a better value).


PC.

[Mike Phillips]

Very well written and explained Paul.

Thank you!

[Mikeyc]

I agree with everyone else. The price difference is 90% due to the lifetime warranty. A Porter Cable 7336 (similar to G100) can be had at Lowe's for $100. A velcro backing plate and foam pad equal to the one that comes with the G100 can be purchased for about $30. So, non-Meguiars I think your total purchase would be about $130 where as the G100 is $225. So basically the lifetime warranty adds $100. If you use your PC a lot and it breaks you send it in and get a new one. Right there with one replacement you've pretty much covered the cost of the warranty if you think about it.